Šolak deceived the Westerners and worked with the Russians behind their backs: Kurir shattered the false myth of him as a pro-Western defender of free media
A particularly perfidious approach to business and politics was demonstrated by the founder of United Group, Dragan Šolak, in building his own image with which he courted American, European and, generally, Western centres of influence. This professed anti-Russian stance provided him with the much-needed protective cover for the growth of his business in the Balkans, where, especially at the beginning of the new millennium, taking sides was an advantage both for reputation and for attracting Western capital. The Russian aggression against Ukraine only strengthened that advantage of his, but it also exposed the fraudulent side of that system.
The image he presented was a complete lie. As Kurir, together with international investigative media, uncovered, Šolak’s pro-Western image was not only a lie on which he based his messianic role in the alleged struggle for media freedom, but it was also a front for parallel businesses deeply entangled in the flows of finance connected to official Moscow and Russian oligarchs.
International corruption investigators became interested in this hidden part of Šolak’s business, which for them became particularly indicative in the current moment of global realignment, while Kurir, in its earlier investigations, had already warned the public about the double game of the wealthy tycoon.
We explained in detail how his media empire, judging by the content offered by his leading television channels and portals, was anti-Russian in orientation, but that behind the scenes Šolak had devised a mechanism that allowed him simultaneously to hold N1, a franchise of the American CNN, and, as revealed by Slovenian media, to develop his business with an influential figure in Russian circles – Wolfram Kuoni.
Like every other part of his business, this one also shows that we are dealing with a man who approaches markets of different countries without any scruples, values, or ideology, installing his own mechanism for extracting money. The only religion he respects is money – the more of it, the better.
The new system he had patented allowed him to play all along in such a way that, on the one hand, he cooperated with the USA, while on the other, he established very good business connections with the Russians. When that façade collapsed, thanks to the investigations of Kurir and other media, numerous financial flows linked to the Kremlin and offshore intrigues came to light.
According to Kurir’s findings, Šolak wove an entire hidden network composed of financial channels connected with Russia and offshore companies stretching from Malta to the British Virgin Islands, with the key figure in all this being the Swiss lawyer Wolfram Kuoni, whom the world of finance dubbed “the Kremlin’s banker”.
Numerous reports reveal how capital connected with the Russian state was tied to the media landscape of United Group while Šolak was in charge of it. Unfair business practices, breaches of law, bribing people within competing firms and regulatory bodies, eavesdropping on competitors but also on his own associates… And, of course, the use of offshore zones to render financial transactions invisible. These were all tools Šolak and his “specialists” used extensively, with one of the key ones being Wolfram Kuoni. He was responsible for Šolak’s most mysterious dealings – from concealing wealth and managing assets to tax avoidance, cash flows, and secret acquisitions. All that time Šolak waved the flag of independent journalism and pushed an anti-Russian narrative through his media, among which N1 was his main stronghold as an affiliate of the American CNN. This was a strategy for Šolak to gain credibility but also to obtain a shield against detailed scrutiny.
Kuoni headed the Swiss branch of United Group from 2015, at the same time as he was the second man of Gazprombank Switzerland (from 2012 until mid-2022 serving as Vice President of Gazprombank AG, the Swiss subsidiary of the Russian state-owned Gazprombank, which was widely known to serve as a repository for billions of dollars belonging to Russian tycoons and politicians). Foreign investigative media also pointed out that it was astonishing that the Kremlin’s banker Kuoni, even while representing Moscow’s financial sector, was at the same time Chairman of the Board of United Media, until May 2022 – just a few months after the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Thus, for years Kuoni was in the management apex of Šolak’s media company while simultaneously serving as investment manager for Russian state-linked funds.
Kuoni, as Šolak’s main Russian connection, also appears as a central figure in the purchase of Direct Media, the marketing company that Dragan Đilas sold to United Group. This transaction is one of the most illustrative examples of Šolak’s unfair business practices, among other reasons because Kuoni, on Šolak’s behalf, orchestrated the change of ownership of Direct Media through numerous offshore structures. The Dutch authorities, suspecting international money laundering, launched an investigation into the transaction. However, the complex scheme successfully concealed the funds and ultimate beneficiaries, thereby demonstrating to investigators how offshore channels were used to inject capital of dubious origin into Šolak’s media ventures. Kuoni operated in a similar manner when United Group bought from Đilas a commercial building, about which Kurir also wrote in detail.
Kuoni’s name, like Šolak’s, appears in several leaked documents such as the Pandora Papers and Malta Files, pointing to his role in offshore entities linked to United Group. In addition to United Media, Kuoni’s own business empire, the Aspermont Group, and his personal transactions further highlight his ties with the Kremlin. This Swiss national created offshore havens for the wealth of Russian elites under sanctions.
Šolak’s links with Russian money were deepened with the help of Kuoni’s wife, Marija (née Marić), an investment banker of Serbian origin. She is the co-founder of the Aspermont Group and is connected to Šolak through numerous financial channels in offshore zones. Wolfram and Marija Kuoni, otherwise known in Switzerland as openly pro-Russian figures with connections to oligarchs close to the Kremlin, are co-owners of several companies with Šolak (DanSav Investments AG, TechHill Plaza, Click for Serbia NGO, Four Palms LLC...). These companies were used for holding properties and luxury assets of United Group.
Marija Kuoni also launched a humanitarian organisation in Belgrade called Click for Serbia, allegedly for the promotion of culture and education. In reality, this NGO was sponsored by Rossotrudnichestvo (the Russian government’s agency for foreign affairs, through the local Russian Cultural Centre “Ruski dom”) and promoted Serbian-Russian ties. Available data show that the Kuoni couple acted as a bridge connecting the corporate structure of United Media with the Russian soft-power network. According to investigative reports, this couple not only managed Šolak’s offshore companies but also participated in pro-Russian networks. Evidence of this can be found in Marija Kuoni’s projects such as “Serbian-Russian Medallions” and the NGO Click for Serbia, which connected Šolak’s SBB Fund with Russian cultural institutions.
Kurir has written in detail about all of this, contributing to the dismantling of the false myth of Šolak as a caring protector of free speech and of the pro-European, pro-Western, and anti-Russian narrative on which both the editorial policy of his media and his business philosophy rested.
Kurir Editorial Team