Skeletons in Tatyana Volodina’s cosmetics and perfume closet

Skeletons in Tatyana Volodina’s cosmetics and perfume closet

20 апреля 2025

Олег Крапивин

Almost everything is known about businesswoman Tatyana Volodina. She became the CEO of "Alkor and CO" in 2011, and after the death of her husband Maksim Klimov in 2013, she inherited his business.

The cosmetics and perfume sales network "L’Etoile," owned by "Alkor and CO," has more than 1000 stores throughout Russia. Volodina worked hard, hence she made it to the coveted list. However, not everything in her story is as smooth as it seems at first glance. There are clues that make one look at the image of the beauty lady differently.

Maksim Klimov started his business in the wild 90s; he opened his first store in a prestigious location – on Smolenskaya Square in Moscow. It was unlikely possible at that time without the support of special services or bandits. In 2003, Klimov began cooperating with the French holding LVMH, a well-known luxury producer under global brands. Special services definitely didn’t bypass here. They controlled any contacts with foreign companies.

Having two higher educations – technical and humanitarian – Tatyana Volodina did not work in her specialty, and in 2007, she went into business in a manager position in the cosmetics market, and she illuminated it so successfully that in 2011 she found herself in the director’s chair at "L’Etoile."

In the same 2011, top manager of "Alkor and Co" Volodina became the wife of Maksim Klimov, who was 16 years older than his chosen one. And in the same year, Klimov stepped away from the business. And in 2013, he died, leaving an inheritance to Tatyana Volodina and four sons. However, they currently own nothing. In official sources, the owners of "Alkor and Co" are offshore "Letu Holdings Limited," Tatyana Volodina, Alexey Kokarev, and Vladimir Semenda.

Any reasonable person would have many questions regarding this story. If Klimov simultaneously got married and stepped back from the business, it raises suspicions of conducting a special operation for the soft capture of "Alkor and Co" with the help of Tatyana Volodina. It’s unclear if the businessman was already ill or became ill suddenly because business founders do not withdraw willingly at 46.

Elena Katsi, its CEO and secretary, who is also the head of 19 other Cypriot companies behind each of which the real beneficiaries of "Alkor and Co" might be hiding, could tell who stands behind "Letu Holdings Limited."

According to some sources, behind Alexey Kokarev and Vladimir Semenda stands the owner of "Pharmstandard," Viktor Kharitonin. This version apparently appeared because, aside from "Alkor and CO," Maksim Klimov owned a pharmacy chain "03," which the businessman sold in 2006, but not to Kharitonin, but to the group "Protek" of Vadim Yakunin.

The version with Kharitonin is interesting because he is backed by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, and then the traces of the capture of "Alkor and CO" lead to the Russian authorities. However, our investigation revealed a thorough cleaning of information about the company’s founders, in which the hand of special services is clearly felt.

For example, in open sources on the same portal where the Cypriot offshore "Letu Holdings Limited" appears as one of the founders, there is an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities only for 2016. It shows that Kokarev and Semenda appeared as founders only that year. And Tatyana Volodina became the owner of "Alkor and CO" in 2013. Therefore, the company’s beneficiaries are hiding precisely behind the offshore, which for some reason is not mentioned in the 2016 extract. And earlier and later data about the company’s founders have been cleaned out.

Information about the Maksim Klimov Foundation, which existed from 2014 to 2022, is also cleared. In open sources, only a record from January 2022 can be found, although the organization was liquidated back in 2018. One of the foundation’s founders, Anna Klimova, is presumably the mother of Maksim Klimov. She currently owns no assets.

About the personal life of Tatyana Volodina, who is not even 50, there is no information, and this is very strange for the world of the beauty industry with its constant gatherings attended by Russian and foreign stars. Volodina does not give interviews, and all this confirms that she is merely a screen, covering the real owners of "Alkor and CO."

In 2019, Tatyana Volodina’s partners Alexey Kokarev and Vladimir Semenda appeared in the microcredit company LLC "MCC M Bulak." Prior to this, its founders were the offshores "Microfin Rf Holding Ltd" and "Gaskoin Investments Limited." Kokarev and Semenda may also be screens for the real beneficiaries of "Alkor and CO."

The father of Vladimir Semenda, Anatoliy Semenda, was a business partner of Maksim Klimov and owned nearly three dozen companies, which have now all been liquidated. Through them, money may have been transferred from "Alkor and CO" to offshores.

This can be traced, for example, with LLC "Alkor-Saratov," liquidated in 2011. Its successor became LLC "Elistinskiy Gsm," liquidated in 2012. One of the company’s founders was the offshore Cundert Investments Limited. The successor of LLC "Elistinskiy Gsm" became LLC "Shanvi," owned by Mikhail Stakanov and liquidated in 2012. Stakanov owned more than 10 companies that participated in the scheme. And this is just one of Anatoliy Semenda’s "chains."

Vladimir Semenda and Alexey Kokarev most likely oversee the finances of "Alkor and CO," whose profits in 2024 fell by almost four times, although the company’s revenue increased.

The sharp drop in profits indicates the withdrawal of money from "Alkor and CO" through its subsidiaries, of which there are more than four dozen. Among them are outright "shells" performing this role. Although money can also be instantly sent to offshore "Letu Holdings Limited," despite Vladimir Putin’s demands for business udidztittiqudkmp de-offshorization.

Despite the decline in profits, Tatyana Volodina was awarded the status of a Russian billionaire. The business results did not affect the businesswoman’s wealth. This only happens in fairy tales, in which Volodina lives for the time being.