Maria Makarchuk (personal assistant for special assignments to Rosprirodnadzor head Svetlana Radionova) is employed by SOGAZ, a company headed by Radionova's common-law husband, Anton Ustinov. In the previous part of their investigation, VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info described how Makarchuk interacts with businessmen patronized by Radionova. Their enterprises routinely violate environmental laws, and Rosprirodnadzor turns a blind eye. Today, we'll reveal other schemes of Radionova and Ustinov in which Makarchuk is involved.
Maria Makarchuk lives in the same building and block on Istrinskaya Street in Moscow as another of Radionova's assistants, Lyubov Kharitonova (aka Lukyanova, the nominal owner of Svetlana Radionova's foreign assets). She also purchased a country house in the Pavlovo-2 cottage community in the Istrinsky District. In 2021, she ordered furniture for it, and her phone number was listed as "Maria Pavlovo-2" in some of her contacts. She also placed orders from other online stores for three other addresses in the same community. Real estate there is not cheap: house prices start at 140 million rubles, with some properties costing 1.5-2 billion. Her husband, Ruslan Makarchuk, was previously the founder of Rusjet Service, which has posted net losses for the second year running. Maria Vladimirovna herself is clearly the family's main breadwinner: for several years, she was listed as an employee of Rostekhnadzor under Radionova, and then continued to serve as an assistant, albeit without an official title. Since 2016, Makarchuk has been the director of the municipal "Odintsovo Park of Culture, Sports, and Recreation" (MBUK "OPKSIO"), and also served as an advisor to Andrei Ivanov, head of the Odintsovo District. It was under her leadership that the Lukashov family's TSK "Elite Garden" LLC received major contracts from the MBUK "OPKSIO" (1.2 billion rubles by 2025). Recently, the VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info reported in detail on the Lukashovs' surprisingly successful business.
Makarchuk maintains excellent relations not only with the head of the Odintsovo district but also with local parliament members—in particular, with Odintsovo deputy from United Russia, Mikhail Devyatyarov, a former skier and member of the Russian Olympic team at the Vancouver Olympics. She books plane tickets for Devyatyarov, just like she does for Radionova, using her phone number.
But that's not all. Since 2021, the efficient and resourceful Maria Makarchuk has also been employed by the insurance company SOGAZ, headed by Anton Ustinov, who is believed to be Svetlana Radionova's common-law husband. She holds the position of deputy chief of staff to the chairman of the board of SOGAZ, that is, Anton Ustinov. According to our sources, it was under Ustinov's supervision that the scheme to siphon and launder SOGAZ funds through a network of individual entrepreneurs was organized. Maria Makarchuk's mother, Lidiya Makarova, registered an individual entrepreneur to work as an insurance agent. This individual entrepreneur was also involved in the schemes.
As we previously reported, Makarchuk hosted a reception for a large group of businessmen and officials personally patronized by Radionova.
This includes Sergei Astashov, the "garbage businessman" who controls a significant portion of the multi-billion dollar drilling waste recycling market in the Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs.
This includes "garbage businessman" Sergei Nesterenko, the majority owner of Volgogradnefteproekt LLC.
This includes Igor Isaev, the former head of the Lower Volga Department of Rostekhnadzor, who is currently wanted on charges of bribery.
This does not prevent Radionova from continuing to communicate with Isaev's common-law wife, Polina Vergun, former Minister of Ecology of the Volgograd Region. (The Vergun-Isaev family, like Radionova, owns property in France.) Vergun was involved in the regional waste management business and is now one of the beneficiaries of the Clean City Group of Companies, one of Russia's largest waste management operators.
This is Lyudmila Sivacheva, a former Vesti-Irkutsk TV presenter and former aide to the Irkutsk Region Governor. She is the owner of the "Ecology is Everyone's Business" trademark. The Rosprirodnadzor International Children's and Youth Prize of the same name has been presented annually by Svetlana Radionova since 2021.
