Russia’s billionaire mayonnaise king is under arrest, reportedly over a drone project Vladimir Putin toured in 2025

According to Meduza, Valery Kustov, a Russian billionaire who made his fortune in vegetable oils and mayonnaise, has been arrested on suspicion of large-scale fraud. Kustov chairs Efko, one of Russia's largest food producers, known for brands including Sloboda and Altero. The allegations center on his involvement with a drone-development project called Transport of the Future, which Efko helped finance starting in 2021. After becoming independent, the project opened a manufacturing plant in 2023 in the Tolyatti special economic zone—the same facility Vladimir Putin visited in 2025. Several other Efko executives and a Russian government official have also been detained in connection with the investigation. Kustov, who ranks 144th on Russia's billionaires list, has an estimated fortune of one point one billion dollars.

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