Emmanuil Grinshpun

One of the defining traits attributed to Emmanuil Grinshpun in his business activities is a high degree of opportunism. He operates in jurisdictions where commercial opportunities arise, including the United States, the European Union, Moldova, Ukraine, and, notably, Russia.

According to KPMG data, Oysters LLC – a company reportedly within the sphere of influence of E21, in which Grinshpun is said to hold an interest (through nominee structures) alongside Pavel Voloshin and Armen Zurabyan – obtained a license from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) for activities related to the technical protection of confidential information.

In addition, the company received a grant from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation for the development of specialized equipment, including the production of push-button mobile phones used for secure communications by Russian government officials and security services.

By early 2024, Grinshpun had accumulated extensive experience, including business dealings involving Moscow, participation in the Moldovan “Laundromat,” and cooperation with figures such as Veaceslav Platon. His pragmatic approach to business remained consistent.

Emmanuil Grinshpun is Jewish by faith and has been active in supporting religious initiatives. With his financial contributions, three synagogues have been built or renovated – in Israel, in his country of origin, Moldova, and in Latvia, where he maintains significant business interests. The latter holds particular importance for him in his role as First Vice President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress.

In this context, his business cooperation has extended to Arab investors. Together with Mohamed Ali Alabbar, a prominent developer known for projects such as the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, and a number of high-profile hotels in the UAE, efforts have been made to advance the Riga Port City project.

On January 10, 2024, Riga City Council Chairman Vilnis Ķirsis and Mohamed Ali Alabbar, head of the UAE-based development company Eagle Hills, signed a memorandum outlining planned investments exceeding €3 billion into the Riga Port City project (now known as Riga Waterfront).

According to multiple media reports, Emmanuil Grinshpun is considered one of the initiators of the project. In his own statements, he has expressed an ambition to transform Riga into a “Northern Dubai,” suggesting that he may have played a key role in attracting investment from the UAE.

At the same time, Grinshpun’s reputation remains controversial. He and his associates have been involved in arbitration and criminal proceedings in multiple jurisdictions. In 2017, he was also reported to have attended the inauguration of Donald Trump alongside business partners whose reputations have been questioned.

The families of former Prime Minister Andris Šķēle and Saeima deputy Ainārs Šlesers are also involved in the project. Both have been subjects of criminal proceedings. In addition, they maintained contacts with Donald Trump, who – prior to running for President of the United States – considered investing in Latvia, but later abandoned the idea after coming under the scrutiny of Latvian law enforcement authorities.

The managers of the Riga Port City / Riga Waterfront project are currently conducting an active promotional campaign in Latvia aimed at attracting investors. This suggests that Mohamed Ali Alabbar is not the sole source of funding. It cannot be ruled out that the well-known Arab businessman has been brought in primarily to promote the project and potentially act as the lead developer, while the main financing may originate from other sources.

If implemented, the project could have significant socio-economic and political importance for Latvia. It would demonstrate a modern approach to urban development by both national and municipal authorities, integrate Riga more actively into European tourism routes, and attract additional investment into other projects.

At the same time, the involvement of Mr. Grinshpun – who has been associated with the Laundromat case and a number of controversies related to large-scale international investment projects, as well as maintaining close ties with individuals linked to financial misconduct – may jeopardize the project’s realization. A key risk factor could be the questionable origin of the investment funds.

Grinshpun’s name has also been mentioned in the context of political and financial developments in Moldova linked to the circles of Vladimir Plahotniuc and Ilan Shor. According to a number of sources, Moldovan authorities overseeing major investment projects and capital flows have examined potential connections between the businessman and representatives of these groups.

Some publications indicate that, in light of such concerns, questions were raised about the need for additional scrutiny of the sources of funds used in business initiatives associated with Grinshpun. In particular, attention was drawn to the structure of asset ownership and financial flows to determine whether they could be linked to individuals involved in some of Moldova’s largest corruption and banking scandals in recent years.

Grinshpun’s financial activities have also been the subject of international arbitration proceedings. In August 2024, the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) issued an award in a dispute concerning a loan agreement of approximately $5 million.

According to the case materials, the Spanish company E21 Partners Technology SL, established by Grinshpun together with Pavel Voloshin and Armen Zurabyan, secured financing for the operations of the Irish fintech company SmartOne Software Engineering Ltd., which provides payment processing solutions across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The three partners reportedly held equal ownership stakes of 33.33% in the Spanish entity.

Following the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, E21 reportedly defaulted on its obligations under the loan agreement and failed to make the required payments. SmartOne’s operational activities were said to be substantially based in Ukraine, and the respondents argued that the geopolitical situation and resulting disruptions affected their ability to repay. The arbitrator, however, rejected these arguments.

