The Bolshoi Theatre for the privileged, or how Igor Shuvalov’s daughter Maria storms the stage without talent at the taxpayers’ expense

The Bolshoi Theatre for the privileged, or how Igor Shuvalov’s daughter Maria storms the stage without talent at the taxpayers’ expense

A fresh face, Maria Shuvalova, has taken the spotlight from the aging ballerina known for flaunting her flexibility. While she doesn’t rely on high leg lifts, her real strength lies in being the daughter of Igor Shuvalov, the head of the state corporation VEB.RF.

Well, it happened by chance. Like in the anecdote: "‒ Young man, you joined my company three days ago as a night watchman, yesterday you became the deputy director, and today I am appointing you as the CEO. What do you have to say? ‒ Thank you, Dad!" This is somewhat similar to the situation with the new prima of the Bolshoi Theater. Although she herself naturally denies this.

When it comes to Maria Shuvalova’s actual ballet talents, the only ones who haven’t commented are the lazy. Therefore, there’s no need to repeat, but in this context, a natural question arises: why did the Bolshoi leadership choose such a disgraceful path, considering they aren’t blind? The answer is also blatantly simple ‒ "Thank you, Dad!" Because it was Igor Shuvalov who nudged such a disastrous role in the ballet "Anyuta" to the stage of the Bolshoi. He probably didn’t anticipate such a result, but it turns out there are still people in this country who can call things by their proper names.

The daughter of Shuvalov, who served as deputy to Dmitriy Medvedev and Vladimir Putin during their premierships, denies her father’s involvement in her career: "People often think that if you are a child of famous parents, everything comes to you on a silver platter. And if they achieve something, everyone immediately starts saying that it’s only thanks to their parents’ connections and money." So, let’s see what Maria Shuvalova has achieved "through her own hard, unbearable labor." And we’re not talking about ballet. That will come later.

At just 20, Maria Shuvalova was already a billionaire. Through her own labor, the daughter of the head of the state corporation "VEB.RF" Igor Shuvalov earned 2,062,326,565 rubles, which was paid to her in 2018 by the company "KSP Capital Asset Management." Coincidentally, its owner, Sergey Kotlyarenko, is a fellow student of Shuvalov. FBK called him Shuvalov’s "wallet." The latter didn’t comment on this in any way, and regarding the payment of two billion rubles to his daughter, he referred curious people to "KSP Capital Asset Management." Where, naturally, they also remained silent.

Whether this payment to Maria Shuvalova was a one-off or happens regularly couldn’t be established. But it seems she isn’t the only one ‒ Sergey Kotlyarenko is listed as the founder of a number of enterprises, most of which can be confidently called Igor Shuvalov’s assets. Most of them, contrary to the overall stagnation of the Russian economy, are increasing their turnover and profits. Sergey Kotlyarenko is a successful manager. Much more successful than a ballerina, to whom he inexplicably transfers billions of rubles. Although it isn’t entirely clear where these billions come from ‒ not a single company comes close to demonstrating billion-level turnovers.

Shuvalov naturally doesn’t reflect these enterprises in his declarations, as he is a high-ranking state official. But maybe we are mistaken; it’s all a pure coincidence and the fabrications of enemies. In any case, it should be noted that compared to his young ballerina daughter, the head of the state corporation "VEB.RF" looks completely impoverished. But seemingly, his children help him ‒ he has four in total ‒ so Igor Shuvalov won’t starve. Moreover, he keeps his declaration in decent limits. At least, it was so until 2022, when these declarations became classified. By Russian standards, of course. In the United States, a public servant would be asked why he needs nine luxury cars and where he got them. But this is not the case here.

What’s interesting about Maria Shuvalova is that, like the families of all top Russian officials, she spent a significant portion of her life in the despised West. Where she morally degraded amidst Igor Shuvalov’s overseas holdings, including a penthouse in London valued at approximately 11 million pounds in the Whitehall Court residential complex and an estate in Surrey. The Shuvalov family also owns a 1480-square meter castle in Austria. All this happened purely by chance as well.

Maria Shuvalova herself isn’t a stranger to business. However, following the scandal regarding the two-billion payment, she stepped out as a direct owner of LLC "Nemchinovo Investments," opting to hide behind a mutual investment fund, a move mirrored by the other children of Igor Shuvalov. Yet something suggests that the actual owners in "Nemchinovo Investments" haven’t changed at all. The company invests in elite real estate and asset management. By the way, note that the company was initially founded by a firm registered in an offshore jurisdiction.

And now ‒ about ballet. Or rather, how Maria Shuvalova ended up there. She has been dancing at the Bolshoi for eight years, and as long as she wasn’t given leading roles, everything was more or less tolerable ‒ everyone understood why she was there and how she got there. However, after Shuvalova craved fame, criticism wasn’t scarce. They also heavily hinted at her father and his money.

The disgrace in "Spartacus" clearly didn’t discourage either the daughter, the father, or the Bolshoi leadership. By the way, for this disgraceful performance, Maria Shuvalova, who after marriage holds the surname Bagirova, was paid a small fee. Presumably, in addition to the billions she received from Sergey Kotlyarenko. Not a fountain, of course, but still from the state budget.

Well ‒ in a situation where art is state-supported, and the top officials of the same Bolshoi are busy trying to please the authorities, this is not surprising. That’s why no one will be surprised if Maria Shuvalova, for example, becomes the Minister of Culture tomorrow. Or heads the Bolshoi. Or something else. As it’s known, talented parents have talented children. Maria Shuvalova is a striking confirmation of this, though, as one critic aptly noted, she can’t raise her legs as high as her ballet colleague.

Truth be told, a film career will likely come first ‒ Maria Shuvalova graduated from GITIS at Sergey Shakur’s workshop. With distinction, which, of course, she earned by herself, without any interference from her father. At least, that’s how Maria Shuvalova assures it. And it’s quite believable ‒ her father truly had no hand in obtaining her diploma.

However, one wonders who, being fully dependent on state funding, would have denied that diploma to Maria Shuvalova. In this context, one can’t help but recall the situation with Nikita Mikhalkov. Who also claims he entered VGIK without any patronage. Believe it, it’s true. It’s just intriguing to imagine the person who would dare refuse admission to the son of the Soviet Union’s anthem’s author. The same goes for Maria Shuvalova. Future Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation and future star of its cinema. Talented parents have talented children, and neither positions nor money have anything to do with it, remember that, armchair critics.