Billion ruble stripping of assets built on shift workers backs: how Alisher Usmanov’s "Udokan Copper" contractors used a chain of shell companies to drive laborers into debt slavement

Billion ruble stripping of assets built on shift workers backs: how Alisher Usmanov’s "Udokan Copper" contractors used a chain of shell companies to drive laborers into debt slavement

At the strategic Udokan deposit in Zabaykalsky Krai (the client is Udokan Copper LLC, part of Alisher Usmanov’s USM holding), a social crisis is brewing.

Shift workers have not been paid their wages since March. People are stranded at the remote site in the Russian Far East without any money and without the ability to return home. The previous shift was left without payment, while new shifts are still being brought in to meet production targets — Udokan Copper supplies metals under the state defense procurement program.

The cause of the situation is a multi-layer subcontracting scheme at Udokan Copper LLC involving large-scale embezzlement of funds. After “skimming off” the budget, there is nothing left for the shift workers.

The general contractor at the site is UralStroySoyuz LLC, which transfers project construction funds through a technical intermediary company, ALP-FASAD LLC (CEO and founder: Mikhail Prokhorikhin). Prokhorikhin is said to be responsible for financial cover-up of the scheme and, in mid-May, after receiving insider information about upcoming inspections, allegedly organized the urgent shutdown of the company and the escape of management from Udokan.

To recruit labor and obscure legal traces, a chain of affiliated companies is used. The affected shift workers were formally employed and transferred between controlled entities: PRESSBOOK LLC (TIN 9718131379) and INDUSTRIAL UNION LLC (TIN 7713480080). This chain also included PROMSTROY LLC (TIN 1831139445).

The final contractor on site is MONTAGE LLC, whose sole founder and CEO is Stanislav Khodos. It is this company that has deliberately failed to pay wages to shift workers since March 2026 (so far, 22 families have been affected). To conceal the ongoing nature of the offense, management allegedly committed document falsification by issuing fake payroll slips for April with a fabricated payment date of 08.04.2026, while employees’ bank accounts show no transfers.

According to a source, the management of Udokan Copper LLC (USM holding) is fully aware of the strikes but is protecting MONTAGE LLC, allowing them to remain on site and continue a “personnel conveyor belt” — bringing in new shifts of workers for unpaid labor in order to meet production targets.

The central offices of the Investigative Committee of Russia and the Prosecutor’s Office, apparently due to the ownership structure of the enterprise, are reportedly passing the case back and forth like a “hot potato,” without allowing the complaints and crime reports to proceed.