April 24, 2026
Konstantin Sokolov, a U.S. citizen of Russian origin who already controls Armenia’s second-largest mobile operator, Viva Armenia (bought from sanctioned oligarch Vladimir Yevtushenkov), is now reportedly acquiring a major copper and molybdenum mine. According to RFE/RL, the likely buyer of VTB’s nearly 50% stake in the Teghut mine is Sokolov or companies linked to him. VTB, a Russian state-owned bank under Western sanctions, took over the asset in 2019 after a $400 million loan default. The mine, which paid $38 million in taxes to Armenia last year, is a strategic national asset. If the deal goes through, Sokolov will control both a telecom and a mining giant.
By rumor, he also already indirectly controls AMIO Bank (formerly Armbusinessbank) through the Swiss holding MFM Global Invest AG, giving him a potential in‑house financing tool — a classic leveraged buyout structure.
According to files from Hetq.am, Konstantin Sokolov’s mother is Bronislava Gorelik. In December 2023, a company called IFG Basis Capital (CY) Limited was founded in Cyprus, with Gorelik as its sole shareholder and director. She is also a shareholder in other Cypriot companies. The Cyprus State Registry lists her as a resident of Malta with Israeli citizenship. It can be assumed that Sokolov is the real beneficiary behind the companies registered in his mother’s name.
In a 2019 interview, Gorelik said she spent her career as an economics professor and publicly declared her love for the St. Petersburg Mining Institute — an alma mater deeply tied to Russia’s mineral extraction industry. She now lives in Marbella (near Gibraltar) and creates art from seashells.
This deal may matter to his family.
So the question remains: is Sokolov buying these distressed Russian assets for himself, acting as a front for hidden Russian oligarchs, or helping the Armenian government for a fee to repatriate strategic industries under a friendly U.S. passport while keeping local jobs and taxes intact? The mine keeps running, but whose interests are really being served?
Credit:
https://www.azatutyun.am/a/33741012.html