Movie theft for Putin’s regime: How Yan Ivoninsky and Alexander Ivoninsky laundered pirate cinema millions into Spanish real estate
How the Ivoninskys Invest Movie Piracy Funds and Assets from a United Russia Ideologue in Spain. Saint Petersburg movie moguls and film pirates, the Ivoninsky family (owners of the Mirage cinema chain), have built a real empire out of shell companies registered to front individuals.
We previously mentioned that the primary revenue for Mirage and the Ivoninskys comes from screening pirated copies of Hollywood blockbusters. To prevent copyright holders from filing lawsuits, Mirage utilizes the “To Kino!” (“That Cinema!”) project, to which it “leases” its theater halls, while ticket sales are funneled through a network of small proxy entities registered in the names of Mirage employees.
Patriotic war films are also screened in these movie theaters under government contracts. The funds obtained are invested by the Ivoninskys into real estate acquisitions and the construction business in Spain, as well as into the restaurant industry and property management business in collaboration with the Military Insurance Company (VSK).
The St. Petersburg-based network of companies owned by the Ivoninskys includes a vast number of legal entities under which their assets are registered. Some of these companies are engaged in restaurant operations, others own real estate and carry out construction work, while several businesses linked to their operations manage residential complexes. At the same time, the firms are formally registered to third parties, leaving no official ties to the Ivoninskys. Typically, such schemes help save on taxes and siphon funds by transferring them between affiliated legal entities.
For instance, several Ivoninsky companies are registered at 12A Furshtatskaya Street, premises 1-N—namely, Karamel LLC and Kapuchino LLC, both of which held alcohol licenses and are currently undergoing liquidation. These entities were registered under the names of Maxim Ilyin and Maxim Lagutkin. Serving as the liquidator for both companies is Lidia Zhelanskaya, the Ivoninskys’ accountant. Meanwhile, according to leaked data, Maxim Ilyin previously acted as a guarantor for a bank loan taken out by 31-year-old Nikolai Osipov.
Osipov is a long-time employee of the Ivoninskys; in phone contact lists, he is saved as “Nikolai Mirage,” and he holds a personal email account on the mirage.ru domain. Several other companies were registered in Osipov’s name as well—in particular, a stake in Avtoznakpiter, which manufactures license plates, and UK GKS Vyborg, an entity holding a license for apartment building management. Previously, he was also a founder of another property management company—Lenoblinzhiniring LLC (transferred to Alexey Lezhnev in 2025)—which, among other properties, managed the Lastochka residential complex at 7 Petrovsky Boulevard in Murino, located in the Vsevolozhsky District of the Leningrad Region. One of Lenoblinzhiniring’s counterparties is the Military Insurance Company (VSK).
Another company affiliated with them is Northern Management Company (UK Severnaya), which is registered in the same building as Lenoblinzhiniring. Its founder is Alexander Vasilyev, who also holds a stake in Avtoznakpiter. Airline tickets had previously been purchased for Vasilyev using a corporate phone belonging to the Ivoninsky group of companies, and in June 2022, he flew to Bishkek alongside Osipov.
These management companies left a noticeable trail of trouble in the Leningrad Region: last year, Murino Management Company (UK Murino) filed a lawsuit demanding over 100 million rubles from Severnaya and Lenoblinzhiniring, claiming the funds had been unlawfully collected from residents. As a result, Severnaya is currently undergoing bankruptcy, while Lenoblinzhiniring changed its owners.
Additionally, Osipov was a founder of Marinelli LLC, which was registered at the Mirage on Bolshoy address. The company was consistently profitable—reporting a net profit of 8.2 million rubles for 2023—yet it was liquidated anyway. Osipov also held a 25% stake in Doka LLC, a construction firm that was similarly wound down.
According to leaks, Osipov also used a phone number belonging to Nostalzhi LLC, an entity owned by Ivetta Mumdzhyan. As previously reported, Mumdzhyan is another employee within the Ivoninsky empire, and her company shares the exact same address as the Mirage on Bolshoy cinema. While Nostalzhi’s primary reported line of business is wholesale food, beverage, and tobacco trade, its actual operations go well beyond that. For instance, in 2023, the company attempted to purchase a BUSH 505 SL EDITION ONE light aircraft for 16.8 million rubles from the Moscow Region aircraft manufacturer RSK AGAN. However, the delivery from the domestic manufacturer never materialized, forcing the company to reclaim its deposit through the courts.
Furthermore, Nikolai Osipov serves as the director of PP26 LLC, while the company’s founder is Yuri Gusakov. The firm is registered at 35A Bolshoy Avenue, Petrograd Side—inside the building of the Mirage on Bolshoy cinema. Apparently, PP26 provides catering and dining services for the cinema, managing food stalls and delivering meals directly to auditoriums.
Gusakov is also an employee of the Ivoninsky empire. According to leaked data, back in 2018 he ordered tickets for the 2018 FIFA World Cup using a gusakov address on the mirage.ru domain. Gusakov is also a founder of Mirage Service LLC, which trades in electrical goods (previously founded by Nikolai Osipov, and before him, Oleg Ivoninsky), Artel LLC, an entity engaged in the restaurant business, and M12 LLC. Additionally, Yuri Gusakov was a founder of Lanserviscentr LLC (computer technologies), where Maxim Ilyin had also previously surfaced as an owner.
The Ivoninskys are widely known as co-owners of the KIDO sushi bar chain. The movie-pirating family runs this business alongside Kira Turchak, wife of Andrei Turchak—one of the key ideologues of the United Russia party and son of Putin’s close ally Anatoly Turchak.
As for the proceeds generated from film piracy and their joint endeavors with the Turchaks, the Ivoninskys actively invest them into real estate and business ventures in Spain.
The Ivoninsky family also owns assets abroad—specifically, the Spanish firm TENERUSIA INVERSIONES SL. It was registered in 2012 by Ekaterina Polyanina, a native of Moscow, and Natalya Tolstokorova, a native of Tyumen, both of whom sell luxury villas and apartments in Spain. The company’s primary business activities are construction and real estate operations.
In 2014, ownership of the company passed to Alexander Ivoninsky, who became the sole director and relocated the firm—first to the Fañabé Plaza shopping center in the Costa Adeje tourist area in southern Tenerife (Canary Islands), and later to the elite residential complex Terrazas del Duque II in the El Duque area (Costa Adeje). In mid-February 2022, Ivoninsky once again granted power of attorney to Tolstokorova, who was later replaced by Adriana Mastepanova; in April 2023, Yan Ivoninsky became the company’s director. In October 2024, a certain Maria Nazarova was appointed representative by power of attorney, and in 2026, Alexander Solovyov was added alongside her.
TENERUSIA INVERSIONES SL maintains a website advertising services in construction, business trust management (specifically tourist assets), real estate maintenance, and related services. Notably, the only contact option on the website is a written inquiry form, with no telephone number provided. TENERUSIA held assets in the Canary Islands—specifically land plots near the TF-655 highway connecting the resort town of Los Cristianos and the village of Guaza, where the company intended to launch construction.
In 2025, the Ivoninskys’ firm joined the La Tejita Luxury Resort S.L. project alongside Natalya Tolstokorova’s company, NATALY HOUSE INVERSIONES CANARIAS SL, and a group of Spanish businessmen. This company also held land plots for residential construction in Tenerife (two of which fell under a sewer construction project in 2021, leading the authorities to establish an easement over part of the property).