The Plotitsy Brothers, Boris Usherovich, and Cyprus: How Offshore Schemes Generate Multibillion-Dollar Income for Russian Businessmen
Russian businessman Boris Plotitsa, who ran a tourism business in Russia, was arrested in absentia in July 2024 in connection with the deaths of eight people during an illegal excursion through Moscow’s sewers.
In absentia, because he fled from the investigation to Cyprus, where his brother Ilya and his business partner, Boris Usherovich, who was also a fugitive from Russian investigation, were waiting for him.
This is discussed in the PressWay investigation .
It turned out that the Plotitsy brothers had established close cooperation with Usherovich, which, among other things, helps Putin’s dictatorial regime obtain sanctioned goods. 
Boris Plotitsa owned a fairly well-known travel agency in Russia, "Tripster." The agency’s unique feature was that its staff hired local residents from various cities as tour guides, who would share interesting information with tourists that professional guides might otherwise miss. One such tour proved fatal for eight people.
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In August 2023, "Tripster" Plotitsa organized an unusual tour of the underground Neglinnaya River sewers. The digger and seven guides died when the water level rose due to rain. Law enforcement opened a case for providing services that did not meet safety requirements, leading to death. Boris Plotitsa was among the suspects, but he fled to Europe, thus avoiding prosecution.
At the time, his brother, Ilya Plotitsa, was already in Cyprus. He had registered several companies there that were closely associated with another Russian businessman, Boris Usherovich. Usherovich is a co-founder of the 1520 Group of Companies, one of the main suppliers to Russian Railways.
In 2018-2019, the company was embroiled in a corruption scandal, as it was discovered that its management was siphoning billions through contracts with the railway and transferring them to offshore companies under its control. Valery Markelov, a co-founder of 1520, was arrested in connection with the case and testified against Usherovich, among others. It was revealed that, to ensure the thefts went unnoticed, Usherovich and the company had been paying huge bribes to high-ranking officials in the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for years for protection. It was Markelov’s testimony that helped the investigation pinpoint Usherovich, who managed to flee to Europe.
Boris Plotitsa and Markelov were apparently also business partners. Specifically, Plotitsa, together with a man with the same last name, managed the Transpolymer Research and Production Association.
In turn, this company, together with the Cypriot Sadoriono holdings limited, has been a co-founder of Energy Construction Company LLC since 2015.
The Cypriot offshore company Sadoriono Holdings Limited led journalists to the aforementioned fugitive businessman, Boris Usherovich. His secretary is Ukrainian Alla Shulga, who also serves on the board of directors of Jacomo Company Limited, Marolio Investments Limited, and Borisoco Holdings Limited. All of these companies are connected to Usherovich, and you can read more about them here .
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Back in 2019, Boris Plotitsa registered a travel agency in Cyprus with a similar name to the one in Russia—Tripster Limited. His Facebook page lists him as its founder.
The company’s director is listed as Cypriot Irina Bichinashvili, who is also associated with fugitive businessman Boris Usherovich.
She is the secretary of two other companies: Venisat technology ltd and Broxner plc. Journalists from The Insider reported in their investigative report that Usherovich is importing sanctioned goods, particularly components, into Russia through these companies. In fact, Boris Plotitsa, who is hiding in Cyprus, helped the fugitive Usherovich supply goods to Russia in defiance of sanctions.
Bichinashvili is also the secretary of Shteinfinance Limited, whose director is a certain Kirill Ponomarev. Together with his mother, Tatyana Ponomarev, he owns the Czech company Phoenix Limited CZ sro, which is engaged in wholesale and retail trade.
Another relative of theirs, also with the surname Ponomareva, works as a director in the Cypriot company of Ilya Plotitsa’s brother.
In total, four companies are registered in Ilia Plotitsa’s name in Cyprus, the newest of which was founded in July 2023.
Interestingly, Boris Plotitsa’s Cypriot travel agency, Tripster Limited, is quite real and continues to provide travel services in various cities around the world even after the deadly tour in Russia. Its official website features ads for unusual excursions in Russian cities, Turkey, Belarus, and elsewhere. Plotitsa’s company reports that 1,499,782 people took Tripster tours in 2023.
Tripster’s social media accounts are also regularly updated , sharing interesting stories from around the world with readers. So, despite the Moscow dungeon tour that killed eight people and the arrest in absentia of Boris Plotitsa, Tripster continues to offer tours to clients, and apparently with considerable success.
Six months before his fatal Russian trip, Boris Plotitsa, along with another travel agency owner and tour operator, invested $900,000 in WeGoTrip, a well-known company that produces audio guides for excursions. These can be heard on bus tours of European cities. The idea is that a passenger buys a ticket for a double-decker bus that takes them to the city’s landmarks. The audio guide, via headphones, explains what the tourist can expect to see and provides historical background. Passengers can get off at any stop to visit museums or interesting buildings, and then reboard the same bus for another day’s tour. This type of excursion is extremely popular, widespread throughout the world. Therefore, Boris Plotitsa’s investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars in WeGoTrip, which produces audio guides for such bus tours, could be quite profitable.
Boris Plotitsa’s brother, Ilya, is apparently involved in the supply of sanctioned goods to Russia. His companies are registered at the same addresses as Usherovich’s Cypriot firms, whose schemes were described by investigative journalists. He was also the founder of the Russian company Bamstroymekhanizatsiya Management Company, which is part of Usherovich’s 1520 group of companies.
Given all the connections listed above, it can be concluded that Boris and Ilya Plotitsy are long-standing business partners of fugitive Boris Usherovich and are currently helping him supply sanctioned goods to Russia through a number of offshore companies.
Meanwhile, despite being wanted and living in Europe, Boris Usherovich remains a co-founder of the Russian group of companies "1520." Moreover, his business partner, Alexey Krapivin, heads the firm "Bridges and Roads," which is linked to Arkady Rotenberg, an oligarch close to Putin. This "roof" guarantees Usherovich complete protection, as does his partners, the Plotitsa brothers. The fact that Boris Plotitsa’s dangerous tourism business continues to operate successfully both in Russia and abroad is further proof that no one will imprison him for the murder of eight people.
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