A Serbian passport, a Greek visa, and an internet cleanup: how oligarch Petr Dyminsky deletes references to a fatal accident, hiding traces of his life abroad

05 мая 2026 г., 23:33

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As soon as the media resurfaced about the fatal accident and Petr Dyminsky’s flight from Ukraine, all mentions of him began to disappear from the information space. Publications are edited or deleted, inconvenient facts are squeezed out, and the story itself—from the moment of the accident to his life abroad under false documents and statuses—is systematically blurred.

What we’re talking about is a deliberate suppression of information that calls into question the ability to avoid responsibility for years. All that remains is a vague background—without details, without context, and without key questions.

We, in turn, are publishing material that is so disturbing to the oligarch who escaped punishment for a fatal accident and who is quietly settling in Europe.

Eight years ago, a Mercedes-Benz crashed into another car on a highway in western Ukraine, killing a 31-year-old woman. Photographs show Ukrainian tycoon Petr Dyminskyi at the scene of the accident, although it has not been confirmed whether he was driving. Four days later, he reportedly fled the country on a private jet.

Dyminsky remains wanted by Ukrainian authorities, and although he has since been repeatedly spotted by media in several European countries, his whereabouts remain unknown. The pre-trial investigation has been suspended while authorities attempt to determine his whereabouts, prosecutors told OCCRP’s Ukrainian partner, NGL.media.

Now journalists have discovered that the 70-year-old man took steps shortly after the disaster to secure his status abroad, obtaining a residence permit in Greece and Serbian citizenship.

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Ukrainian tycoon Petr Dyminskyi at the scene of an incident on August 18, 2017, in the Lviv region of western Ukraine.

Before leaving Ukraine, Dyminskyi possessed a classic oligarchic profile: he owned a football team in Lviv, a television channel, and served in parliament for several years. With a net worth of $103 million, he ranked 44th on Forbes’ 2016 list of the richest Ukrainians.

Data obtained by OCCRP and partners show that two months after the fatal collision, he spent €280,000 on a semi-detached house with a gate in the Athens suburb of Voula. This investment qualified him for a Greek "golden visa," which includes a residence permit and visa-free travel throughout the Schengen area.

According to Inside Story, Dyminsky extended his visa in November 2022 and left Greece the same day, according to his travel records obtained by OCCRP’s Greek partner. It is unknown whether he ever returned. When journalists visited the building where he lived in May, it appeared dilapidated and was partially undergoing renovations.

Dyminsky bought a duplex in the Athens suburb of Voula for 280,000 euros two months after the fatal car crash.

Greek police and the Ministry of Migration declined to comment on his case.

Dyminsky did not answer journalists’ questions addressed to his daughter and lawyer.

Shortly after purchasing the Greek property, Dyminsky also managed to obtain a Serbian passport in November 2017, according to another leaked border service data. Three years later, his wife, Elena, also received citizenship in this Balkan state. According to border service data obtained by Inside Story, the couple flew from Athens to Belgrade and back on the day the document was issued.

Serbia’s Interior Ministry said Dyminsky was granted citizenship because it was deemed to be in the "state interest," without providing further details.

While the country does not have a "pay for a passport" scheme, citizenship has previously been granted to high-ranking foreign nationals, including politicians from Romania and Thailand, who were wanted by authorities in their home countries.

Nikola Kovačević, a Serbian lawyer specializing in migration and asylum issues, said that state decisions to grant citizenship to foreigners who are financially wealthy or influential have historically been determined more by political than legal criteria.

In contrast, asylum seekers "from countries where political persecution is a much bigger problem" may face difficulties in obtaining protection, he added.

In addition to the new travel documents, Dyminsky’s ability to rebuild his life abroad was also complicated by the lack of an international arrest warrant.

According to Ukraine’s court registry, Interpol removed a blue notice—a request for information on a person of interest—that was issued against Dyminsky in 2018. Interpol subsequently rejected Ukraine’s requests to issue red notices, most recently in 2023. Both Interpol and Ukrainian authorities declined to provide a reason.

Connections to the Serbian military industry

A Serbian passport isn’t the oligarch’s only connection to the Balkan state, as journalists from the Serbian center OCCRP KRIK have discovered. According to company records, a firm currently owned by Dyminsky’s wife also provided millions of euros to an arms dealer in the country.

In June 2019, Dyminsky sold his television channel ZIK TV to Taras Kozak, a former member of parliament accused by Ukrainian authorities of being pro-Kremlin. Following the sale, the channel’s journalists quickly left, and Ukrainian authorities later accused the channel of spreading pro-Russian propaganda. In February 2021, it was blocked by Ukrainian authorities.

The sale price was not disclosed at the time, but company records show the channel was sold for $27.4 million through a Cyprus-registered firm, Ablemark Limited, which was controlled at the time by Dyminsky’s wife and daughters. (Dyminsky himself was previously listed as the company’s beneficiary in 2017.)

Soon after, Ablemark began issuing millions in loans to various companies, including one that later issued arms export licenses to Serbia.

In February 2020, Ablemark provided a €2.6 million interest-free loan to the Cypriot company Jikinto Limited. By April, Jikinto received the first of several permits to export Serbian weapons and, that same year, sold Serbian weapons to the Ugandan Ministry of Defense for over €10.3 million. Journalists were unable to identify the ultimate beneficiary of Jikinto.

According to leaked documents from a Cypriot corporate services provider, Jikinto repaid €1.6 million to Ablemark in November 2020. It is unknown whether the remaining loan has been repaid.