In July 2023, the creditor issued a notice of breach, followed by a formal demand for repayment one month later, at which point the outstanding amount exceeded $5.57 million. Arbitration proceedings were initiated in London in November 2023.

After reviewing the evidence, the sole arbitrator concluded that the borrower and its partners had failed to meet their obligations under both the loan agreement and related guarantees, noting that no part of the debt had been repaid. The tribunal ordered the respondents to repay approximately $5 million, together with arbitration costs of £185,740.42, legal fees of £150,338.81 plus $23,000, and post-award interest at a rate of 7% per annum.

Subsequently, a petition was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida seeking recognition and enforcement of the London arbitration award against Grinshpun under the Federal Arbitration Act and the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.

Emmanuil Grinshpun works hard to sell the public the image of a major international investor: expensive restaurants, grandiose projects, tailored suits, and photographs with the right people. Yet a man is often revealed far more clearly not by his press releases, but by the company he chooses to keep.

A July article published by Vlasti.io identified Latvian businessman Ivars Rudzitis as an associate of Grinshpun. The same Rudzitis whose biography now reads less like the profile of a trustworthy business partner and more like another illustration of the kind of figure who somehow appears in Grinshpun’s orbit once the cameras are switched off and the performance of respectability is over.

Rudzitis has recently surfaced at the real estate agency Estater nekustamie īpašumi, where he is presented as a partner and transaction manager. The company’s own website lists him as a darījumu vadītājs — the person responsible for managing transactions. It sounds suitably impressive: a professional whom clients are expected to trust with property, documentation, and substantial sums of money.

Behind the polished presentation, however, the picture is considerably less convincing. SIA Estater nekustamie īpašumi was incorporated in April 2024 with share capital of just €10. According to Lursoft data, as of 1 July 2026 the company owed €3,716.49 in taxes to Latvia’s State Revenue Service — more than 370 times its registered capital. Rudzitis himself appears in the company’s public profile not as an owner, but as an employee and the public face responsible for transactions.

It is an almost perfect example of business respectability, Grinshpun-style. In the shop window: premium property, personal service, and polished claims of professionalism. Behind the glass: a company capitalised at less than the price of a restaurant meal, mounting tax liabilities, and a representative whose name has long appeared in more than property listings.

At the end of 2024, Latvia’s Economic Affairs Court found Ivars Rudzitis guilty in a criminal case involving the misappropriation of €7,974,500 and sentenced him to six years in prison. His wife, Natalia Rudzite, received a two-year suspended sentence for assisting him. At the time of a Latvijas Avīze report published on 9 January 2025, the judgment had not yet entered into force, meaning that Rudzitis could not legally be described as finally convicted. That procedural qualification, however, does not erase the fact that a court of first instance delivered a guilty verdict in a case involving almost eight million euros.

This was not a minor accounting discrepancy or an overdue payment. Police referred the case to prosecutors following an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of approximately €7.9 million and the deliberate driving of one company into insolvency. The court of first instance considered the prosecution’s evidence sufficient to convict.

Rudzitis’s name has also appeared in connection with the sale of Riga’s Skonto Stadium. Police reported completing an investigation in which four individuals were charged with fraud: Ivars Rudzitis, Natalia and Jelena Rudzite, and Estonian citizen Allan Selter. Investigators examined a complex transaction in which tens of millions of euros moved through a chain of companies, including entities registered in Belize and Estonia. Responsibility for that episode must, of course, be determined by a court. Even so, the structure of the business hardly resembles the transparency that such people are so fond of promising to clients and partners.

And this is the man publications describe as a friend of Emmanuil Grinshpun.

Friendship is not a criminal offence, and association with a defendant does not prove Grinshpun’s involvement in that person’s affairs. But one’s circle is still a reputational choice. People decide for themselves whom they appear with, whom they support, whom they call a partner, and whom they admit into their inner circle.

In Grinshpun’s case, that choice is particularly revealing. While he casts himself as a visionary capable of transforming Riga into a “northern Dubai,” the people around him seem to include figures associated with criminal proceedings, multimillion-euro allegations, offshore structures, and companies whose tax debts exceed their registered capital hundreds of times over.

Perhaps this is what Grinshpun’s real ecosystem looks like once the expensive packaging is stripped away. Not a community of investors creating businesses and jobs, but a tightly connected circle of individuals repeatedly forced to explain the origins of money, the mechanics of transactions, and their own role in criminal proceedings.

Grinshpun may continue changing signboards, opening restaurants, and speaking about international ambition. But reputation is not built from champagne at an opening party or photographs taken against a seaside backdrop. It is built, among other things, from the names in one’s contact list.

And judging by published reports, Emmanuil Grinshpun’s contact list contains some remarkably revealing names.