Pavel Fuks: Sanctioned Oligarch Cloaked in Ukraine Money‑Laundering Scandal

By Frank Salvato

In late 2022 and early 2023, investigations by Ukrainian authorities escalated dramatically against sanctioned Russian Ukrainian tycoon Pavel Fuks—aka Pavlo Yakovych Fuks, sometimes spelled Fuchs and known in the organized crime circles as Nayomnik (Mercenary). This dual Russian‑Ukrainian citizen, who relocated with considerable wealth to London, is facing sweeping criminal allegations: illegally seizing control of strategic Ukrainian assets, practicing massive-scale asset theft, and laundering money—allegedly in concert with another Ukrainian oligarch, Ihor Kolomoisky.

These accusations are part of a pattern and constitute one of the most expansive criminal probes in Ukraine’s history. Yet, Western media and institutions have largely underemphasized the broader implications—especially concerning Kolomoisky, who earlier faced his own money-laundering scrutiny. The international community deserves clarity—and accountability.

A Triangular Web: Fuks, Kolomoisky, Khomutynnik

In July 2025, the Office of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General unveiled the “Fuks‑Kolomoisky‑Khomutynnik triangle,” a high-level alliance involving Fuks, Kolomoisky, and parliamentary figure Vitaliy Khomutynnik. Alongside them, Ukrnaftoburinnya, a gas producer valued at approximately $500 million, emerged as a focal business venture. Fuks holds an 18 percent stake in it—a share that led to criminal action, with Ukrainian courts seizing corporate rights and transferring them to the Asset Recovery and Management Agency in April 2023.

These moves reveal a worrying dynamic: oligarchic forces using opaque and illicit financial structures to gain control over essential Ukrainian assets.

Particularly alarming is the intersection with Kolomoisky, who, just years earlier, faced his own money‑laundering investigation in the U.S. With Fuks now entangled in multiple legal and financial investigations, questions loom: is this a resurfacing of the same illicit network, or an emboldened new formation?

Money Laundering Allegations: Legal Firestorm in Kyiv

By June 2021, state institutions had frozen Fuks’s activities via sanctions over his role in Golden Derrick/East Up Petroleum gas licensing. However, in May 2023, prosecutors escalated their claims, accusing him of “large-scale financial manipulations with strategic enterprises … systematically evading tax … via proxy managers and shell companies,” resulting in illegal acquisition of assets valued at over 100 billion UAH (~$2.7 billion).

This wasn’t a mere business dispute—it was a full escalation into criminal territory.

Concretion came swiftly: the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) formally declared charges, underscoring that Fuks “since 2018 … illegally took over … Ukrainian companies worth more than 100 billion hryvnias.”

Kolomoisky’s Shadow

Why does Kolomoisky matter here? After all, these allegations focus on Fuks. The link arises from their collaboration on Ukrnaftoburinnya and the broader oligarchic nexus. Kolomoisky, having rebounded after being stripped of his former empire, has faced U.S. money‑laundering probes. His inclusion in this triangle, amid mass asset seizures, suggests that financial manipulations were neither solo nor unprecedented—rather, they follow the familiar patterns of Kolomoisky’s previous dealings.

Ukraine’s post‑Euromaidan reforms aimed to dismantle oligarchic dominance. Instead, this emerging scheme points to resilient networks who have quietly recalibrated their strategies. Fuks leveraged offshore and shell‑company maneuvers; Kolomoisky lent his financial machinery; and Khomutynnik provided political cover.

A Personal Profile: Fuks’s Machinations in Russia and Beyond

Fuks is no newcomer to controversy. Born in Kharkiv in 1971, he made his fortune in post‑Soviet Russia, notably through now-bankrupt Mos City Group and his stake in Sovcombank—then later sold in 2015. His early involvement in property and construction in Moscow, and a drawn-out arbitration dispute over a skyscraper project, hint at his aggressive business methods.

In 2017, he obtained a UK golden visa and established himself in London, simultaneously expanding his investments into Ukraine, from Kharkiv development to gas assets via the offshore vehicle East Up Petroleum. He even hired Rudy Giuliani’s firm to help his Ukrainian image, amid claims of influence-peddling.

What began as a shady business mogul’s portfolio increasingly resembles a geopolitical tool, intertwined with crime, oligarchy, and espionage.

Further alarm bells sounded in 2023 when an FBI whistleblower described Fuks as a “co‑opted asset” of Russian intelligence—operating provocations and allegedly laundering money to support Moscow’s geopolitical playbook. Further FBI leaked reporting confirmed that Fuks is considered a Russian informant.

Criminal Allegations and Convictions: The Accountability Moment

Despite denials, facts speak loudly. In 2019, Russia and Kazakhstan issued international arrest warrants over his alleged embezzlement from the Moscow-City project. London’s arbitration court ordered his firm to pay US $55 million in 2018 over fraudulent accounting. By mid‑2023, Ukraine’s charges detailed asset theft worth tens of billions, backed by court seizures.

This crescendo culminated in formal indictment by the SBU in May 2023. While investigations remain ongoing, courts have already acted—freezing his corporate interests and transferring company control to state agencies. To many, this marks accountability; to others, the spiraling reveals the gaps in global financial oversight that allowed Fuks and Kolomoisky to exploit opaque offshore structures.

Fuks, through his publicists and directly, has vehemently (albeit without tangible evidence) denied his affiliation with Kolomoisky, responding with published statements in Ukrainian press that the allegations in earlier versions of this article are incorrect. His statement is published on www.gordon.ua.

The Bigger Picture: Implications for Ukraine and the West

Why should the world care? Because Ukraine is more than an economic puzzle—it’s a frontline in the fight between democratic integrity and kleptocratic resilience. The Fuks‑Kolomoisky saga demonstrates how oligarchic cancer can metastasize: foreign, dubious funding, treacherous influence, shell companies, and political complicity. When investigations triggered by Euromaidan disintegration threaten autocracy, oligarchs recalibrate, reinvent, and reconvene.

Western governments and institutions—including the UK Home Office, EU financial regulators, and U.S. sanctions authorities—cannot stand idle. Fuks remains in London under controversial investor‑visa privileges, even as his businesses facilitate asset-stripping in Ukraine and fuel money laundering. This is a test for global sanctions: will financial enablers face scrutiny, or will opaque capital flows remain untraceable?