In the fall of 2022, for a month and a half, PMC Convoy, led by Konstantin Pikalov, a former subordinate of Yevgeny Prigozhin, received 437.5 million rubles, some of them from the company of Arkady Rotenberg and VTB Bank. This was reported by the Dossier Center with reference to the banking data of the Convoy structures.
SPbKO «Convoy» was established in 2009 by Pikalov and other activists of the Cossack movement in St. Petersburg. Until 2014, the Cossacks wore the uniform of the Imperial convoy and participated in various events. According to the documents reviewed by the researchers, after that Pikalov began flying to cities near the Ukrainian border, including with Wagner PMC mercenaries.
Already in January 2015, the Cossack society established a private «military security company "Konvoy"». At the same time, there was no active activity behind her. Three years later, Pikalov began working for the Wagner PMC, he was assigned the call sign Mazai. The Insider wrote that he actually worked on an equal footing with Prigozhin, but Dossier journalists believe that this is impossible, since Pikalov did not have the professional skills of a mercenary or security guard.
Soon, cooperation with the founder of Wagner PMC ended. After the start of the war, the founders of PMC Convoy developed a plan for the protection of railway tracks on the 150-kilometer section of Melitopol-Dzhankoy. Then they started signing contracts with mercenaries.
According to Dossier journalists who have read the documents, at the beginning of 2023, 261 people worked in the staff of the Convoy, by the summer this number had increased to 400. In addition, the mercenaries had their own base in the Crimea near the village of Perevalnoe. The site has a shooting range, a tactical training field, a grenade throwing town, an autodrome, a residential town and utility buildings.
Earlier, the media claimed that PMC Konvoy was financed by Crimean businessmen. The Dossier Center writes that the banking data of the Cossack society and the military security company indicate, among other things, transfers from the account of the Sanatorium Ai-Petri JSC. Now it is owned by Arkady Rotenberg through the Management Company for Infrastructure Projects (UKIP). Last October, the sanatorium donated 120 million rubles to the Cossacks.
Another 100 million rubles were transferred to the Convoy account from the account of the VTB Strana charity fund, the same amount was transferred to the Cossacks from the account of the bank itself. A donation in the amount of 109.5 million rubles was made by Promresurs LLC, Novosibirsk, which is not connected with Crimea, and ended 2022 with a loss of 24.7 million rubles. The owner said the money went «to a good cause.»
Also, «PMC Convoy» was financed by Moscow LLC «Koal Trading». The general director of the company simultaneously works as the operating director of the Mikhailov and Partners group of companies. According to the site, the firm «in light of the events of 2022» helps clients «avoid loss of profits and assets», and also resolves issues «on business relocation» and the creation of an «alternate airfield».