Offshores, fake creditors from Panama and friendship with Interior Ministry generals: how Rostec top manager Ervin Ilizirov bankrupted film companies and left a female employee without an apartment
15:04, 25 февраля 2026 г.
Ervin Ilizirov, who holds the posts of Deputy General Director of Rosoboronexport (part of Rostec) and Advisor to the General Director of RT-Finance, is still battling creditors who uncovered his offshore schemes.
The lawsuits in the Arbitration Court and courts of general jurisdiction began before the pandemic, and film companies and popular actor and TV host Sergei Mayorov (“Once Upon a Time…,” “Stories in Detail,” and “Blue Bird”) are implicated in the multi-million-dollar case.
Ilizirov is a native of Derbent, Dagestan, a graduate of the Russian State Trade and Economics University, and Vice President of the Russian Jewish Congress Charitable Foundation. He currently holds two positions within Rostec, where he joined after serving as deputy chairman of the board of CB Sinko-Bank, which is closely linked to the state corporation headed by Sergei Chemezov. The bank’s beneficiaries profited from state defense contracts and served on the boards of defense industry enterprises.
At Sinko-Bank, Ilizirov enjoyed a meteoric rise immediately after graduating: in just one year, he went from a junior economist to deputy chairman of the board. At the same time, he did not neglect his other business interests. In 2013–2014, an affiliated company received large loans from the bank. In 2013, IVD DOK LLC took out $1 million; in 2014, the same company received another 21 million rubles; and in 2016–2017, IVD Kino received nearly 55 million rubles.
The company’s founder acted as guarantor for IVD DOK, along with producer and screenwriter Olga Kaimakova, as well as IVD Kino LLC, which was registered equally to Sergei Mayorov, and Razvitie LLC, owned by Irina Eroshenko—Ilizirov’s mother-in-law and the mother of his wife, Ksenia.
Ilizirov himself was closely connected to the film industry. He produced several films and TV series, including “New Year’s Dad,” “Indian Summer,” “While the Fern Blooms,” and “Belovodye,” which failed to air for several years due to being “not ready for broadcast.” Despite this, the companies reportedly did not have enough funds to pay employees’ salaries. During these same years, millions of dollars were circulating through the companies and offshore accounts of the future Rostec top manager.
As later emerged, IVD Kino signed contracts with shell companies and transferred millions of rubles to them for film production services. After some time, these companies were liquidated, while the films remained in circulation. The funds were transferred to foreign banks—among them the Swiss branch of the Israeli bank Hapoalim, whose documents were later presented in court by one of the offshore companies.
In 2020, IVD Kino was declared bankrupt by the court, with creditors filing claims totaling nearly 400 million rubles.
Then further irregularities came to light. The company’s 1C accounting database was reportedly lost, and its assets and documents were transferred for safekeeping to an affiliated entity, Niks LLC, for a fee allegedly 65 times higher than the market rate.
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Additionally, Offshorelicense LTD attempted to assert claims against IVD Kino exceeding 200 million rubles. It claimed to be the legal successor of the Panamanian offshore company ODETE BUSINESS CORP., which allegedly issued loans of $1 million and €1 million to the debtor.
However, the bankruptcy trustee presented a statement from IVD Kino’s transit account showing that the funds had actually come from a branch of Sovcombank PJSC. Previously, Offshorelicense had submitted documents indicating that the money originated from Rosevrobank. The court concluded that the documentation was unreliable. Moreover, ODETE BUSINESS CORP. had reportedly self-liquidated in 2017, and the representative of Offshorelicense was unable to explain how the debt had been acquired.
The situation became clearer when leaks from the law firm Mossack Fonseca indicated that the beneficiaries of ODETE were Ervin Ilizirov and his wife, Ksenia Ilizirova. According to this information, the affiliated offshore structure allegedly sought to position itself as a primary creditor in the bankruptcy proceedings.
Another controversy involved an employee, Svetlana Gordeeva, who stated that top managers of Ilizirov’s film companies persuaded her to act as guarantor for a $140,000 loan during a difficult financial period, allegedly to pay employees’ salaries. She later discovered that the loan had been issued in her name, with Mayorov and Kaimakova listed as guarantors. She claims she never received the funds, and that employees were not paid. Eventually, the bank demanded repayment and foreclosed on her apartment. The loan was issued by Sinko-Bank.
During the bankruptcy proceedings, the trustee and creditors sought to impose subsidiary liability on the debtor’s top managers and owners, including the Ilizirovs. However, courts repeatedly declined to request bank statements from the Rostec executive and refused to admit certain evidence concerning alleged affiliations between the Ilizirov-Eroshenko family, the bank, and other parties. Former directors and co-founders, including Sergei Mayorov and Olga Kaimakova, were held liable, while Irina Eroshenko was reportedly removed from the list of beneficiaries subject to responsibility.
Observers suggest that Ilizirov’s resilience may stem from his connections not only within Rostec but also with Moscow real estate magnate God Nisanov. They are said to have had joint business projects and personal ties. Ksenia Ilizirova, Ravino Ilizirov (Ervin’s father), and Artur Azaev, who is associated with Nisanov, reportedly co-own a Moscow-based company called Eva LLC.
In addition, Ervin’s brother, Vadim Ilizirov, has held senior positions within the Moscow branches of the Ministry of Internal Affairs since 2017, including serving as acting head of the Central Administrative District Department after the resignation of Alexander Bukach, and later as deputy head of the North-Eastern Administrative District Department. Some affected filmmakers believe this may have influenced the handling of the alleged fraud case involving IVD Kino.
Throughout the arbitration proceedings, the parties filed dozens of appeals and cassation complaints. The bankruptcy trustee even appealed to the Supreme Court in an effort to establish the Ilizirovs’ alleged connection to the scheme, but the appeal was rejected. The next hearing in the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal is scheduled for March 11.
