Chichvarkin Evgeny

Chichvarkin Evgeny

Russian entrepreneur, co-founder and ex-co-owner of Euroset, which owns a network of cellular salons. Since March 2009, it has been on the international wanted list.

Education

After graduating from school in 1991, Chichvarkin entered the State Academy of Management, which he graduated in 1996, receiving a diploma in the specialty "Management Economics on Vehicles." At the same time, he was engaged in trade in clothing markets.

From 1996 to 1998 he studied at the graduate school of the academy.

Biography

1997

On April 2, 1997, together with his friend Timur Artemyev, he created Euroset, which later became the largest Russian cellular retailer.

2005-2006

In 2005, during the scandal surrounding smuggled mobile phones detained by customs, Euroset was the object of attention from law enforcement agencies.

On March 29, 2006, at the exit from the territory of the Sheremetyevo customs, law enforcement officers seized 167,500 Motorola C115 mobile phones intended for Euroset, with a total value of 530 million rubles. On April 26, it was reported that employees of the Moscow State Unitary Enterprise "Promotkhody" the day before had begun to destroy these mobile phones. On August 24, the criminal case was closed for lack of corpus delicti, and 117,500 phones were returned to Euroset.

2008

On September 2, 2008, law enforcement officers searched the central office of Euroset, which was connected with the investigation into the 2003 abduction of former Euroset forwarder Andrei Vlaskin, who was convicted by the company's security service of stealing cell phones.

On September 22, 2008, an agreement was signed on the sale of 100% of Euroset to the investment company ANN, headed by entrepreneur Alexander Mamut. On October 24, 50% minus one share of Euroset was acquired from ANN by Vimpel-Communications.

On November 16, 2008, Chichvarkin headed the still unregistered Moscow city branch of the Right Cause party. He was also put in charge of the party's branding.

On November 20, 2008, it became known that Chichvarkin left the post of chairman of the board of directors of Euroset.

Before leaving the country, he lived on Rublevka in Zhukovka. December 22, 2008 flew to London.

2010: Conflict with the "K" division of the BSTM of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

In May 2010, the ex-co-owner of Euroset, Yevgeny Chichvarkin, published an appeal to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on his personal blog on the Snob magazine website with a request to stop the criminal activities of a werewolf gang in uniform, on whose conscience there are several deaths and robberies of Russian companies worth billions of rubles. Chichvarkin calls the gang the "K" unit of the BSTM of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The businessman claims that in 2005, werewolves in uniform seized goods worth at least 1.5 trillion rubles from seven retail companies. rubles, which were subsequently stolen from the warehouses of the Russian Federal Property Fund (RFBR) under forged documents. The state, in his opinion, got no more than 3% of the cost of this product.

In 2006, the "gang" organized a raider seizure of a batch of Motorola phones for $20 million, says Chichvarkin. Of these, a consignment worth $1 million was stolen, and the rest was returned. This, according to the founder of Euroset, happened "thanks to the open actions of Boris Levin (head of the Euroset security service - approx. CNews) and the subsequent intervention of the country's top leadership."

Chichvarkin also blames the K division for the death of ex-head of Motorola in Russia Sergei Kozlov (left the post in January 2007, died on May 29, 2007), who received a heart attack after interrogations and intimidation, for the death of his assistant's mother Natalia Ikonnikova, as well as for bringing Euroset employee Yuri Rogov to suicide.

In addition, the former head of Euroset accuses the K division of defeating the apartments of his close friends, who kept his belongings, of attacking assistant Ekaterina Kurashova on the day his tax return was handed over, of stealing the laptop of his partner's assistant and of stealing a laptop from a lawyer.

Evgeny Chichvarkin also accuses the "gang" of constant robberies and extortion, of holding and keeping hundreds of key employees of Euroset and many other companies at bay for several years, as well as a raider raid on Euroset on September 2, 2008, the purpose of which was to "take the company away or at least cool its value to zero."

The appeal to the president also states that after the arrest, Euroset employees were interrogated without lawyers, intimidation and even bribery. According to Chichvarkin, the criminal case against Euroset employees is sewn with white threads, and Vlaskin and Smurgin, actively protected by law enforcement agencies, are thieves.

In addition, the ex-owner of Euroset claims that Boris Levin and his subordinates did not commit the grave crimes of which they are accused. In his opinion, "they have been held hostage for almost two years, extorting money from the sale of the company from me."

Euroset, under my leadership, has done a lot for the development of retail technologies and services in Russia, labor productivity indicators were often higher than European ones than other sectors of the Russian economy cannot boast of. Our team, in particular Boris Levin and I, put a lot of forces to legalize the electronics market in Russia, closing billions of dollars in feeders one after another for this and other gangs, "the statement said.

