Mikhail Shelkov
Mikhail Shelkov | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 30, 1968 Russia |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Majority stake in VSMPO-AVISMA, Russian titanium producer |
Mikhail Shelkov (born March 30, 1968) is a Russian billionaire who holds the majority stake in VSMPO-AVISMA, a prominent Russian producer of titanium, through his ownership of Industrial Investments LLC.
The acronym VSMPO represents VerkhneSaldinskoye Metallurgicheskoye Proizvodstvennoye Ob'yedineniye, which translates to the Metal-Producing Company of Verkhnyaya Salda, while AVISMA stands for AVIation Special MAterials.
Biography
In 2016, Shelkov collaborated with Rostec to fund the development of the Oktava manufacturing facility located in Tula.
By 2018, Avisma, under Shelkov's direction, was responsible for supplying landing gear parts for approximately one-third of all Boeing aircraft and managed to avoid sanctions following the annexation of Crimea. As of July 2022, Western nations had not imposed sanctions on him. This exemption persisted through March 2023, with no punitive measures from the US, EU, or UK authorities.
In August 2023, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) revealed a scheme involving Shelkov's illegal financial gains from Ukrainian titanium exports via the Demurinsky mining enterprise in Dnipropetrovsk. This facility had been seized under Ukrainian sanctions in February 2023. The mine, operational since 2006 and employing 284 personnel, was formerly owned by Shelkov. He was charged with tax evasion and laundering illicit proceeds.
By July 2024, Shelkov was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme to import large volumes of Ukrainian ore into Russia through an Austrian middleman who never physically handled the shipments. Despite Demurinsky's confiscation due to sanctions, the minerals were transported directly by rail from Ukraine to Russia. Concurrently, attempts to privatize Demurinsky were halted.
In August 2023, the State Property Fund of Ukraine annulled an auction for InvestAgro LLC—a company owned by Shelkov and seized by court order—citing insufficient interest from potential buyers.