Source: The Guardian, “Why did Donald Trump Jr turn up in a tiny British enclave looking for money?”
In November 2025, Donald Trump Jr. visited Gibraltar, a British overseas territory known as a haven for the ultra-rich. Armed police blocked off roads as his convoy arrived at Hassans, a law firm representing international clients. The purpose of the visit was never officially disclosed.
The Trumps’ only obvious connection to Gibraltar was the $300m White House ballroom renovation project. In October 2025, the president published a list of donors. Alongside tech companies and weapons manufacturers was Konstantin Sokolov, a Russian-born US businessman who now represents Armenian business interests.
Sokolov is looking for financing a £1.8bn AI data centre in Gibraltar — the largest outside investment in the enclave’s history. His local representative attended the meetings at Hassans, alongside Gibraltar’s chief minister, Fabian Picardo.
According to sources briefed on the meetings, Trump Jr. was not there for the data centre. Instead, he pitched his own investment funds, including 1789 Capital — described as the “financial wing of the MAGA movement” — which he joined after his father returned to the White House.
Context for the archive: Sokolov’s presence in Gibraltar — and his connection to Trump Jr.’s visit — reinforces a recurring pattern: Russian-born capital, routed through Armenian structures (Viva Armenia, AMIO Bank), now intersects with Trump family business interests. The Guardian notes Sokolov as “Russian-born,” but his current business identity is firmly tied to Armenia — a jurisdiction increasingly used as a proxy for Russian financial operations. Whether this is diversification or deliberate distancing remains an open question.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times, “White House donor list for Trump’s ballroom includes Chicago entrepreneur”
Konstantin Sokolov, head of Chicago-based private equity firm IJS Investments, is among the 37 donors helping to fund the construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the White House.
The $300 million project, championed by President Trump, involves demolishing the East Wing. The donor list includes tech and crypto giants: Coinbase, Tether, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Palantir, Lockheed Martin. Sokolov, a Russian-born entrepreneur, is named alongside them.
According to the Sun-Times, Sokolov:
Founded IJS Investments in 2006, focusing on “infrastructure, technology and finance”
Is a shareholder in Viva Armenia (formerly MTS Armenia)
Serves as chairman of the Northern Pillar Energy Consortium (renewable energy between Africa and Europe)
Donated $100 million to the University of Chicago Booth, which renamed its Executive MBA Program in his honor
Previously donated $1.5 million to Booth’s Gleacher Center
Holds an MBA from Booth and a master’s from St. Petersburg State University
Moved to the U.S. in 1997 at age 21
Has homes in Miami, Switzerland, and Malta, and visits Chicago six times a year
The article notes that IJS Investments did not respond to requests for comment. Donation amounts are undisclosed, though one donor (Boxabl’s CEO) publicly stated a $10 million stock donation.
Here’s the list of individuals and companies helping to pay for the ballroom:
Altria Group
Amazon
Apple
Booz Allen Hamilton
Caterpillar
Coinbase
Comcast Corp.
J. Pepe and Emilia Fanjul
Hard Rock International
Google
HP
Lockheed Martin
Meta Platforms
Micron Technology
Microsoft
NextEra Energy
Palantir Technologies
Ripple
Reynolds American
T-Mobile
Tether America
Union Pacific Railroad
Adelson Family Foundation
Stefan E. Brodie
Betty Wold Johnson Foundation
Charles and Marissa Cascarilla
Edward and Shari Glazer
Harold Hamm
Benjamin Leon Jr.
The Lutnick Family
The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation
Stephen A. Schwarzman
Konstantin Sokolov
Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher
Paolo Tiramani
Cameron Winklevoss
Tyler Winklevoss
Context for the archive: This Sun-Times article functions as a de facto PR vehicle for Sokolov. It lists his talking points — Armenian telecom stake, Booth donation, renewable energy initiative — without scrutiny. Notably absent: any mention of his $11 million in 2025 MAGA Inc. donations, his involvement with AMIO Bank, or the opaque nature of IJS Investments’ portfolio. The timing — as the White House ballroom project faces criticism from preservationists — suggests a mutually beneficial arrangement: a donor gets positive press, the administration gets a friendly story.
Source: Financial-World.org, “Gibraltar to build AI data center worth over 2 billion euros”
Gibraltar, strategically located near Spain and the Costa del Sol — a region densely populated by international and Russian entrepreneurs — has long been a haven for offshore capital and high-net-worth individuals.
