Valery Kustov, the billionaire chairman and main shareholder of Russian food group Efko, was arrested in Moscow on suspicion of large-scale fraud (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code), RBC reported, citing sources. Efko’s CEO and co-owner Yevgeny Lyashenko was also detained. Investigators have requested that both be placed in pre-trial detention.
The day before, a court ordered the pre-trial detention of Efko’s deputy development director Yekaterina Kustova and the group’s strategic development director Vladislav Romantsev, who are implicated in the same case. Earlier, former CEO of Transport of the Future and ex-adviser to the Samara region governor Yuri Kozarenko, as well as Alla Polovchenya, deputy head of the unmanned systems department at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, were arrested in connection with the case. Polovchenya is charged with large-scale embezzlement.
Efko’s press service confirmed the detention of the top managers and expressed “words of support for each of them, including strategic development director Vladislav Romantsev.”
According to RBC’s sources, the case involves Transport of the Future, a drone manufacturing company. The project was launched with Efko’s participation in 2021 but was later spun off as an independent entity. In 2023, the company opened a drone factory in the Tolyatti special economic zone. President Vladimir Putin visited the site in January 2025.
The defendants are accused of embezzling billions of rubles from funds allocated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade for import substitution of drones, Kommersant reported, citing sources. The exact details of the case and the amount of damages have not been officially disclosed. Unconfirmed reports suggest the scheme involved purchasing Chinese drones and passing them off as Russian-made.
In June, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov effectively acknowledged the failure of the military cargo drone program being developed by Transport of the Future, noted Agentstvo. During a meeting with Putin, Belousov said that “Product 80” — an agricultural drone reportedly used on the front lines — “was not very high quality” and “is now being refined.”
Forbes estimates Kustov’s fortune at $1.1 billion, placing him 144th on its 2026 ranking of Russian billionaires. Kustov holds about 42% of Efko’s shares.
Efko is one of Russia’s largest food producers. The holding manufactures oil, mayonnaise, plant-based meat, egg products, animal feed, and other goods under brands including Sloboda, Altero, DeOlio, and Fresh, and controls a terminal in the port of Taman. In September 2025, the company acquired Oleyina, a vegetable oil producer.