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A shadowy enterprise in Russia, purported to have generated astonishing profits that were only outdone by the nation’s leading energy firms, has seemingly vanished without a trace. The focus of this investigation is a company known as Banknota LLC, scrutinized by the Russian-language media outlet RTVI, with additional coverage from independent Russian sources, a Newsweek report said.
In a piece titled “The Most Profitable Company in Russia You’ve Never Heard Of,” RTVI revealed that it made an “unexpected discovery” in June, a month when Russian companies disclose their earnings for the preceding year. RTVI reported that Banknota raked in $37.1 billion in profits last year before it vanished. Financial records indicated that the company reported revenues of 3.7 trillion rubles (approximately $40.4 billion) and net profit 34 trillion rubles (around $37.1 billion) in the previous year, eclipsing all competitors except for state-owned energy corporations Rosneft and Gazprom.
Although Banknota maintained a website that is no longer accessible, it remains archived on the Wayback Machine. The site claimed the firm specialized in mortgage lending, auto loans, and interest-bearing business loans. However, RTVI highlighted that Banknota lacked a banking license. The Unified State Register of Legal Entities lists Dmitry Frolov, a Moscow local with prior petty theft convictions and labeled “unreliable” by Federal Tax, as the company’s sole proprietor.
According to RTVI, Banknota was established in June 2023 alongside four other firms, operating from locations that included a business center and a residential basement. However, there were no actual offices at these addresses, and current occupants had never heard of Frolov or his enterprises.
Experts consulted by RTVI expressed skepticism, noting that such substantial profits could not realistically be generated from mortgages and auto loans. They suggested that the operations of brokers, who act as intermediaries between banks and borrowers, do not necessitate a license. Additionally, Banknota informed Russian tax authorities last December of a branch in Belarus, although no record of such a branch exists in Belarusian business registries. Experts speculated that the company might have diverted funds abroad prior to its disappearance, with one remarking that the financial figures presented in Banknota’s statements “cannot be taken seriously.”
In a piece titled “The Most Profitable Company in Russia You’ve Never Heard Of,” RTVI revealed that it made an “unexpected discovery” in June, a month when Russian companies disclose their earnings for the preceding year. RTVI reported that Banknota raked in $37.1 billion in profits last year before it vanished. Financial records indicated that the company reported revenues of 3.7 trillion rubles (approximately $40.4 billion) and net profit 34 trillion rubles (around $37.1 billion) in the previous year, eclipsing all competitors except for state-owned energy corporations Rosneft and Gazprom.
Although Banknota maintained a website that is no longer accessible, it remains archived on the Wayback Machine. The site claimed the firm specialized in mortgage lending, auto loans, and interest-bearing business loans. However, RTVI highlighted that Banknota lacked a banking license. The Unified State Register of Legal Entities lists Dmitry Frolov, a Moscow local with prior petty theft convictions and labeled “unreliable” by Federal Tax, as the company’s sole proprietor.
According to RTVI, Banknota was established in June 2023 alongside four other firms, operating from locations that included a business center and a residential basement. However, there were no actual offices at these addresses, and current occupants had never heard of Frolov or his enterprises.
Experts consulted by RTVI expressed skepticism, noting that such substantial profits could not realistically be generated from mortgages and auto loans. They suggested that the operations of brokers, who act as intermediaries between banks and borrowers, do not necessitate a license. Additionally, Banknota informed Russian tax authorities last December of a branch in Belarus, although no record of such a branch exists in Belarusian business registries. Experts speculated that the company might have diverted funds abroad prior to its disappearance, with one remarking that the financial figures presented in Banknota’s statements “cannot be taken seriously.”
