Irina G., the mysterious Russian with questionable business in Switzerland

Image: Illustration: Oliver Marx

For more than three years, Switzerland has applied sanctions against Russia and its relays of influence. The case of the binational Irina G.* shows how permeable this device is, and how difficult it is to clog your faults.

Kurt Pelda / CH Media

Irina G.* installed its offices in an administrative building on the heights of Lake Zurich. The name of his business does not appear anywhere on mailboxes. It is only when entering that you can see a small discreet panel on the first floor: Nanotech Swiss AG*.

An activity carried out on the sly

The next door is ajar. I hit, then enter a large room with a kitchen and a seating area. A little further, a conference space and several office doors. I strike again.

I am welcomed by two employees from other companies. They know neither Irina G. nor Nanotech Swiss. They send me back to the administration of the building, located in the same premises.

There, I am confirmed that the company is indeed a tenant of the premises, even if Irina G. is currently absent. I ask if she can remind me later.

A millica technology

Why am I interested in Nanotech Swiss and its manager of Russian origin? Because, according to its corporate object, the company is interested in technological sectors in civil and military applications. Among its objectives is in particular the “development and financing” of passive optical networks.

These infrastructures allow the transmission of very large amounts of data via fiber optic cables. This technology is also used for secure communication between military units, or the transmission of command signals and videos for combat drones. And the Russians are one step ahead in the field of fiber optic drones.

Nanotech Swiss also seeks the development and financing of projects related to thin layers technology. Optics used in satellites, drones or target systems are often based on lenses treated with specialized thin layers.

The company is therefore interested in strategic high -tech sectors for the Russian war effort. Of course, it is possible that it is only a simple mailbox company, inactive or turned exclusively to civilian uses.

The problem is that Irina G. has no concrete notion of high technology. In the past, a worldly section of a Zurich newspaper presented her as a fashion designer. She also worked for several Zurich banks, where she was in charge of rich Russian customers. Subsequently, she founded two investment and real estate consulting companies, both domiciled at the same address as Nanotech Swiss.

Cash and a suspicious foundation date

Another ladle: the company was founded at a very specific moment, and with very specific methods. Shortly after the invasion of Ukraine by Moscow, Switzerland adopted economic sanctions against the Russian Federation. These measures disrupted the financial circuits that some used so far to make Russian assets grow in Switzerland.

But the Swiss embargo is rather lax: for example, the sale of Swiss shares to Russian nationals is only prohibited for securities issued after April 12, 2022, a restriction which spares the majority of shares, much older.

In addition, Swiss banks no longer have the right to accept deposits from Russian citizens if they exceed 100,000 francs. Blow of bowl for Irina G.: She would have taken her 100,000 francs to found Nanotech Swiss. A sum deposited in cash, barely four months after the start of the invasion, with a bank in Lugano. It will then take more than a year before the company is officially registered in the commercial register, with Irina G. as the only administrator.

Lift the veil on the case

But who is behind it all? The research confirms this black on white: the real founder of Nanotech Swiss is Andrei G.*, Russian businessman and citizen born in 1971, according to a passport issued in Saint Petersburg in 2016.

It was he who has subscribed to the actions of the company, which suggests that the 100,000 francs in cash deposited in Lugano come from his funds. Although we have hidden the fact that a Russian national is behind the acquisition of actions, this does not constitute a violation of Swiss sanctions against Russia, specifies the State Secretariat for the Economy (SECO) on request.

A more than doubtful phone call

Barely a few minutes after my visit to Nanotech Swiss, Irina G. reminds me. I ask her who Andrei G. She replies that she does not know this name. When I mention the existence of documents proving the role of G. in “SA” company, it replies that the company is not active and that it could just as well the raft of the commercial register.

Following question:

Irina G. feigned ignorance, asks that the name of the company is repeated to her, as if she had never heard of it. And as if by chance, shortly after this exchange, the only photo appearing on the SNT website, where Andrei G. surrounded by employees was clearly seen, was deleted. According to Russian sources, his daughter still held 20 % of this company last year.

