In St. Petersburg, Ilya Traber was detained, a “businessman” from the 1990s also known by the nickname Antikvar

In St. Petersburg, Ilya Traber was detained, a “businessman” from the 1990s also known by the nickname Antikvar. Prosecutors in Spain and Monaco had linked Traber to the Tambov organized crime group.

According to Fontanka, the reason for the detention was the contract killing of Alexander Petrov, a businessman and deputy, committed near Vyborg in 2020. The outlet 47news had called him a Traber associate.

Along with Traber, his business partner Vladimir Danilenko was also detained. It has not been specified in what capacity they are involved in the case.

Traber was born in 1950. He was a merchant fleet officer, and in the early 1990s became an antiques dealer, later a co-owner of the St. Petersburg Fuel Company and the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal, then headed the St. Petersburg seaport and gained control over the monopoly company that refueled aircraft at Pulkovo Airport. The order transferring it on lease to Traber’s company was signed by then St. Petersburg deputy mayor Vladimir Putin.

Future Gazprom chiefs Alexey Miller and Alexander Dyukov worked under Traber.