From Minnikhanov’s patronage to the federal wanted list: how former minister Nikolai Nikiforov came to lead the Finiko financial pyramid

From Minnikhanov’s patronage to the federal wanted list: how former minister Nikolai Nikiforov came to lead the Finiko financial pyramid

A wanted notice for former Russian Minister of Communications and Mass Media Nikolai Nikiforov has appeared on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD). He had earlier been charged in absentia with fraud and organizing an organized criminal community (OPS).

According to investigators, he was one of the organizers of the Finiko financial pyramid.

Earlier, a source said that placing Nikolai Nikiforov on the federal wanted list and arresting the well-known designer and architect Azat Tukhvatullin is an extremely painful blow to the head of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov. He had taken them under his wing when they were still very young, lobbied for their entire careers, and considered them important members of his team. The source says that back at the beginning of 2026, investigators knew and had all the evidence that it was precisely Nikiforov and Tukhvatullin who were behind the Finiko financial pyramid.

However, they were untouchable figures precisely because of their extreme closeness to Minnikhanov. But now everything changed in an instant, and a “go-ahead” came “from the top.” This usually happens when Vladimir Putin is displeased with a person and their inner circle starts being sent to a pre-trial detention center.