Former Ukrainian banker Denis Gorbunenko, who now resides in London, has been linked to the fintech company Dzing, which has Russian origins. The company recently faced restrictions from UK authorities due to suspicions of fraud. The link between Gorbunenko and Dzing was made through a UAE-based company that has been accused of supplying titanium raw materials to Russia. Here’s what’s known about this case.
A major international scandal erupted when the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) imposed sanctions on Dzing Finance Ltd., a fintech company operating in the UK. The scandal took a new turn when Denis Gorbunenko’s name was mentioned in connection with the company, potentially influencing the ongoing investigation. Gorbunenko, a former head of the scandal-ridden Rodovid Bank in Ukraine, relocated to London after the bank’s financial collapse in 2009.
In the UK, Gorbunenko acted as a representative of Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash, who was arrested in Austria in 2014 at the FBI’s request for bribing officials in India to obtain mining licenses. Firtash has been under sanctions in Ukraine since 2021.
Media previously reported that a company linked to Gorbunenko, Raga Establishment Limited, won a court case in 2019 in favor of Firtash against Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s wealthiest businessman, regarding the sale of “Ukrtelecom,” valued at $700 million. Gorbunenko was personally present at Firtash’s trial in Vienna.
In 2019, Gorbunenko was involved in a controversial auction for the sale of claims on Ukraine’s largest shopping mall, “Respublika,” which was acquired at a 70% discount by Soltex Capital. This company was reportedly linked to Robert Alan Johnson, a British investment banker associated with Gorbunenko. Johnson was also the head of the supervisory board of “Sich Bank,” a Ukrainian bank where the National Bank of Ukraine recognized Gorbunenko as the de facto controller.
In 2020, Soltex Capital was blacklisted by the Ukrainian Antimonopoly Committee for proven collusion. Following this, Johnson left the company, and Soltex entered a winding-down process.
In Question
According to Bloomberg, the FCA imposed restrictions on Dzing Finance Ltd. in October 2023, revealing that nearly one in five transactions handled by the company were linked to fraudulent schemes. Dzing agreed not to accept new retail clients or funds without prior approval from the regulator.
In March 2024, further restrictions were imposed on Dzing, including a requirement to disclose all clients and the amounts they received, as well as bi-monthly reports to the FCA.
According to Bloomberg, Dzing’s main shareholder is Tatiana Orlova, a Russian national with a Norwegian passport and the ex-wife of Russian billionaire Vitaly Orlov. The founder and former director of Dzing, Mikhail Nadel, also hails from Russia. Nadel was convicted in absentia by a Kyrgyz court in 2011 for fraud and money laundering at Asia Universal Bank.
Operating under the alias Michael Stroganov, Nadel launched Dzing in London, but his true identity was uncovered in 2022. In November 2023, Nadel resigned from his position as director due to increasing scrutiny.
In 2021, Dzing Finance Ltd. secured a €5.3 million loan from a company connected to Oleg Boyko, the founder of Finstar Financial Group, who is under sanctions in Ukraine and Australia.
Besides Orlova and Nadel, Dzing Finance Ltd. has a third key player. UAE-based Dekiba Trading FZE owns 2.137% of the company, while the remaining 97.863% is controlled by Dzing Finance Group Limited, owned by Orlova and Nadel.
UAE Trader
On August 1, 2024, Denis Gorbunenko’s London-based company, Union GF UK Ltd, published a standard confirmation statement. It revealed that Gorbunenko reduced his ownership to 90%, transferring the remaining 10% to Dekiba Trading FZE, the same company co-owning Dzing Finance Ltd.
Further links between Dekiba Trading FZE and Gorbunenko were uncovered in a resolution dated March 2022, where Ukrainian Evgeniy Shapka signed on behalf of Dekiba. Shapka has been the director of the Kyiv-based company Norlandinvest since 2019, which is owned by Robert Alan Johnson, again connected to Gorbunenko.
Dekiba Trading FZE appears to be an active trader with global ambitions. Its website, hosted in Ukraine, even features content dated 2025, according to WhoIs.com.
According to Trademo, Dekiba Trading FZE supplied at least two shipments of ilmenite concentrate from Africa to Russia in 2021, worth $1.4 million. The cargo originated from Mozambique, a country previously linked to the interests of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Kremlin-backed Wagner Group, as reported by Verstka Media.
The ilmenite may have been intended for either the “Crimean Titan” plant in Russian-occupied Crimea or VSMPO-Avisma, a company controlled by Russia’s state-owned Rostec and the largest producer of titanium in Russia. VSMPO-Avisma is under U.S. sanctions, and its titanium is widely used in the production of cruise missiles, including the Kh-101, one of which was fired by Russian terrorists at the children’s hospital “Ohmatdyt.”
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