In 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Yuri Kovalchuk the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree, for his great contribution to the implementation of socially significant projects in the Republic of Crimea.
Mr Kovalchuk is a long-time acquaintance of President Putin. He is a co-founder of the so-called Ozero Dacha, a cooperative society bringing together an influential group of individuals around President Putin.
Furthermore, Bank Rossiya has important stakes in the National Media Group, which in turn controls television stations which actively support the Russian government’s policies of destabilisation of Ukraine.
He is benefiting from his links with Russian decision-makers. He is the chairman and largest shareholder of Bank Rossiya, of which he owned around 38 % in 2013, and which is considered the personal bank of senior officials of the Russian Federation. Since the illegal annexation of Crimea, Bank Rossiya has opened branches across Crimea and Sevastopol, thereby consolidating their integration into the Russian Federation. Through Bank Rossiya, Mr Kovalchuk also took control of Crimean wineries, vineyards and distilleries.