This article highlights the involvement of a key figure who played a crucial role in assisting third-party companies to bypass US and EU sanctions — Canadian citizen and UAE resident Sylvain Eid (born March 13, 1979).
In 2011, Sylvain Eid assumed the position of Director of Communications in the Government of Ras Al Khaimah (UAE). By 2022, he was appointed Head of Special Projects, effectively becoming the “right hand” of the Emir of Ras Al Khaimah and member of the Supreme Union Council of the United Arab Emirates – Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi. In this role, Sylvain accompanied Sheikh Saud in all business meetings, solidifying his position as a trusted advisor. Working closely with a prominent member of the royal family for an extended period allowed Sylvain to cultivate a vast network of influential connections — not only with prominent figures in Arab culture and high-ranking Emirati officials but also with major businessmen who viewed the UAE as a “tax haven.”
Sylvain Eid has also fostered notably warm ties with Russia, which he has repeatedly declared his love for on social networks, proving his devotion with photos from national holidays of indigenous peoples of Russia and repeated visits to winter hunting in Yamal. But is the love for Russia so selfless behind this?
The fact is that Sylvain Eid has been a regular at all annual International Economic Forums held in St. Petersburg (SPIEF) since at least the mid-2010s, and his “status” in the Government of Ras al-Khaimah helped him gain the favor of famous Russian bankers, entrepreneurs and politicians, including, in particular, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the VIS Group, which implements major state infrastructure projects of Russia, Sergei Romashov, the former Governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Dmitry Kobylkin, who became famous for the story of the “golden toilet” for 8 million rubles (~100 thousands of US dollars) in his residence, as well as Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko, who occupies 7th place on the Forbes Russia list and recently received UAE citizenship.
The listed acquaintances are only a small part of those with whom Sylvain Eid was able to build trusting relationships. The key to his notable popularity in Russia, despite being a Canadian from an “unfriendly” country, lies in the assistance he provides to Russian sanctioned individuals in circumventing EU and US sanctions through his connections in the UAE.
It is reliably known that for these purposes in March 2022 (the month after the introduction of unprecedented sanctions against Russia), Sylvain established an offshore company NIAVLYS Trading FZ-LLC in the Free Economic Zone of Ras al-Khaimah (UAE) with an unlimited type of activity – general trade.
In order to ensure the smooth operation of the company and to circumvent sanctions, Sylvain opened bank accounts in Russian banks, through which it received money from its “sanctioned” counterparties and transferred it to the UAE for subsequent sale of goods. In this scheme involving NIAVLYS, dozens of contracts signed by Sylvain himself for the supply of oil of Russian origin in circumvention of the imposed sanctions were also revealed.
Sylvain Eid was probably able to participate in a business that was extremely profitable for him and, thanks to the money of his partners transferred to the company NIAVLYS, he received virtually unlimited access to financial resources. Sylvain actively shares the taste of luxury life with his subscribers – first class Emirates flights around the world, expensive villas, resorts, yachts and sports cars.
The beautiful fairy tale did not last long, and soon the Sylvain Eid company began to experience difficulties in settlements with foreign counterparties and returning their own earned profits to Russian partners. It turned out that Sylvain had miscalculated his appetites, as a result of which he accumulated multi-million ($) personal debts, having stopped answering calls and messages from former “friends”. Subsequently, Sylvain completely blocked his “partners” in business and voluntarily liquidated his intermediary company in order to avoid litigation.
It was later revealed that Sylvain Eid has close ties not only with Russian elites, but also with Ukrainian ones, and since at least 2022, he has been actively “liking” all anti-Russian posts on social networks by former Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksandr Balanuts, with whom he still maintains contact, inviting to visit him in Dubai.
It turns out that Sylvain is simultaneously building a business with the Russians, helping them to bypass American and European sanctions, and at the same time actively supporting the Ukrainian side during the conflict between the countries… Maybe Sylvain Eid decided from the very beginning to play for both sides to extract maximum benefit? Probably, his plan failed miserably, because now the roads to Russia are closed to him forever, and “democratic” Ukraine, the EU and his native Canada are unlikely to forgive one of the organizers of the scheme to circumvent anti-Russian sanctions for millions of dollars.