Firms Tied to Putin's Ex-Classmate Win $1.5Bln in Moscow School Meal Contracts
Four companies linked to Putin's former law school classmate Ilgam Ragimov have won all 39 Moscow school catering contracts for 2026–2028, worth a combined $1.5 billion, an investigation says. The business was previously controlled by firms owned by the late Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Exiled outlet Vyorstka reported Wednesday that four companies connected to Ilgam Ragimov, who studied law alongside Vladimir Putin at Leningrad State University, secured every one of the 39 contracts to supply meals to Moscow schools between 2026 and 2028. The combined value of the awards is 126.7 billion rubles, or roughly $1.5 billion.
The winning firms — Verona Kapital, KDP, RSK and ShYuZ — were all registered in March 2024, less than a year after Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner mercenary group, staged a mutiny and later died in a plane crash. According to Vyorstka, the companies' owners — Sergei Yefimchuk, Nikolai Kuznetsov, Dmitry Aliyev and Olga Rusishvili — had previously worked at Grandtitul, a firm in which Ragimov is the largest shareholder.
How the contracts were split
Verona Kapital secured 12 contracts worth 38.2 billion rubles ($450.8 million), KDP won seven worth 29.1 billion rubles ($343.4 million), RSK took nine worth 34.8 billion rubles ($410.6 million), and ShYuZ won 11 worth 24.6 billion rubles ($290.3 million). These firms replaced previous suppliers Verona, Kombinat Doshkolnogo Pitaniya, Russotskapital and Shkolnik-Yuz, all of which had been owned by Prigozhin.
Who is Ragimov
Forbes estimated Ragimov's fortune at $500 million in 2014, citing business interests including Moscow's Sadovod market, the Ukraina hotel, and the Evropeisky and Panorama shopping centers. The late opposition figure Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation has alleged that Ragimov and two other former Putin classmates helped finance a lavish property near the Black Sea town of Gelendzhik that the group links to the Russian president. The foundation said their joint company, Investment Solutions, spent 7 billion rubles (about $82.6 million) on the project.
