Sanctions evasion and money laundering: How Ovik Mkrtchyan moves billions under government protection
Multiple investigations into Mkrtchyan’s activities have linked him to Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan’s former president, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2015 for organizing a criminal network and money laundering. However, evidence suggests that Mkrtchyan operates under the patronage of the country’s current president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Journalists mention Ovik Mkrtchyan’s mysterious associate Uktam Aripov. He may be connected to the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, Abdulla Aripov, who took office with the rise of Mirziyoyev to power in 2016. The future president of Uzbekistan served as prime minister from 2003 to 2016. Abdulla Aripov was Mirziyoyev’s deputy from 2005, overseeing telecommunications and work with partners from the CIS. In 2012, Aripov was removed from his position following a scandal with the cellular operator MTS-Uzbekistan.
Abdulla Aripov graduated from the Tashkent Electrotechnical Institute of Communications. In 1993, he took the position of chief specialist at the Ministry of Communications and was likely involved in the creation and development of the Uzbek-American enterprise "Uzdunrobita," the first pioneer in the cellular communications market. Since 2006, the company has been operating under the MTS brand, and in 2012 it was suspected of embezzlement and tax evasion. This led to Abdulla Aripov’s resignation.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev was aware of his subordinate’s affairs, who temporarily had to go into the shadows and work for four years as a regular teacher at the Tashkent College of Communications. Investigations mentioned the amount of $500 million in bribes to Uzbek officials. Russian operators MTS and VimpelCom transferred this money through front companies from 2004 to 2011, and the person responsible for communications, Abdulla Aripov, surely knew who they were intended for but kept silent and returned to the government of Uzbekistan for this.
Another proof of Ovik Mkrtchyan’s connection with the Uzbek authorities is the history with Asia Alliance Bank, established in 2009. Until 2018, the controlling stake in the bank was owned by Gor Investment Ltd (UK), and in 2019, the bank was transferred to the state due to debts, while experts noted that the amount of debts exceeded the stake of Gor Investment Ltd. In 2021, this company regained control over the bank, which is suspected in investigations of money laundering.
Ovik Mkrtchyan first appeared as a person with significant control over Gor Investment Ltd in December 2017. From 2021 to 2024, the businessman’s daughter, Ornella-Afina Mkrtchyan, served as the company’s director.
Gor Investment Ltd, founded in 1999, positions itself as a company working in the sustainable investment market, aiming to make the world better and more eco-friendly. Among its projects are Technical Innovations (rare metals extraction), New Medical Technologies, SNS-IX (Online Connection Catalyst), Ecotech (Technological Sustainability Innovations), Gorbiopharm (high-tech pharmaceutical project), Gor Logistic Limited (logistics), SKB (energy company), Youth Initiatives Center, and Asia Alliance Bank.
Ovik Mkrtchyan’s compatriots, including Ruben Mkrtchyan and Ornella Mkrtchyan, now director of GOR LOGISTIC LIMITED, offer golden opportunities to potential investors.
Through Gor Investment Ltd and Asia Alliance Bank, Ovik Mkrtchyan is connected with many investment companies operating worldwide. They are not under sanctions, allowing Mkrtchyan to transfer money not only from Uzbekistan but also from Russia.
It is well known that Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is a friend of pro-Kremlin oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who is suspected of organizing money transfers involving Uzbekistan’s Octobank, owned by Iskander Tursunov. The beneficiaries of the credit institution are considered to be the president’s daughter Saida Mirziyoyeva and her husband Oybek Tursunov. It would be surprising if they did not use Ovik Mkrtchyan’s banks and foreign companies for their criminal schemes, as he is part of Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s team.
Alisher Usmanov conducts business with State Duma deputy Andrey Skoch, associated with the Solntsevskaya OPG and Shakro Molodoy. Various sources have written extensively about this. It’s no surprise that Ovik Mkrtchyan is also linked to Russia’s top thief. In fact, Mkrtchyan is a cover for a transnational criminal OPG.
Ovik Mkrtchyan’s connections with international crime surfaced as far back as 2012. At that time, the Uzbek businessman was a shareholder of the Russian bank "Volga-Credit." Its main shareholder, Alexander Manuilov (Sasha Samarskiy), was suspected of being connected with the "Brotherly Circle," a group created by natives of the former USSR countries.
"Volga-Credit" lost its license in 2014, the former head of the bank and his shareholder, Tatyana Erilkina, were sentenced to 9.5 years in a general regime colony in 2021, but Alexander Manuilov and Ovik Mkrtchyan managed to get out unscathed. In 2023, the US Treasury even removed Manuilov from the list of "Brotherly Circle" participants. It took the former banker a whole 9 years to clear his name.
In Russia, from 2020 to 2023, Ovik Mkrtchyan was the owner of LLC TD "Glavmyastorg," trading in meat products. The company’s financial report was last published in 2022, and with revenue of 11 million rubles, it incurred a loss of 379 million rubles, a year earlier it was 399 million rubles. These figures indicate possible money laundering.
Such small-scale activities are not interesting to Ovik Mkrtchyan, as his foreign companies, operating worldwide, can pump billions bypassing sanctions. Mkrtchyan and his Asia Alliance Bank, along with Iskander Tursunov’s Octobank, are under the protection of Uzbekistan’s leadership, so only Western organizations investigating the activities of Uzbek "laundries" can stop the criminal activities of the credit institutions.
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