Russian oligarchs, eight valuable vineyards in Tuscany received one million in EU funds
Despite the sanctions, the tycoons' wineries received European aid. Among them the man who manages Medvedev's estate
3' min read
3' min read
Eight farms in Tuscany with valuable vineyards, in the hands of Russian oligarchs, have received over a million in EU funding over the past ten years, despite European sanctions against Russia for the invasion in Ukraine. This was revealed by an IrpiMedia investigation that unveiled the scam, a scam that tastes like a hoax, to the European Union.
From Bolgheri to the Maremma, those sanctioned have continued to cash in, while Italy has failed to comply with EU rules.
One Chianti estate is even linked to an ally of former President Dmitry Medvedev, Ilya Eliseev, the alleged manager of his personal wealth, hidden behind a network of offshore properties.
Two stories in Bolgheri and the Maremma
There are several stories of oligarchs with estates in Tuscany who have benefited from European aid. Kostantin Nikolaev is a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the European Union. Nikolaev, born 54 years ago in Dnipropetrovsk - then in the Soviet Union, now in Ukraine - is an entrepreneur with interests in the Russian military sector who has a net worth estimated by Forbes at $1.2 billion. And, above all, an oligarch subject to sanctions by the European Union in May 2025 for supplying, as the European Council decision states, "military equipment that was used in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine" and "financing mercenary groups". The oligarch is the owner of the La Madonnina wine estate in Bolgheri, near Livorno. Between 2017 and 2025, his wine estate received more than 100,000 euros in European agricultural funds.
Torre Civette, a company that produces wine in the Maremma region of Grosseto, has received EUR 140,000 of European funds in ten years. It is owned by Roman Trotsenko, a Russian airport magnate, who is also under EU sanctions.
According to the Court of Auditors, companies controlled by those subject to European restrictive measures could not receive this kind of money. However, the controls are insufficient and there are no open proceedings in Italy in this respect.
The two cases of Trotsenko and Nikolaev may not be the only ones
.IrpiMedia and The Insider have identified six other oligarchs who own wine estates in Tuscany. In total, these eight estates received more than one million euro in European funds over ten years.