Gibraltar is set to host a massive AI data centre valued at approximately €2.08 billion (£1.8 billion) — one of the largest investments in the British overseas territory’s history. The facility, planned for the city’s port, will operate on its own energy supply, independent of Gibraltar’s local grid. Construction will occur in five phases, with the first expected to be completed by 2027 and full operations by 2033. The project is projected to create up to 500 construction jobs and 100 permanent positions.
The data centre is managed by Pelagos Data Centres. The company’s president is Konstantin Sokolov.
Gibraltar, strategically located near Spain and the Costa del Sol — a region densely populated by international and Russian entrepreneurs — has long been a haven for offshore capital and high-net-worth individuals.
According to the announcement, the project will be financed entirely by private investment, with support from the Gibraltar government. The facility will use renewable energy sources supplemented by liquefied natural gas generators, with a goal of being fully powered by renewables by 2030. Waste heat will be repurposed for other local projects.
Konstantin Sokolov, president of Pelagos Data Centres, stated that the centre “opens a new chapter for Gibraltar and Europe’s digital opportunities” and will help position Gibraltar as a “strategic center of innovation.”
Joe Bossano, Gibraltar’s Minister of Economic Development, framed the project as a historic milestone: “Then we secured the future of Gibraltar, today we are doing it again.”
Context for the archive:Context for the archive: This article is a straight press release from Pelagos Data Centres — no independent verification, no questions asked. Sokolov appears as president of the company, presenting a multi-billion-euro vision with ambitious timelines (2027 first phase, 2030 renewable goal, 2033 full completion). Notably absent: any mention of secured financing. As previously documented in The Guardian’s coverage (December 2025), Sokolov was still seeking financing for this same project. This September 2025 announcement precedes that — and raises the question: what changed in three months, and where is the money coming from?
The shortage of information and clarity about the building of a new data centre in Gibraltar, which has just made a splash in the press, surpasses what is made public.
All investment is good for Gibraltar, but it must be assessed with full information and not just the spin that big numbers provide.
To date all we have is much public fanfare with few real numbers, and no questions asked by the press on that front yet. We have news by press release and statements.
Noise and environmental issues are also good reasons why siting these centres cause protests.
It is for the GSD Opposition to inquisitively investigate and make public the missing parts of the jigsaw. We look forward to that but if history is anything to go by, expectations are not high.
The ubiquity of Hassans Law Firm is shown by the presence of its two senior partners James Levy and Tony Provasoli in photographs with the investors, and with Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, a partner in Hassans also but on sabbatical.
£1.8 BILLION?
We are told that the new centre will attract investment of “approximately £1.8 billion” between now and 2033, not that it is an investment of that amount by its promotor Pelagos Data Centres [Pelagos].
Christian JA Ryan, president of Gibraltar operations for Pelagos, confirms as much, saying, “Expected to attract approximately £1.8 billion in investment this project will enhance Gibraltar’s economy by creating jobs and supporting local businesses.”
Note the use of the word ‘expected’, which weakens the certainty with which the figure of £1.8 billion is being bandied about.
LITTLE INFORMATION ON PELAGOS
Pelagos is run by experienced businessperson and investor Konstantin Sokolov.
No information is contained in the local press about the financial standing and history of Pelagos.
We are told about Mr Sokolov that he donated $100 million to the University of Chicago to support an Executive MBA Program but see further below about him.
NO GREAT EMPLOYMENT INCREASE
Pelagos reveals that up to 500 jobs will be created in the construction of the centre.
It may be a number to boast about, but those jobs are temporary for a few years and will be spread out over the period of construction.
Pelagos projects that around 100 permanent full-time posts will result on completion.
It does not specify whether those will be in Gibraltar.
Currently it employs 50 full-time shared between London and Gibraltar. Only jobs created in Gibraltar will have some impact on the local employment economy and government tax and social security take.
It is not a vast number, so the contribution in PAYE and social security is not that significant.
FREE SITE?
We are told that the data centre will be built on a 20,000 square metre site in the vicinity of the port. The site is presently publicly owned.
There is no information on how much, if anything, has been paid by Pelagos for the site.
It seems also that the site has not been put out to public tender.
TAX ADVANTAGES?
Additionally, there is no information on whether Development Aid concessions have or will be granted to Pelagos.
Those would reduce tax and rates payments to the public purse for a lengthy period.
It will make up a public purse contribution to the investment that is to the benefit of Pelagos and will reduce the gains to the public purse for some years.
PROMOTE ACTIVITY
The project is expected to excite demand for local services, support growth in the digital and technology sectors and boost Gibraltar’s and the regions attraction for international investment.