And Irina G. will have lied to the end: Nanotech Swiss still appears in the trade register of the months after this call. On the other hand, its corporate object was modified in mid-June. The company now claims to want to develop and finance projects, businesses and start-ups, while offering consulting, training and support services in the fields of IT, artificial intelligence, business management and marketing.

The track goes back to Saint-Gall

Stratnanotech, the company for which G. works, manufactures machines intended for the application of extremely fine layers, especially on optical components. According to the company’s website, these devices are also sold to state companies as well as Russian research centers. One of SNT’s thin layer machines notably uses measuring instruments from Inficon, based in Bad Ragaz, in the canton of Saint-Gall. Which remained silent against a series of questions sent by email. In addition, SNT claims to have marketed vacuum fusion ovens for metal alloys, used in aeronautical manufacturing.

It is important to specify that the Russian aeronautical industry is now dominated by the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which brings together emblematic manufacturers of combat aircraft such as Soukhoï, Tupolev or Mikoyan. UAC also produces civil aircraft. On the other hand, it is unknown whether the fours to fusion of Stratnanotech are used for civil or military uses.

G. is not limited to thin layers technology: it is also active in the telecommunications sector in Russia. This is undoubtedly what explains the interest in passive optical networks, at the heart of the activities of his Swiss screen company. According to the database World-CheckG. has sold for several million francs in goods and services to the Russian State as well as to public enterprises.

But who is Irina G.?

Born in 1976 in Moscow, Irina G. is now Swiss nationality. According to her LinkedIn profile, she studied the economy in Russia. Before settling in Switzerland, she owned a small apartment in rue General-Tioulenev in Moscow. Less than 400 meters was an antenna of the Russian external intelligence service, the SWR. Funny coincidence.

But for a spy, Irina G. seems quite naive. On social networks, she is constantly shown in hundreds of photos, takes all possible and imaginable poses. But remember that Maria Boutina, a famous Russian spy sentenced to the United States in 2019 before being expelled to Russia, had also published many photos of her on social networks.

Irina G. has a good network in the Russian -speaking community in Switzerland, which sometimes meets in a well -known hotel in Zurich. The entrepreneur likes to appear alongside models or personalities like the Prince of Liechtenstein; She also posed with a journalist of Russian origin living in Zurich, an employee of a notorious propaganda organ of the Kremlin.

In one of the photos published by Irina G. on Instagram, you can see her next to her husband, Bogdan G.*, glass of champagne in hand, Lac de Lugano in the background. In the description, she calls it “James Bond” and “Agent 007”.

Bogdan G. is also born in Moscow and today has dual Russian and Swiss nationality. He has been working for several years as a computer scientist and, according to his Linkedin profile, worked almost three years for Ruag.

Safety control and doubts

Today, Bogdan G. works for a large Swiss telecommunications group, in the field of cybersecurity. Given his wife’s bonds with Russia, a security verification with regard to this Russian-Suisse binational would seem to impose itself.

Asked about this, the operator responds in a rather evasive way: the company claims to carry out security checks on its employees and providers, in accordance with regulatory requirements and contractual agreements. These controls depend, he specifies, on the level of sensitivity of the processed data and, if necessary, the specific requirements of customers. The question of whether Russian nationals are subject to a particular examination remains unanswered.

But the G. are perhaps good honest citizens. They bought an individual villa worth several million francs, with a plot of more than 550 square meters.

Insouciance difficult to understand

What is hard to understand is the indifference of the authorities in the face of this situation, which no one seems to be alarmed. The same question arises for the banks involved, for Ruag, or even for the Cité telecom operator. Is current legislation insufficient? The Confederation Intelligence Service (SRC) nevertheless clearly alerts to the existence of ecrans created in Switzerland by the Russian secret services.

Shortly before the publication of this article, Irina G. left the board of directors of the Social Society. It was replaced by a German national, at the head of a consulting firm. This new administrator was previously domiciled in the same offices as Nanotech Swiss, perched on the heights of Lake Zurich.

*Loggling names

Translated from German by Anne Castella