Putin friend Roldugin is at the center of a court case in Zurich – that’s behind Iran and Saudi Arabia want to normalize relations

On Wednesday, four bankers from Gazprombank Switzerland had to appear before the Zurich court. The accusation: lack of due diligence in financial transactions. It concerns the accounts of cellist Sergey Roldugin, who managed Gazprombank between 2014 and 2016.

It is therefore suspected that the two accounts were not actually Roldugin’s but Vladimir Putin’s. It should have been clear to the bankers that the alleged “ultimate owner” Sergei Roldugin was a stooge, the prosecutor continues. But who is this Roldugin? And what about his relationship with Putin? An overview in three points.

The long-standing friendship between Roldugin and Putin

Sergey Roldugin was born on September 28, 1951 in Sakhalin Oblast. Later he went to school in Riga, Latvia, where his father Pavel, a soldier, was transferred. From an early age he taught Roldugin to play the piano and cello. His talent was apparent early on, in 1980 he was a prize winner at the Prague Spring Festival. The music later led him to the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and later to the renowned Mariinsky Theater, where he achieved fame at home and abroad. From 2002 to 2004 he was Rector of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.

In 1977, Roldugin met Vladimir Putin. The decisive factor was the musician’s brother, who, like Putin, was in the KGB secret service. A friendship was formed that lasted through the years. In 1980, Ruldogin introduced his future wife Lyudmila to Putin, and in 1985 Putin even made Roldugin the godfather of his daughter Maria Vorontsova. In his biography, Roldugin described his relationship with Putin as follows:

When Vladimir Putin started his political advance, Sergei Roldugin also protested. Like many other confidants of the current Kremlin boss, the musician also started a career in business.

Ruldogin’s double life

In 2005, Roldugin became a minority shareholder of Rossiya Bank with a stake of 3.96 percent. This was already part of an underground network orchestrated by Putin. “The shareholders of Bank Rossiya are […] almost all of them have become billionaires,” said Le Monde in 2016. “They are the heart of the Russian oligarchy and control the country’s main assets: oil, gas, railways, construction, media.”

In April 2016, Roldugin’s name surfaced in the Panama Papers scandal. The shady assets he’s linked to include the assets of seven offshore companies, all managed by Rossiya Bank behind the facade of a discreet Swiss law firm, totaling about $2 billion.

Among the thousands of documents seized in Panama, some detail Bank Rossiya’s covert operations. This also applies to Roldugin, who repeatedly presents himself as a “simple” musician who “lives only on his cello” and says he dislikes the term “businessman” that is attributed to him by the media.

In addition, there is speculation about the origin and size of Vladimir Putin’s fortune. As reported by numerous media outlets, the Kremlin boss has for years relied on a network of letterbox companies, all of which are named after his closest confidants. Musician Roldugin could have played a central role and led a double life:

In the wake of the Panama Papers, Washington called him “the custodian of Putin’s offshore fortune.” Others call it “Putin’s wallet”. And since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Roldugin has been among the figures sanctioned by Brussels.

The real owner of the accounts?

The judiciary asked the four bankers in Zurich on Wednesday how a man posing as a simple musician could amass so much wealth and influence. His role as a Kremlin favorite enabled him to “receive considerable sums”.

The enrichment of Putin’s confidante was “reprehensible,” the defense continued, but nothing could indicate that the musician was not the owner of the bills. To prove his good faith, the man “confirmed in writing on February 7, 2022 that he is the true owner of all offshore companies and their holdings,” reports “24 heures”.

One thing is certain: Roldugin has become a master of disguise. In all these years he has managed to fly largely under the radar of the investigative media. He was portrayed much more as a soloist and patron than as a friend of Putin. “Neither an oligarch nor a politician,” said the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” about Roldugin’s role. But who is he then? It remains to be seen whether the Gazprombank case will allow the courts to unravel part of the Roldugin mystery. The verdict will be handed down on March 30.