Those expected increases are not quantified, but any such economic growth is to be welcomed.
GIBEXIT
It remains unknown whether the data centre project will or will not be affected if there is no Gibexit treaty between the UK and Spain to govern Gibraltar’s status within the EU.
The timing announced will coincide with any announcement about the finalisation of such a Gibexit treaty.
WHO IS KONSTANTIN SOKOLOV?
An internet search uncovers that Mr Sokolov “is an experienced entrepreneur and private equity investor with a track record of transforming critical infrastructure in the telecommunications, energy and financial services sector.”
“In addition to Konstantin’s role as founder of IJS Investments, he has led restructuring projects for sovereign wealth funds and central banks and has steered the listing of firms on all major stock exchanges.
Konstantin has established the Northern Pillar Energy Consortium, an initiative to connect Europe and Africa, providing clean, affordable energy and high-speed digital communications to meet the needs of tomorrow’s world. An expert in the energy sector, he was previously Managing Director for Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions at Centrica PLC.
As a major shareholder in Viva, the largest mobile and telecommunication company in Armenia, he has championed digital transformation, drawing on his previous expertise as Director of Enterprise Architecture at Qwest Communications (now Lumen Technologies). In that role, he helped to modernize United States Government telecommunications infrastructure and developed pioneering, next-generation solutions in telecommunications and financial services. He has also provided strategic counsel to governments and major companies.
A married father-of-two, he has a master’s degree in mathematics and computer science and an Executive MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.”
YEREVAN, August 7: /ARKA/. The Armenian government plans to sell its 20% stake in Viva Armenia for $50 million. At a government meeting on Thursday, the decision was made to grant permission to sign a put option agreement.
Armenia – Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (right) and Konstantin Sokolov (left) attend an event dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Viva Armenia cellphone network, Yerevan, July 1, 2025.
According to the rationale for the decision, the government decree of February 29, 2024 states that the Republic of Armenia accepted 20% (110,000 shares) of MTS Armenia CJSC shares, valued at 1,000 drams each, as a gift from Fedilco Group Limited. A total of 550,000 shares have been issued.
The company has proposed concluding a put option agreement with the government. In accordance with the agreement, the company will have the right to buy back the donated shares in the future under the terms stipulated by the agreement, subject to certain conditions.
The option agreement establishes that, given that the company (buyer) and the RA Government (seller), represented by the Prime Minister’s Office, are the respective legal and beneficial owners of 80% and 20% of Viva Armenia CJSC shares, the buyer agrees to grant the seller an option to sell the option shares.
If the seller notifies the buyer of exercising the option, the buyer must pay the seller a total compensation amount of $50 million within 90 days of completing the transaction. This process will be carried out in accordance with the RA Law “On Privatization of State Property.”
About Viva
Viva (Viva Armenia CJSC, formerly VivaCell) received a license to operate in 2004. In September 2007, after selling 80% of its shares, Viva became a subsidiary of the Russian company Mobile TeleSystems (MTS). Following the co-branding initiative in 2008, the company’s logo was updated to “VivaCell-MTS.”
In January 2024, Viva announced a change in ownership and left the Russian MTS Group.
Fedilco Group Limited, a company registered in Cyprus, is the new shareholder of Viva Armenia CJSC. Zhe Zhang and Konstantin Sokolov are the ultimate beneficiaries of Fedilco Group Limited.
On February 29, 2024, the government of Armenia accepted a 20% stake in MTS Armenia CJSC as a gift from Fedilco Group Limited. Today, the company has a wide service network of 74 service centers in Yerevan and the regions where MobiDram branches also operate.
The government announced on Thursday plans to sell its minority stake in one of Armenia’s three mobile phone operators which was donated to it by the company’s current foreign owners last year.
Fedilco Group Limited, a little-known firm registered in Cyprus, ceded the 20 percent stake in January 2024 after Armenian state regulators allowed it to buy the Viva Armenia operator from Russia’s MTS telecom giant. The authorities in Yerevan had blocked the takeover in 2023, citing national security concerns.
The government said that Fedilco has requested an option to buy back the stake. It accepted the offer on the condition that the company pays $50 million and meets other conditions not publicized by it.
A government statement gave no reason for the decision. Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan also did not clearly explain it when he spoke to journalists after a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan.
Fedilco is the third foreign company to have given the government sizable minority shares in its Armenian subsidiary free of charge. Russia’s GeoProMining group was the first to do so right after buying Armenia’s largest metallurgical enterprise in 2021. And earlier in January 2024, the government was formally granted a 12.5 percent stake in a multimillion-dollar gold mining project which it helped to freeze in 2018 but is now trying to revive.