Chichvarkin also said that Boris Levin was sick with hepatitis, and could be killed in prison, as lawyer Magnitsky and many others were killed. According to him, the "gang" initiated a search in the cell where a SIM card not belonging to Levin was found, as a result of which he was placed in a punishment cell, where the spinal disease sharply worsened, after which he spent a month in a prison hospital, where doctors found hepatitis received in prison, which was reported only two months later.

At the end of the appeal, the ex-owner of Euroset listed the names of people whom he considers "werewolves in uniform": Morozov, Pimenov, Knyazev, Gryaznov, Groshev, Filippov, Yukhimenko, Musaev, Borisov and Kitaev. "Watching" "Euroset" he called Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Osvaldo, and "ploughmen" General Konstantin Machabeli and General Boris Miroshnikov.

2020

COVID-19 coronavirus infection and recovery

On May 16, 2020, Yevgeny Chichvarkin wrote on his Instagram page that he had had a coronavirus, and also published a photo with a test result for antibodies to COVID-19. In the comments to his post, the co-founder and former owner of Euroset told how his illness proceeded.

Weakness, drowsiness, low fever. I couldn't believe it was the same [virus]. Then the sense of smell disappeared, after ten days it began to return, - said the Russian businessman.

Evgeny Chichvarkin had a coronavirus and told how the disease went

He noted that he had been ill another 1.5 months ago in a mild form, continuing to ride a bicycle, boxing and drinking wine.

Classes did not interrupt, to drink too. If you are not 80 years old and there is no predisposition to lung diseases, everything looks like a long, weak flu, Chichvarkin said, adding that he was treated with "vitamins and good old penicillin at the end."

After suffering from the disease, he twice passed the coronavirus test, both times the result was negative. The businessman's children, he said, were not infected.

Chichvarkin also said that his test for antibodies to COVID-19 showed a positive result. This means that the co-founder of Euroset has already suffered from coronavirus.

Evgeny Chichvarkin's COVID-19 antibody test result

I do not have AIDS and have antibodies to COVID-19. Well, a real colonel, - wrote Chichvarkin.

By mid-May 2020, Chichvarkin continues to live in Britain, where he is engaged in the wine and restaurant business: he owns the Hide restaurant and the Hedonism Wines wine store.

According to the entrepreneur, in the context of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, his business was in a difficult financial situation.

The business is half alive. Only delivery works. The restaurant is 10% alive because only delivery. We are waiting for indulgences, - said Chichvarkin.[1]

Transfer of funds for treatment in Germany to Alexei Navalny

On October 14, 2020, Navalny announced that the flight from Omsk to Berlin cost 79 thousand euros and was paid by businessman Boris Zimin. The bill for the hospital amounted to 49.9 thousand euros. Read more here.

2025: Wanted List

On July 10, 2025, it became known that Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Yevgeny Euroset Chichvarkin, the founder of the chain of stores, was put on the wanted list (recognized). Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation foreign agent It is known that the entrepreneur is wanted under the article of the Criminal Code (according to which one, not specified).

According to RBC, Chichvarkin lives in Britain, where he moved in 2008. In June 2022, the Ministry of Justice included the founder of Euroset in the list of individuals performing the functions of a foreign agent. According to the department, the businessman is engaged in political activities and receives funding from Ukraine. After that, Chichvarkin was fined twice for violating the procedure for the activities of a foreign agent for amounts from 30 thousand to 50 thousand rubles.

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Фото: Evgeny Chichvarkin's Instagram page (the service belongs to Meta, which is recognized as extremist in Russia, its activities are prohibited)

In February 2025, Chichvarkin was accused of participating in the activities of an organization that was recognized as undesirable in. And Russia a month later, the Prosecutor's Office Moscow demanded to initiate a criminal case against him under Part 2 of Art. 330.1 of the Criminal Code - evading the duties of a foreign agent. It was found that Chichvarkin "continued to distribute messages and materials in one of the video hosting sites without indicating that they were created and (or) distributed by an individual acting as a foreign agent." This article provides for a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles or in the amount of the convict's salary or other income for a period of up to two years or imprisonment for up to two years.

A card with Chichvarkin's data appeared in the database of the criminal investigation department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It contains the following data:

• Reason for the search: wanted under the article of the Criminal Code.
• Male;
• Nationality: Russian;
• Date of Birth: 10.9.1974;
• Place of birth: Russian Federation, city of Moscow;
• Special signs: absent.^[2]

Notes