Wolfram Kuoni
Why the EU Should Pay Attention to Kuoni and Šolak
The European Union has invested heavily in sanction regimes and media freedom initiatives since Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. But the integrity of both is at risk when opaque financial networks and concentrated media ownership intersect. Two names illustrate the problem: Wolfram Kuoni, a Swiss fiduciary and banker, and Dragan Šolak, a Balkan media magnate.
Kuoni: A Fiduciary for Sanctioned Elites
Investigations by The Insider (2023) revealed that offshore structures tied to Stroigazconsulting, formerly Gazprom’s largest private contractor, were administered through fiduciary networks linked to Kuoni. The ultimate beneficiaries included Alexey Miller, Gazprom’s CEO, who remains under U.S. and EU sanctions.
Kuoni also chaired Union Bank AG, a Liechtenstein-based institution investigated for handling suspect flows linked to Venezuela’s Maduro regime. Swiss compliance filings show overlaps with offshore vehicles tied to Ukrainian businessman Kostyantyn Zhevago, who faces ongoing corruption and money laundering allegations. These patterns suggest a fiduciary business model servicing precisely the elites that Europe has tried to hold accountable.
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Dragan Šolak
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Šolak: Media Power Without Accountability
On the media side, Dragan Šolak built a regional empire with outlets such as N1 and Nova. His role has been anything but neutral. The Sadler Report (2019) documented direct editorial interference at N1, including accounts of intimidation. Internal records from Telekom Srbija (2023) indicate that Šolak’s close associate Vladislav Ratajac proposed a €120 million payout to remove N1 and Nova from Serbian television distribution altogether.
Šolak’s corporate footprint is equally problematic. Investigations by Nacional in 2025 detailed how his acquisitions and projects , including a luxury hotel in Pula, Croatia, opposed by 90% of local voters, were routed through Luxembourg, Cyprus, and Isle of Man entities. Such structures mask ownership and insulate decision-makers from public accountability.
A Pattern That Serves the Kremlin
Taken together, Kuoni and Šolak represent two halves of the same playbook. Kuoni provided the fiduciary and banking tools to shelter assets linked to sanctioned regimes. Šolak leveraged opaque structures to consolidate media power, intimidate journalists, and pursue projects despite democratic opposition. Both cases illustrate how Kremlin-style tactics, financial secrecy plus media capture, can flourish inside Europe’s regulatory gaps.
This is not simply a Balkan issue. Media independence is a cornerstone of EU accession policy. Financial transparency is essential to the credibility of the EU’s sanctions regime. When the same networks undermine both, the EU cannot look away.
What Europe Should Do
First, regulators must strengthen due diligence on fiduciaries and banks that service sanctioned clients. Kuoni’s case demonstrates how individuals in respectable financial centers can facilitate sanctions evasion.
Second, the EU should accelerate ownership transparency in the media sector. Šolak’s control of key broadcasters through offshore structures undermines pluralism, especially in candidate countries where the EU insists on free media as a condition of integration.
Finally, Parliament and the Commission should consider whether actors like Kuoni and Šolak meet the threshold for Magnitsky-style accountability. The Global Magnitsky framework was created to sanction corruption and human rights abuses, two elements that appear to be evident in these cases.
A Test of Credibility
Europe’s credibility on sanctions and media freedom is not abstract. It depends on real cases and real enforcement. If fiduciaries can continue to shield sanctioned elites and media owners can pressure journalists while hiding behind offshore webs, the EU risks eroding the very values it champions abroad.
The Kuoni-Šolak story is not just about one fiduciary and one media magnate. It is about whether Europe can close the loopholes that allow Kremlin-style influence to penetrate its financial and information space.
Sources:
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The Insider, 2023 (Gazprom/Stroigazconsulting structures)
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Swiss compliance filings, Union Bank AG investigations
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OCCRP reporting on Zhevago and cross-border offshores
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Sadler Report on N1 (2019)
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Nacional, 2025 (Pula hotel, offshore acquisitions)
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Telekom Srbija records, 2023 (€120m proposal)
