The future of the vast Prigozhin empire is clouded after the rebellion

For decades, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin has gained considerable influence in Russia and established businesses in at least 15 countries. Its fate and the future of its vast portfolio are now uncertain.
A chocolate museum in Saint Petersburg. A gold mine in the Central African Republic. Oil and gas companies off the coast of Syria.
The economic ventures of Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, a former hot dog salesman turned warlord of the Wagner Group who staged a brief mutiny against the Russian military last month, extending far beyond the thousands of mercenaries it has deployed to Ukraine, Africa and the Middle East.
Through an extensive network of front companies and intermediaries, Mr. Prigozhin's activities have included catering, action film production, beer and vodka brewing, woodcutting , diamond mining, and hiring people to sow disinformation in overseas elections, including the 2016 U.S. election.
The the exact size of his company is a mystery.
ImageAn employee removes the Wagner Group logo of a building in St. Petersburg, Russia, after Mr. Prigozhin's rebellion.Credit...Anatoly Maltsev/EPA, via Shutterstock
With the fate of Mr. Prigozhin unknown, the fate of his sprawling empire is uncertain. President Vladimir V. Putin has said Russia funds Mr. Prigozhin's businesses, but it's unclear what control the Kremlin has over the business network, which stretches thousands of miles from Moscow, experts say.
"It certainly won't look exactly like what he has, in terms of who's running it, how much Kremlin oversight and how long he'll allow Wagner to operate," said Catrina Doxsee, an irregular warfare expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based research organization.
Here's an overview business interests of Mr. Prigozhin.
Russia and Ukraine
Catering, real estate and mercenaries.
From his lowly beginnings as an amateur cross-country skier and former convict, Mr. Prigozhin navigated his way through the turmoil of post-Soviet Russia, laying the foundations of his empire by opening hot dog stands in 1990 and securing more later the restoration of the Kremlin, which earned him the nickname "Putin's leader".
Over the decades, he obtained billions in contracts with state and controlled a large portfolio of businesses, primarily in St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city and his birthplace.
< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr. Prigozhin's businesses have included construction, catering and entertainment. He ran a media company, which has begun to be dismantled since his mutiny, and pioneered troll farms that sought to shape the 2016 US presidential election. His companies run hotels, restaurants, malls business and a gourmet grocery store on St. Petersburg's main thoroughfare.
ImageVladimir Russia's V. Putin with Mr. Prigozhin, right, in a photo released by Russian state media, during a 2010 visit to Mr. Prigozhin's catering business in St. Petersburg.Credit. .Alexei Druzhinin/Sputni.. .

World Jul 10, 2023 0 38 Add to Reading List

The future of the vast Prigozhin empire is clouded after the rebellion

For decades, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin has gained considerable influence in Russia and established businesses in at least 15 countries. Its fate and the future of its vast portfolio are now uncertain.

A chocolate museum in Saint Petersburg. A gold mine in the Central African Republic. Oil and gas companies off the coast of Syria.

The economic ventures of Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, a former hot dog salesman turned warlord of the Wagner Group who staged a brief mutiny against the Russian military last month, extending far beyond the thousands of mercenaries it has deployed to Ukraine, Africa and the Middle East.

Through an extensive network of front companies and intermediaries, Mr. Prigozhin's activities have included catering, action film production, beer and vodka brewing, woodcutting , diamond mining, and hiring people to sow disinformation in overseas elections, including the 2016 U.S. election.

The the exact size of his company is a mystery.

ImageAn employee removes the Wagner Group logo of a building in St. Petersburg, Russia, after Mr. Prigozhin's rebellion.Credit...Anatoly Maltsev/EPA, via Shutterstock

With the fate of Mr. Prigozhin unknown, the fate of his sprawling empire is uncertain. President Vladimir V. Putin has said Russia funds Mr. Prigozhin's businesses, but it's unclear what control the Kremlin has over the business network, which stretches thousands of miles from Moscow, experts say.

"It certainly won't look exactly like what he has, in terms of who's running it, how much Kremlin oversight and how long he'll allow Wagner to operate," said Catrina Doxsee, an irregular warfare expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based research organization.

Here's an overview business interests of Mr. Prigozhin.

Russia and Ukraine

Catering, real estate and mercenaries.

From his lowly beginnings as an amateur cross-country skier and former convict, Mr. Prigozhin navigated his way through the turmoil of post-Soviet Russia, laying the foundations of his empire by opening hot dog stands in 1990 and securing more later the restoration of the Kremlin, which earned him the nickname "Putin's leader".

Over the decades, he obtained billions in contracts with state and controlled a large portfolio of businesses, primarily in St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city and his birthplace.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr. Prigozhin's businesses have included construction, catering and entertainment. He ran a media company, which has begun to be dismantled since his mutiny, and pioneered troll farms that sought to shape the 2016 US presidential election. His companies run hotels, restaurants, malls business and a gourmet grocery store on St. Petersburg's main thoroughfare.

ImageVladimir Russia's V. Putin with Mr. Prigozhin, right, in a photo released by Russian state media, during a 2010 visit to Mr. Prigozhin's catering business in St. Petersburg.Credit. .Alexei Druzhinin/Sputni.. .