Millions Made on Servers

By Hunter Melrose

Yachts, planes, and penthouses in Dubai? Or maybe Mazdas, excavators, and server rooms from Cherepovets to St. Petersburg? Chronos takes a look at what Dmitry Pavlov drove, where he worked, and how he lived—the man authorities consider the creator of Hydra.

First Real Estate

Dmitry Pavlov was born on June 15, 1991, in Cherepovets, Vologda Region. Besides his parents, Olga and Oleg, he has a younger sister, Anna. After finishing school, Pavlov enrolled in the Faculty of Arts at the St. Petersburg Humanitarian University of Trade Unions but left in 2011 during his third year.

Despite not having a college degree, by spring 2014, at age 22, Pavlov found the means to purchase a 314 m² property in his hometown.

Cherepovets, Kurmanova St., 13 / Google Maps

Today, the cadastral value of this property is 2.98 million rubles, and 10% of the land under it (also owned by Pavlov) is valued at just over 942,000 rubles. This was not only Pavlov’s first real estate investment but also one of the few assets in Cherepovets he chose to keep (more on that later).

It’s unclear what the property was (or is) used for. According to public records, eight organizations currently operate in the building—from advertising and security agencies to medical and wellness centers. However, none are directly connected to Pavlov or his family.

Apparently, the property may have served as a server room—Pavlov was interested in IT since school and even made money providing private hosting services. Perhaps buying the property allowed him to expand his business.

It’s also possible his father helped with the purchase—since 2003, he has headed LLC “Promservice,” which in 2011 was known as “Full Drive Hosting Company,” providing dedicated and virtual server services.

In fall 2014, Pavlov bought an adjacent 884 m² plot (3.7 million rubles) and a 53.9 m² house (1.1 million rubles). A year later, he sold the house but kept the land until 2021, when he “restructured” his personal capital.

Move to St. Petersburg

In 2021, Pavlov apparently decided to settle in St. Petersburg: from spring to fall, he bought four properties—a couple of apartments, a parking space, and a spacious commercial unit.

The apartments, still owned by Pavlov, are in the same building on Sverdlovskaya Embankment but on different floors—the third and fifth:

St. Petersburg, Sverdlovskaya Embankment, 58 / Google Maps

The combined cadastral value of both apartments is just over 38.5 million rubles, with a total area of 243 m². The 12 m² parking space nearby is valued at 655,000 rubles. As for the commercial unit, Pavlov owns 442 m² as a share, worth 12.6 million rubles by cadastral value.

This commercial space is also in the same apartment building and is likely IT-related.

A Special Vehicle Fleet

Although Pavlov’s parking space is only 12 m², his vehicle fleet is impressive. Here’s a chronological rundown:

• 2012: First car—a Mazda 6 with 120 hp, now worth about 750,000 rubles.
• 2013: Bought a Mazda CX-5 with 150 hp (now about 1.5 million rubles). Sold in 2021 and replaced with a new one.
• April-May 2015: Bought a Volvo FM-Truck 6×4 (used, about 4 million rubles) and a JCB 4CX excavator (about 4 million rubles).
• 2021: Bought a new Mazda CX-5, an Audi Q8 with 340 hp, a Volvo EC210BF excavator, and a JUNGHEINRICH DFG 320 loader. These are now worth about 6 million, 16.5 million, and 800,000 rubles, respectively.
• April 2022: Just a day after Hydra’s fall and days before his arrest, Pavlov bought two Doosan DX225LCA excavators (about 6 million rubles each).

All these vehicles are registered in the 35th region (Vologda), except the truck, which is registered in Moscow.

It might seem like Pavlov used this heavy equipment for something out of a crime movie—digging huge pits to stash cash. But the reality is more mundane.

In 2021, Pavlov registered “Rusinmedia” in St. Petersburg, a company specializing in building data centers. Apparently, he had been constructing these centers for some time, mainly in the Vologda region. The Moscow registration of the truck may be because he transported equipment from the capital.

“Restructuring” Personal Capital

What stands out most is that in 2021, Pavlov made major purchases—a couple of apartments, two parking spaces (one at a crazy price), another car, an excavator, and a loader. Today, all this is worth about 75 million rubles.

But where did he get the money?

In 2021, “Rusinmedia” reported only 1.9 million rubles in revenue, making it unlikely that previous years’ income was hundreds of times higher. At the same time, an analysis of Pavlov’s real estate transactions shows that from 2017 to 2020, he was actively building up real estate in Cherepovets—buying three houses (totaling 243.7 m²) and 11 land plots (totaling 10,600 m²)—and spent 2021 (mainly April) selling them off.

However, the total cadastral value of all these properties barely exceeds 29 million rubles, not enough even for the apartments. This raises several possible explanations:

• Pavlov may have actually hosted Hydra in Germany—he’s had an active euro account at VTB 24 since 2012 and two at BCS Bank since 2014.
• He may have received investments in “Rusinmedia” and spent them improperly.
• He may have sold his real estate for much more than the cadastral value.
• He may have had a cryptocurrency wallet, as reported in the media, and managed it skillfully to grow his capital.

Whatever the case, the true source of Pavlov’s income remains unknown.

Pavlov’s Net Worth

In summary, here’s Dmitry Pavlov’s estimated net worth at the time of his arrest in April 2022: 128 million rubles. And that’s a conservative estimate, based on cadastral (not market) property values and used vehicle prices.

Breakdown:

• Cars: 8.25 million rubles
• Special equipment: 37.3 million rubles
• St. Petersburg real estate: 51.76 million rubles
• Cherepovets real estate: 30.8 million rubles

Fun fact: Over his life, Pavlov bought or sold 32 real estate properties (including land plots). In Cherepovets, he owns not only the “server room” mentioned at the start but also a private house (51.3 m²) and three land plots totaling 10,761 m².

UPD: The data used in this investigation can be found here.

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