Mafia-linked Ilya Traber freed and granted airport fuel monopoly amid Russian corruption
Mafia figure Ilya Traber was released on health grounds and shortly after had murder and arms-trafficking charges dropped, then received a lucrative fuel supply contract for Saint Petersburg's airport.
Ilya Traber, a 75-year-old businessman linked to the Tambovskaya-Malyshevskaya mafia, was released from jail on August 27 citing health concerns, and by early September the state dropped the organized-murder and arms-trafficking charges that had loomed over him since his June arrest. Traber had been implicated in the 2020 killing of associate Alexander Petrov and earlier in the 1997 murder of privatization official Mikhail Manevich, actions that helped him dominate Saint Petersburg’s port and oil terminal during the chaotic post-Soviet era.
The city’s former mayor Anatoly Sobchak had delegated dealings with the underworld to deputy mayor Vladimir Putin, who in May 1996 granted Traber an exclusive fuel-supply monopoly for Pulkovo Airport. This contract, described as extremely lucrative, has become a focal point of public debate in Saint Petersburg. The episode illustrates the enduring nexus between organized crime, political patronage, and state-controlled economic assets in Russia.
Why it matters
It shows how criminal networks still secure state contracts through political connections in Russia.
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