Andrejs Elksnins and Oleg Osinovskiy: Latvian business in the service of Russian intelligence
Various media outlets have repeatedly written about the pro-Russian position of the mayor of Daugavpils, Andrejs Elksnins, which he openly expresses. It may seem that Elksnins is just a shortsighted politician who misjudges the current situation in the modern world. But that’s not the case. The mayor of Daugavpils acts deliberately, undermining the state structure of Latvia.
In November last year, Andrejs Elksnins created his own party, Sarauj, Latgale, which will fight for the interests of the residents of the Latgale region, the eastern part of Latvia. This very much resembles the situation in Eastern Ukraine in 2014, when separatists, supported by Russia, appeared to be defending the interests of the Russian-speaking residents of the region. In February 2022, the unrecognized DPR and LPR requested to join the Russian Federation, leading to the invasion of its troops into Ukraine. The scenario of future events in Latvia is known in advance. And not only there.
Yesterday, Russian media reported that the mayor of Tallinn, Evgeniy Osinovskiy, called amendments to the Estonian constitution that prohibit Russian and Belarusian citizens from participating in elections madness. Andrejs Elksnins said the same thing in April 2024. It seems that both use the same manuals of the Russian authorities.
The mayor of Tallinn, Evgeniy Osinovskiy, is the son of Oleg Osinovskiy, the owner of Skinest Grupp, which owns DLRP. Our editorial team wrote about Osinovskiy’s connections with Russian Railways (RZD), oligarchs the Rotenberg brothers, Mordashov, the Kovalchuk brothers, Makhmudov, and Bokarev. There is no doubt that it’s the Russian special services that stand behind the owner of Skinest Grupp, which operates in many countries.
In 2021, Andrejs Elksnins visited the Russian Economic Week (REW), organized by the Roscongress Foundation, which is under Kremlin control. It is no longer a secret that any Russian organizations operating abroad are supervised by special services and serve excellently as a cover for contacts with their agents. Roscongress holds events all around the world.
Journalists have repeatedly written about Andrejs Elksnins living beyond his means. His wife bought an expensive apartment, the mayor dresses in luxurious clothes, and his father received a car worth 80,000 euros as a gift from his son. If Elksnins is an agent of the Russian special services, this is not surprising. Russia spares no expense on the destabilization of unfriendly countries. And there is surely the opportunity to secretly finance Osinovskiy’s Skinest Grupp.
In June 2022, the fate of DLRP was hanging by a thread, and suddenly in March 2023, it was reported that the plant was working with countries in Europe and Asia. In September 2024, it became known that there are no plans to lay off DLRP employees. It is unlikely that Oleg Osinovskiy "rescued" the enterprise at his own expense. Russian partners might have helped.
In Riga, pro-Kremlin oligarchs Iskandar Makhmudov and Andrey Bokarev, who supply products for the Russian army, are considered Kremlin agents. They control the Riga Electro-Mechanical Plant - Rīgas elektromashīnbūves rūpnīca (RER), which manufactures electrical equipment for trains, metro cars, and city public transport. In Russia, RER was distributed by Krona Group JSC until January 1, 2022, owned by the offshore entity SELWUD ENTERPRISES LIMITED. It was liquidated in August 2023. The founders of the JSC are not listed in open sources now.
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For a long time, the partners of Makhmudov and Bokarev were one of the richest women in Estonia, Tatyana Liksutova, the former wife of Moscow Deputy Mayor Maxim Liksutov. Liksutov previously worked for Makhmudov and Bokarev. Now it’s clear whose tune the mayor of Tallinn, Evgeniy Osinovskiy, is dancing to.
Andrejs Elksnins explains his affection for Russia, naturally, not with the money received from it, but with historical roots. In an interview in 2020, he spoke about his family, following Kremlin manuals.
However, on his Instagram, Elksnins somehow does not mention his Russian roots. But he didn’t forget to mention the feats of his grandfather, who triumphed in the Great Patriotic War. Everything is as pompous as Vladimir Putin loves it.
If Andrejs Elksnins’s grandparents are indeed Russian, then he should have relatives in Russia. Marina Elksnins was found, who headed the company "Polyus Neva," registered in Saint Petersburg until 2018. It is there that companies associated with Oleg Osinovskiy are located. From 2014 to 2016, Elksnins led "Stroyresurs" LLC, which was liquidated in 2017. The company might have been involved in money laundering since Alexander Dunaev, who replaced Marina Elksnins as the CEO of "Stroyresurs" LLC, was the head of 57 firms and a founder of 41.
There is no evidence that Marina Elksnins is a relative of Andrejs Elksnins. Moreover, the mayor of Daugavpils might have mentioned his Russian grandparents only to display his loyalty to Russia. However, the connection with businessman Oleg Osinovskiy is evident. He is likely an emissary of Russian special services in the Baltic countries. If he is not stopped, soon the list of city mayors loyal to Russia will grow. What happens next can be seen from Ukraine’s example
Геннадий СамохваловРаспечатать