INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
a new investigative report by the broadcaster RTVI.Banknota LLC, registered in June 2023, reported 3.7 trillion rubles ($40.4 billion) in
margins were surpassed only by the state energy giants Rosneft and Gazprom
But the figures still far exceeded those of major businesses like Lukoil, Sberbank and Wildberries.Despite such impressive figures, Banknota
described itself on an archived version of its since-deleted website as a provider of mortgages, auto loans and business loans, though it
did not have a banking license
Banknota informed the federal tax service that it had an affiliate in Belarus
Experts quoted by RTVI speculate that the company may have funneled money abroad before disappearing, leaving behind unpaid taxes amounting
to 315 million rubles.As of August 2024, all physical traces of Banknota have vanished, except for a signboard at a Moscow shopping mall,
where the space is now occupied by a garden tools store.
