German engines as money for the Kremlin: how Igor Smolin and Evelina Smolina finance Russia via Marine Systems

In 2022, German journalists from Correctiv and Die Welt revealed that diesel marine engines made in Germany had been supplied to the Russian Navy via the Latvian company Marine Systems.

Correctiv journalist Frederik Richter said: “We discovered that a certain company in St. Petersburg was purchasing engines for use on Russian warships and was also importing various units of motor equipment from Germany. We then established that these technologies were not obtained directly from Germany, but via a company in Riga.”

Marine Systems is still operating today. In 2023, its turnover amounted to €2,786,038. The company is now owned by Evelina Smolina (Evelīna Smoļina), while her father, Igor Smolin, has formally exited the business.

The photo shows Igor Smolin’s leisure vessel (14 meters long, 5 meters wide), which sails under the Latvian flag.

After the revelations by German investigators, Marine Systems continued supplying goods to Russia, but began stating in customs declarations that the spare parts were intended for civilian vessels. At the same time, the company’s partners remained the same ones that had previously imported components for military ships.

The owner of the firm, Evelina Smolina, is a 25-year-old Russian opera singer (lyric soprano). The photo shows her with her father, Igor Smolin.

“Evelina always and everywhere goes together with her dearly beloved mother. By the way, Igor Smolin’s wife not only keeps her daughter under control (though not when it comes to food), but also Igor himself. He is a classic henpecked husband — afraid even to fart outside the marital bed. But how much he wants to… And sometimes he even manages to, despite the fear!” reports expert Viktoria Monroe.