S
ergey Khotimsky likened the banking market to a conveyor of donuts: “The more donuts pass through our hands, the more powdered sugar sticks to our fingers.” He is co‑owner and first deputy chairman of Sovcombank, one of Russia’s largest banks, and a former film producer who made the 2000s cult comedy *DMB* about army service. A fellow Russian billionaire praised him as a smooth operator who never looked down on anyone and always kept good relations.
Sovcombank ranks among the top ten Russian banks by assets and dominates the domestic bank‑guarantee market, issuing guarantees for government contracts, including those with the Ministry of Defence. In 2025 it became the sole private lender for the 679‑km high‑speed railway between Moscow and St. Petersburg.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, Sovcombank was hit by U.S. sanctions alongside the state‑owned banks. A month later, the Treasury’s sweeping sanctions on the Russian elite also targeted Khotimsky, his brother Dmitry (another co‑owner), chairman Dmitry Gusev, and supervisory board chair Mikhail Kuchmet.
The sanctions had a tangible impact on the bank’s top executives. A joint investigation by *The Post and Courier*, *The Atlanta Journal‑Constitution*, and IStories revealed that Sovcombank’s leaders owned $22 million worth of property at Palmetto Bluff, a South Carolina resort. The resort, known for hosting Justin Bieber’s wedding in 2019, had been purchased by Khotimsky and his then‑wife Elena Baskina in 2010. Dmitry Khotimsky and Dmitry Gusev later acquired additional homes there, while Kuchmet bought a plot he never developed. Sanctions froze these assets, preventing any use or transaction.
Khotimsky’s three‑story mansion, valued at nearly $6 million (≈500 million rubles), was transferred to his ex‑wife in March 2022, just 11 days before he was sanctioned. The house is now rented out for over $2,000 a night. Meanwhile, the other executives’ Palmetto Bluff properties remain vacant.
Sanctions also affected commercial real estate in Georgia. From 2014 to 2021, companies linked to Khotimsky and Baskina invested more than $37 million (≈2.3 billion rubles) in restaurants and retail spaces. Doug Landau, owner of the Neighbor’s pub on North Highland Avenue, paid about $30,000 a month to a company registered by Khotimsky. When the Treasury listed Khotimsky, Landau was alarmed; Georgia’s corporate secrecy made it hard to identify the new owner.
Khotimsky once owned the building that houses Neighbor’s. Landau later learned of the sanctions and expressed concern. The building was sold to Khotimsky for $5.6 million in 2016, and a Brookhaven natural‑food store was sold to him for $1.7 million in 2016, both transactions completed swiftly through brokers.
Khotimsky and Baskina divorced in 2018. The settlement divided their assets: Baskina received the Palmetto Bluff home, which she sold for nearly $4 million. She has lived permanently in the U.S. since 2015, wanting all her assets and income under her control in exchange for transferring Russian assets to her ex‑husband and waiving child support. The final division was completed around mid‑March 2022, just before Khotimsky was personally sanctioned.
During the 2022 invasion, Russian elites transferred assets to family, associates, and ex‑wives two weeks or a month before the conflict, according to former FinCEN deputy director Kimberly Donovan. Transparency International‑Russia board member Ilya Shumanov said the sanctions on Sovcombank were inevitable because of its ties to the state, and that the bank’s leadership had likely anticipated them.
Sovcombank’s management tried to avert sanctions by hiring U.S. lobbying firm Mercury Public Affairs, represented by former Senator David Vitter, who warned that sanctioning the bank would harm the market due to its deep U.S. and Western connections.
Khotimsky has not responded to inquiries. In a recent interview with *Vedomosti*, he criticized media outlets labeled “foreign agents” by Russian authorities. Baskina denied any attempts to hide assets or falsify ownership, calling such claims harmful and false.
The investigation was contributed to by Tony Bartelme (*The Post and Courier*) and Thad Moore (*The Atlanta Journal‑Constitution*).
