A Day with a Russian Billionaire

[MUSIC PLAYING] RYAN DUFFY: So with the fall of communism came a lot of questions. Chief among them, when you're dividing up decade's worth of state-owned assets, who gets what? The short answer is a very lucky few. In the early '90s, private citizens with the best connections to the powers that be, we're essentially just gifted a whole bunch of previously state-controlled assets. It's all best personified by the Russian oligarchs, a group of super-powerful businessmen who control a disproportionate amount of the country's wealth. We came to Moscow to see how the 0.00001% live. [MUSIC PLAYING] RYAN DUFFY: We're about to go meet Sergey, who we've heard really enjoys a life of real opulence. We've been flying over all this land, and you're like, OK, so when do we get to Sergey's place? And they're like, this is Sergey's place. This entire *** place is Sergey's. He owns pretty much the entire north of Russia. Sergey Veremeenko is an oligarch thought to have had connections to both the Russian mob and the Putin government, who made his fortune through coal, metals, and later banking. His 26-year-old wife, Sophia, joined us for lunch. SERGEY VEREMEENKO: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] RYAN DUFFY: Thank you so much for your hospitality. Cheers. SERGEY VEREMEENKO: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] SOFIA ARZHAKOVSKAYA: I saw like six bodyguards behind him. After we hung out, and had coffee, and chatted, he stood up, and there was like six bodyguards. Oh my god, who is this guy? SERGEY VEREMEENKO: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] SOFIA ARZHAKOVSKAYA: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] SERGEY VEREMEENKO: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] RYAN DUFFY: Really? Wow. SOFIA ARZHAKOVSKAYA: In 2006. RYAN DUFFY: I didn't know. That changes the dynamic of the table. I've never sat at a table with a Mrs. World before. SOFIA ARZHAKOVSKAYA: Yep. RYAN DUFFY: That's amazing, in 2006? Wow. SOFIA ARZHAKOVSKAYA: It was a huge scandal as well. RYAN DUFFY: So they thought there was cheating or some backroom deals? SOFIA ARZHAKOVSKAYA: They were saying right away that he was standing right there with the gun, saying, you know, now put a crown on her. RYAN DUFFY: I assume that's not the case, right, Sergey? SOFIA ARZHAKOVSKAYA: Of course not. He was surprised as I am that I won. RYAN DUFFY: Right, but just because he's a powerful guy people would just assume that the corruption, the word that gets thrown around all the time. And that's a very Western perception of Russia, right? Is that business and finance is very closely tied to, you know, corruption and that. How do you kind of stay on top of that? SERGEY VEREMEENKO: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] [BELL TOLLS] RYAN DUFFY: After our caviar, Sergey took us to view his collection of Russian religious art. Valued at over $200 million, it's thought to be the largest in the world. So this is essentially one tenth of Sergey's collection of icons, housed here at a private museum. Not at his main house. Just at one of the country houses he has. He built a private museum. It's stunning. SERGEY VEREMEENKO: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] SOFIA ARZHAKOVSKAYA: He's the favorite holy icon for the businessman to pray to. RYAN DUFFY: Why is this the favorite of the businessman? SERGEY VEREMEENKO: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] RYAN DUFFY: Should I be concerned about the wolves and the bears that we don't shoot? All right, ***'s the answer. SERGEY VEREMEENKO: Let's go. RYAN DUFFY: So in Sergey's down time, he's an avid hunter. So much so that he this entire estate of cabins out here where he hunts wild boar, among other things. So he's brought us out to traipse through the snow and hunt some boar. But outfits are first and foremost. And by hunting, Sergey meant we'd be stationed in a heated hunting blind while his bodyguards scattered bags of corn into a lit area that we'd fire into with a sniper rifle. Not exactly sportsman like, but a lot of fun. SERGEY VEREMEENKO: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] [GUN SHOTS] SERGEY VEREMEENKO: Congratulations. [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] RYAN DUFFY: We've been up for 48 hours. And we've been drinking *** since 2 PM. But Sergey says it's time to go to the sauna. So it's time to go to the sauna. We've got our hats. We've got our robes. SERGEY VEREMEENKO: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] RYAN DUFFY: I don't know what that means, probably not good. SERGEY VEREMEENKO: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] RYAN DUFFY: The saying in the United States, Sergey, is it's not gay if it feels good. How have things changed? Obviously, over the last two decades, Russia has undergone dramatic changes. Where do you see this going? SERGEY VEREMEENKO: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] RYAN DUFFY: Oh yeah. SERGEY VEREMEENKO: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] RYAN DUFFY: This seems like a really bad idea. SERGEY VEREMEENKO: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] RYAN DUFFY: Oh! [LAUGHTER] Yeah! SERGEY VEREMEENKO: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] RYAN DUFFY: Oh, Jesus Christ. SERGEY VEREMEENKO: Cheers. RYAN DUFFY: Cheers. *** all. [RUSSIAN MUSIC PLAYING]