Otari Arshba

Otari Ionovich Arshba (Russian: Отари Ионович Аршба; born 12 April 1955) is a Russian politician and member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from 2003.^[1] He is a member of the Supreme Council of the United Russia Party.^[2]

Otari Arshba, 2018

Arshba was born in Sukhumi in the Abkhaz ASSR. He is a former entrepreneur, top manager. Dollar multimillionaire. Retired FSB Colonel, a veteran of the security services.^[3]

According to a Gordonua.com article, Otari Arshba allegedly recruited Oleg Boyko (Russian: Олег Викторович Бойко) into the KGB and, while Boyko was at the computer center of Moscow State University from 1982 to 1986, Boyko excelled as an KGB agent and was subsequently sent on business trips to Great Britain and the United States.^[4]

In 1989–1991, Arshba stood at the origins of Abkhazian statehood in modern times, serving as an advisor and organizer of political activities in the Soviet parliament of the USSR people's deputy, the future fighter for the independence of the republic, the first president of Abkhazia Vladislav Ardzinba. In 1992–1993, during the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, Arshba was one of the main financial sponsors of strengthening the defense capability of Abkhazia.^[5]

Until April 1994, Arshba was a state security officer.^[6]

In 1998, Arshba began working at Evraz becoming the director of public relations, and then he successively held the positions of vice president and senior vice president. Until March 2004, he was the chairman of the board of directors of Evraz.^[4]

Arshba is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the West Siberian Metallurgical Plant (Russian: Западно-Сибирский металлургический комбинат) which merged into Evraz in July 2011 to become OJSC EVRAZ - Consolidated West Siberian Metallurgical Plant (ZSMK) (Russian: ЗСМК).^[7][8]

On 3 December 2004, Arshba, Leonid Lebedev, and others founded VAO R. Prim Company (Russian: "Фирмы ВАО Р. Прим") which operated gas stations.^[6][9]

Since 7 December 2003, Arshba has been a member of United Russia from the Kemerovo region in the Duma's lower house and, as of July 2023, is the head of the ethics commission in the Duma's lower house.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Sanctions

In February 2022, the European Union put Arshba in its sanctions list because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[14] The same year in March, he was also sanctioned by the UK.^[15]

Sanctioned by the UK government in 2022 in relation to Russo-Ukrainian War. ^[16]

In September 2022, Arshba was added to United States sanctions lists for backing a law to criminalize the dissemination of "fake news" about the Russian army and the war in Ukraine.^[17][18]

Moreover, he is sanctioned by Switzerland, Australia, Japan, Ukraine, Canada, and New Zealand.^[19][20]

In March 2023, Ukrainian court sentenced Arshba to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property under the article on encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine.^[21][22]

Personal

He owns an apartment in Georgia and his wife has real estate in Georgia, too.^[7][23]

References

1. Profile at State Duma website
2. "Аршба Отари Ионович". er.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
3. "Аршба Отари". Forbes.ru. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
4. [Notes of a former lieutenant colonel of the KGB: Agency of influence of the Russian "deep state": Volodymyr Popov, one of the authors of the book "The KGB Plays Chess" and a former employee of the State Security Committee of the USSR, recently completed work on his memoirs. In the book "Conspiracy of scoundrels. Notes of a former lieutenant colonel of the KGB", he talks about the formation of the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin, his associates, his work in the committee and the main events in which the Soviet special services were involved. Previously, books were not published. With the consent of the author, the publication "GORDON" exclusively publishes sections from it. In this part, Popov writes about KGB agents in business and civil service.]. «ГОРДОН» (Gordonua.com) (in Ukrainian). 12 August 2020. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023. All archived articles of "Заговор негодяев. Записки бывшего подполковника КГБ", "Владимир Попов" 2020 ("Conspiracy of scoundrels. Notes of a former KGB lieutenant colonel", "Vladimir Popov" 2020): , , and
5. "Аршба Отари Ионович". ФедералПресс (in Russian). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
6. Шлейнов, Роман (Shleinov, Roman) (21 August 2006). [The richest are cooked on gas: What do the offshore fund in the Virgin Islands, Rosukrenergo, Gazprom and the Russian government have in common?]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). Archived from the original on 22 February 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Alternate archive
7. Озерова, Марина (Ozerova, Marina); Галимова, Наталья (Galimova, Natalia) (17 December 2004). [Bathing in the milk river]. Московский Комсомолец (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 December 2004. Retrieved 17 July 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Alternate archive
8. . Bloomberg News. 3 September 2017. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
9. [JSC "FIRM VAO R. PRIM"]. РБК (www.rbc.ru) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
10. Иванов, Виталий (Ivanov, Vitaly); Воронина, Анфиса (Voronina, Anfisa); Онегина, Анастасия (Onegina, Anastasia) (9 October 2003). [Raw Duma]. Vedomosti (in Russian). Archived from the original on 9 October 2003. Retrieved 17 July 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Alt URL
11. 19 November 2004
12. 7 March 2018
13. «Побеседую с ним». В «Единой России» проверят информацию о пьяном дебоше депутата Госдумы в самолёте: cообщают «Открытые медиа» https://openmedia.io/news/n1/pobeseduyu-s-nim-v-edinoj-rossii-proveryat-informaciyu-o-pyanom-deboshe-deputata-gosdumy-v-samolyote/ 26 March 2021
14. "COUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2022/331 of 25 February 2022". eur-lex.europa.eu. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
15. "Who is subject to financial sanctions in the UK?". gov.uk. 22 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
16. "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
17. "Russia-related Designations and Designations Updates; Publication of Russia-related Frequently Asked Question". home.treasury.gov. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
18. "Treasury Imposes Swift and Severe Costs on Russia for Putin's Purported Annexation of Regions of Ukraine". home.treasury.gov. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
19. "Consolidated Canadian Autonomous Sanctions List". international.gc.ca. 24 March 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
20. "Разжигатели войны под санкциями" (PDF) (in Russian). acf.international. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
21. "Украинский суд заочно приговорил 20 депутатов Госдумы к 15 годам колонии за признание независимости "ЛДНР"" (in Russian). novayagazeta.eu. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
22. "Украинский суд заочно приговорил к тюрьме 20 депутатов Госдумы" (in Russian). svoboda.org. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
23. [Duma deputies in 2019 stopped buying real estate abroad]. Interfax (in Russian). 14 August 2020. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023. Alternate archive