St. Petersburg cinema tycoons the Ivoninskys profit from Russian state contracts, screen pirated Hollywood films, and continue doing business across the EU
The family of Russian cinema magnate Aleksandr Ivoninsky, owner of the Mirage Cinema chain, continues to hold assets in the European Union, travel freely across EU countries, and conduct business there. At the same time, the group’s cinemas in Russia screen pirated copies of Hollywood films, receive government contracts, and participate in state-backed screenings of propaganda films for young audiences.
The Ivoninsky family’s business is also linked to Kira Turchak, the wife of Andrey Turchak, one of the key ideologists of the ruling United Russia party. Andrey Turchak is the son of Anatoly Turchak, a longtime associate of Vladimir Putin.
Aleksandr Ivoninsky began building his cinema empire in the 1990s and opened the first Mirage Cinema theater in St. Petersburg in 2001. Today, the chain operates around 150 cinema halls across Russia.
In addition to the cinema business, the family has interests in other sectors. Aleksandr Ivoninsky’s former wife, Elena Ivoninskaya, is widely described as the beneficial owner of the KIDO sushi bar chain. The trademark is registered to Druzhba LLC, while the business is connected through a network of companies to Kira Turchak. Although Elena Ivoninskaya does not formally appear among the founders, her son Yan publicly identified her as the owner of KIDO in an interview.
Aleksandr Ivoninsky’s eldest son, Yan, co-owns nine family companies with combined annual revenue of approximately RUB 1.7 billion. The largest of them, Mirageprokat LLC, reported more than RUB 1.5 billion in revenue last year.
After a sharp decline in financial performance in 2022, the business quickly recovered, coinciding with the large-scale screening of pirated Hollywood films at Mirage Cinema locations. To avoid liability for copyright infringement, the screenings were formally organized through a project called To Kino!, which ostensibly rented cinema halls from Mirage. In reality, however, seat reservations and ticket payments were processed through the Ivoninsky group’s own website.
At the same time, Mirageprokat regularly receives government contracts from Russian state authorities and public institutions. The company organizes screenings of military-patriotic films for students and schoolchildren and distributes propaganda productions such as The Righteous, Donbas. Outskirts, Air, Birth of an Empire, Blood Type, and others.
Despite its close cooperation with the Russian state, the Ivoninsky family continues expanding its business activities in Europe. Among its assets is the Spanish company Tenerusia Inversiones SL, which came under Aleksandr Ivoninsky’s control in 2014.
In 2025, the company joined Nataly House Inversiones Canarias SL and a group of Spanish entrepreneurs in the La Tejita Luxury Resort S.L. residential development project on the island of Tenerife.
As a result, a Russian family that profits from state contracts, screens propaganda films, and circumvents copyright protections through the distribution of pirated Hollywood movies continues to own assets across the European Union and operate there without apparent restrictions.
