Former Primorye deputy arrested in Thailand after smuggling conviction

On 27 December 2025, a loud news broke, especially for those following the political scene in Primorye. Fugitive deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Primorsky Krai Dmitry Nazarets, convicted in Russia for timber smuggling, was detained by Thai police. Now he faces deportation, effectively straight to prison.

What seems at first glance like a typical story of a corrupt official goes deeper, as Dmitry«s father, Yuri Nazarets, is a prominent businessman who owns one of the largest timber harvesting companies in Primorye.

VLADIVOSTOK1.RU has gathered all that is known about the detained ex-deputy: how he managed his father«s business, what the investigation accuses him of, and what he faces.

The Deputy Slipped Away Quietly

Dmitry Nazarets was born in 1990 in the village of Roshchino, Krasnoarmeysky District, Primorsky Krai. In 2011, he graduated from Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) with a degree in law and immediately began working at his father«s company »Primorsky Les« as head of the legal department, later becoming general director.

«Primorsky Les» is one of the largest timber harvesting companies in Primorsky Krai. It was founded by Yuri Nazarets in 1998. The founders, besides Nazarets, include Vladimir Romanchenko, Yulia Ulyanchenko, and Alexey Antokhin. The latter also holds the position of general director.

Interestingly, under the younger Nazarets, the company had good financial performance. When he left the country, the situation noticeably worsened: by the end of 2022, profit fell by 81%. At the end of 2024, the company has 0 rubles in revenue and incurred losses of 101.3 million rubles (about $1.1 million at current rates).

The younger Nazarets managed not only the family business. He was listed as a founder of eight other commercial enterprises: the trading company «Real», the forestry company «Fortuna», the timber trading companies «Arteksport» and «Vostochnaya Exportnaya Kompaniya» (Eastern Export Company), the timber harvesting company «Primorsky Export», the recycling company «Granula», and the timber raw materials trading company «Lestorg».

Now all these organizations are liquidated, but in the past they had decent incomes, and the most profitable was «Lestorg» — in 2015 it brought 7.9 million rubles (about $86,000) in net profit with revenue of 696 million rubles (about $7.6 million).

Dmitry Nazarets« political career started in 2021 when he, as a member of the »United Russia« faction, became a deputy of the Primorye Legislative Assembly for single-mandate district No. 21 (Lesozavodsk, Kirovsky and Chuguyevsky districts). He was active for only a short time — about six months later, the newly elected deputy stopped attending sessions and even did not work with constituents.

Nazarets himself said he was undergoing treatment and periodically sent certificates from foreign medical institutions, for example, South Korea and Thailand. It was impossible to verify their authenticity, but colleagues considered it a valid reason for absence. LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia) deputy Andrey Andreichenko said he personally saw the documents and had no reason not to believe them.

However, in early July 2023, members of the rules and deputy ethics committee found out that Dmitry Nazarets missed at least 10 meetings without valid reasons. In fact, he skipped almost all sessions of the food committee in 2023, which led the assembly to raise the question of stripping Nazarets of his mandate.

At the end of July 2023, 34 deputies unanimously voted for it, and his place was taken by Primorye«s vice-governor for internal policy Anton Voloshko. After the loud news emerged, the regional branch of »United Russia« stated that Nazarets had not been a party member for many years, and after losing his mandate, he would no longer be associated with the faction.

While He Was Being Sought, He Was Celebrating Halloween

The reason for Nazarets« sudden disappearance was kept secret for a long time. Telegram channels periodically contained information about criminal prosecution. In the public page »Sila v Pravde« (Strength in Truth), it was written that the ex-deputy might be involved in a case of smuggling strategic resources. Official authorities did not provide information, and residents of Primorye could only guess what happened to the ex-deputy, but interest in him did not subside.

At some point, a photo surfaced online taken at one of the parties dedicated to celebrating Halloween in the USA. Observant residents of Primorye spotted the ex-deputy with his wife among the event«s guests — they were dressed as Gomez and Morticia Addams, characters from the American films, cartoons, and series »The Addams Family« (rated 16+).

In November 2023, Nazarets found himself at the center of a new scandal. Three neighbors of the ex-deputy told VLADIVOSTOK1.RU that shortly before moving out, he flooded their apartments twice, but the rented property of Irina Moskvina suffered the most. According to her, boiling water started leaking from the ceiling, but they couldn«t fix the problem quickly because the tenants didn»t answer the phone, leading to a real flood.

The apartments needed serious repairs, but, according to the women, Nazarets« lawyer came to them and stated that there would be no compensation.

‘The first time, Dmitry came himself and negotiated with us. Such a nice, charming guy. He restored everything that was damaged. He bought me new chandeliers. But the second time in August, his lawyer came and said that they probably wouldn«t compensate anyone. By that time, Nazarets had already left the country,’ said Dmitry»s neighbor Irina Moskvina.

In the end, the women went to court and even won, but the damage was assessed at a laughable amount: 1.2 million rubles (about $13,000) for three apartments, 800 thousand rubles (about $8,700) of which were to be paid to Irina.

‘Actually, that«s very little. I invested almost 5 million rubles (about $54,000) in the renovation at the time. The second time I was flooded so badly that the chandelier fell out. The water wasn»t even flowing; it was falling in columns or something. Now the walls need to be stripped along with the plaster, the solid floor also needs to be removed, I have a fireplace,’ the woman complained.

Even the amount awarded by the court for the damaged property couldn«t be obtained by the women, as it turned out that the man»s accounts were frozen. They could only hope that bailiffs would collect some funds from his assets for compensation.

He Didn«t Immigrate, He Fled, But Not for Long

In November 2024, loud and, perhaps, predictable news emerged: Dmitry Nazarets was accused of smuggling valuable timber. According to the investigation, the former deputy falsified documents on strategically important resources and, with three accomplices, organized the export of birch, linden, spruce, aspen, and elm. From 2016 to 2019, the perpetrators exported about 100,000 cubic meters of timber and caused damage to Primorye amounting to about 637 million rubles (about $6.9 million).

The ex-deputy was found guilty of smuggling strategically important resources (Part 3 of Article 226.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and sentenced to 8 years in a strict-regime colony, as well as a fine of 500 thousand rubles (about $5,400), but there was no one to send to prison: by that time, Nazarets had long been in the USA.

The only thing law enforcement managed to do was to recover compensation for the damage in the full amount of 637 million rubles in favor of the Russian Federation. Dmitry was also declared an international fugitive.

For a long time, nothing was heard about Nazarets, but on 27 December 2025, a turning point occurred in the fugitive deputy«s story: he was detained by Thai police and then Interpol.

The TASS news agency reported that Nazarets was caught during a routine document check when law enforcement approached him to see his passport, and he made an unsuccessful escape attempt. The man was caught, sent to a police station, had his fingerprints taken, and it was found that he was wanted. He had two foreign passports with him, issued in different names but with his photos.

Presumably, Nazarets is still in a Thai prison, but he is about to be deported from the kingdom to Russia, and then, most likely, he will immediately go to prison.