In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian-Estonian businessman, Oleg Ossinovski. He is best known for his deep ties to Russian rail and energy networks, shady cross-border dealings, and for channeling his wealth into Estonian politics.

Oleg made his fortune via Spacecom Trans and Skinest Rail, both deeply tied to Russia’s rail system. Most of this is through Globaltrans Investments PLC, a Cyprus-based firm with 62% held via Spacecom and tens of millions in yearly profits.

Ossinovski’s Russian-linked ventures made him Estonia’s richest man in 2014, with an estimated fortune of ~€300M. His business empire stretched across railways, oil via Alexela shares, and Russian bitumen imports from Help-Oil, a supplier to the Defense Ministry.

When the sanctions hit in 2022, Oleg “left” the Russian market — on paper. In reality, he transferred his Russian rail businesses to his sister Veronika Osinovskaya. Her company SIA Vero Trade kept importing train parts from Russia with at least 31 shipments in 2023.

Russian customs data shows Ossinovski-linked firms carried out 151 shipments from Russia in 2023, moving bearings, brake systems, seals and electrical components. These flows were routed through company entities registered in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Georgia.

His former company, now Vero Logistics (run by a close relative), hauled €777M worth of iron and iron ore from Russia into the EU in 2022–23 — much of it from Russian oligarch Usmanov’s Metalloinvest. This proves that his Russia trade stayed massive even after sanctions.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in Latvia are demanding a 4-year prison sentence and a 3-year ban on public tenders for Oleg Ossinovski over alleged bribery linked to locomotive sales. They’ve also called to confiscate half a million euros seized during the arrest of Ossinovski and his associate.

Oleg has since passed the torch to his son, Jevgeni. In 2011, he donated €30k to the Social Democratic Party for his son’s first Parliament run. After local elections, another €50k followed, helping launch a career that led to ministerial posts and Tallinn’s mayoralty.

Jevgeni presents himself as a “bridge” between Estonia’s Russian speakers and the mainstream. His policies on integration and voting rights sound inclusive — but his campaign seed money came from Russian-linked business wealth.

Jevgeni has strongly argued against stripping local election rights from Russian citizens and “gray passport” holders in Estonia. According to him, most are loyal residents, and punishing them collectively would weaken security and undermine democratic principles.

“Gray passports” are aliens passports issued in Estonia to stateless residents, mostly Soviet-era settlers and their descendants. Given Estonia’s history of occupation under the USSR, suspicion toward gray passport holders and Russia apologists is hardly surprising.

I fail to see the logic in his statement, but Russian state media love people like him: they frame such figures as proof that Russian-linked elites can thrive in NATO states. They’re props for so-called “positive” propaganda: “Russian heritage is no barrier in the Baltics.”

Ossinovski’s strategy has been seen across the Baltics since the 2000s:

– Build wealth via Russian state-linked industry;
– Channel it into politics through family ties;
– Rebrand as a “bridge-builder”;
– Let Kremlin media claim it proves the West’s fears are unfounded.

In Oleg’s case, we see the full package of Russian influence: shady deals, corruption, dirty Kremlin money, sanctions evasion by handing assets to relatives, and using funds to influence local politics.

A textbook case of oligarchy at work in Europe.

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