In 2025, Konstantin Sokolov, MBA ’05 (XP-74), announced a $100 million gift to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The school’s Executive MBA Program was subsequently renamed the Sokolov Executive MBA Program.
The university’s announcement does not specify the source of the $100 million — whether cash, stock, Amazon gift cards, or a pledge payable over time.
A video published by the school invites viewers to learn how Sokolov’s Booth experience led to his “extraordinary investment.”
The Armenian Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) approved Rostelecom’s (operating in Armenia under the OVIO brand) sale of 100% of the shares in its Armenian telecom subsidiary GNC-Alfa to the new owner of CJSC MTS Armenia, Cyprus-based Fedilco Group Limited (the brand Viva Armenia) at a meeting on Wednesday.
“The meeting took place. Approval for the transaction has been granted,” the commission’s press service told Interfax.
The share sale application was submitted to the commission by GNC-Alfa on May 7, 2025.
According to the decision published on the PSRC’s website, the commission approved the transaction for selling 100% of GNC-Alfa shares to CJSC Viva Armenia.
The deal must be completed within six months of approval. The transaction amount remains undisclosed.
According to the PSRC, the Armenian National Security Service and the High-Tech Industry Ministry raised no objections to the deal.
In January 2024, MTS PJSC announced the sale of 100% of the shares in CJSC MTS Armenia (operating under the Viva-MTS brand) and payment system CJSC Mobidram (a 100% subsidiary of CJSC MTS Armenia) to Cyprus’s Fedilco Group Limited. In March 2024, the Viva-MTS brand was changed to Viva Armenia.
The owners of Cyprus-registered Fedilco Group Limited include European and Asian investors, with Zhe Zhang and Konstantin Sokolov as the ultimate beneficiaries.
In 2024, Fedilco Group Limited transferred 20% of its shares to Armenia’s government free of charge.
On 1 July, Viva celebrated its 20th anniversary. In a festive atmosphere, the Company’s achievements over the past two decades were reflected on, and its strategic vision and ambitious plans for the future were presented. The event was attended by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, members of the government, representatives of regulatory bodies, Company employees and partners.
Konstantin Sokolov, the shareholder of Viva, highlighted the Company’s transformation from a mobile communications leader to a technological and digital frontrunner in the rapidly evolving global telecommunications market. Sokolov outlined the main directions of development and business vision.
“Today, Viva celebrates its 20th anniversary—marking two decades since the first call was made on its network. At that time, Internet penetration in Armenia was just 6%. Since then, 2.3 million customers have joined the Company’s network, with 80% of them using mobile Internet. Viva has established itself as a key driver of the country’s digital transformation,” Sokolov noted.
Azamat Khakuy, former Senior Advisor to the Gotthard Investment Fund, has been appointed Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Amio Bank (formerly Armbusinessbank). The appointment took effect on May 14, 2025. Khakuy first joined the bank’s management structure on March 17, 2022, as Director of the Corporate Center and a member of the Executive Board.
Short extract from an interview with Azamat Khakuy:
Can you tell us a little about your career and how you started?
– Right after finishing school, on September 1st, I went to work. My first profession was injection molding machine operator.
Then came the army, then education, and then the civil service, where I worked until 2011. Due to a number of life circumstances, I had to quit my job, and that’s when my new life began, which led me to where I am now.
I’ve worked for several organizations. The first was a leasing company, where I worked as an international relations consultant. Then I worked for a company founded by Russian and South Korean engineering holdings. It was a large company engaged in the construction and modernization of oil and gas plants.
Later, I became an advisor to an international investment fund [Gotthard Investment Fund], and three years ago I moved to Armenia. That’s my entire career path.
Date and place of Birth 27.11.1969 – Russia
Education
2003 – Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia
2016 – Business Academy, Faculty: law, international relations, Qualification: lawyer, specialist in international relations
Work experience
17.03.2022 to present – “AMIO BANK” CJSC Director of Corporate Center, Executive Board member
01.09.2018 – 17.02.2022 – GOTTHARD INVESTMENT FUND Senior Advisor to the Chairman
10.02.2016 – 31.08.2018 – OMZ-DELIM OJSC Deputy Executive Director
25.09.2012 – 20.12.2015 – “LANRUSINVEST INDUSTRIAL GROUP” OJSC Advisor to the Chairman
10.08.2011 – 24.09.2012 – ROSDORLIZING OJSC Advisor to Executive Director
