LTV: Arms dealer Viktor Bout visited Latvian candidate Stepaņenko's Russia-based father's company during campaign
Latvian Television has found that sanctioned arms dealer Viktor Bout visited the Russian construction company owned by the father of Latvian prime ministerial candidate Jūlija Stepaņenko during a Russian State Duma election campaign event. The politician again declined to comment on her father's business ties.
Latvian Television (LTV) has uncovered new details about the Russia-based father of Jūlija Stepaņenko, prime ministerial candidate for the party alliance “Sovereign Power/Union of Latvians,” and his ties to Russian political and military circles.
Father's company and the Bout connection
According to LTV, Stepaņenko's father, Sergei Fedotov, founded a construction company group called “Forma” in Solnechnogorsk, Russia, more than 30 years ago. Fedotov has also served as a municipal deputy, and this summer he received an honorary award for his contributions to the Moscow region.
In August of this year, during the campaign for Russia's State Duma "elections," Fedotov's plant was visited by Viktor Bout, an arms dealer convicted in the United States who ran for the Russian parliament on behalf of the Liberal Democratic Party, long led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Russian television footage shows Bout sitting next to Fedotov during a campaign event. Bout was freed from prison in 2022 as part of a prisoner exchange brokered by the Kremlin.
In the footage, Bout said that amid difficult circumstances — Western sanctions and the destruction of civilian infrastructure — there should be no bureaucratic obstacles to protecting important infrastructure facilities for Russia. In 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported that Bout had returned to arms dealing, supplying Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Video and photos show Fedotov personally showing Bout around his company.
Politician stays silent
Stepaņenko again declined to answer LTV's questions about her father, his business, and his political connections. Her husband, Vjačeslavs Stepaņenko, also avoided answering substantively, calling the interest in his father-in-law an attempt to discredit a political force ahead of elections.
It was previously reported that, according to official asset declarations, Stepaņenko received nearly 420,000 euros in monetary gifts from her father, whose origin the politician has refused to explain. Latvia's Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) plans to review the information.
