Overview

PNK Group is a Russia-founded industrial real estate developer that sold the Social Circle, Georgia warehouse to DHS for $128.6 million — a property it bought for $29.4 million less than 3 years earlier. The ~$99 million profit flowed to a company founded in Saint Petersburg by a man who got his start selling Putin-themed chocolate bars, who appeared at Roscongress events alongside Putin, whose company partnered with sanctioned Sberbank, and who appears in the ICIJ Offshore Leaks database.

Founder: Andrey Sharkov

• Founded PNK Group in 2004 in Saint Petersburg, Russia
• Started with Shokobox, a candy company that produced novelty chocolate bars featuring Putin hugging puppies (“dobry”/kind bar) and Putin nursing a deer (“nezhny”/caring bar)
• Roscongress Foundation speaker — listed as General Director of Shokobox LLC. Roscongress is established by decree of the Russian President and organizes the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
• ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database: Sharkov appears as node 20494 — an “officer” in offshore entity records. Specific entity details require direct database lookup at offshoreleaks.icij.org/nodes/20494.
• Claims he is no longer a Russian citizen (February 2025 sworn deposition). Lives in New York “most of the time,” splits the rest between Monaco and Moscow.
• In 2023, Sharkov “recalled the brand from Russia” — formally separating the US/EU PNK Group from the Russian PNK Group entity. This is the same year he bought the Social Circle property.

Sberbank Partnership

PNK Group had a documented business partnership with Sberbank Asset Management — Russia’s largest state-owned bank, sanctioned by OFAC since February 2022.

• Sberbank AM and PNK signed an agreement to acquire PNK Park Veshki near Moscow (108,000 sqm)
• The companies “have been working together since 2016” when PNK projects were included in Sberbank’s industrial property fund
• Whether the 2023 US/Russia separation fully disentangled PNK from Sberbank financial relationships is an open question

The Social Circle Sale

• Seller entity: PNK S1 LLC (Georgia LLC)
• Property: 235 acres at 1365 East Hightower Trail, Social Circle, GA — ~1 million sq ft warehouse
• PNK purchase price (2023): $29,392,500 (from Walton Leaf LLC, a local developer)
• 2025 tax assessment: $29,786,800
• DHS purchase price: $128,555,500 (deed recorded February 3, 2026)
• Markup: 337% over PNK’s acquisition cost — ~$99 million profit in under 3 years
• Sale closed in 4 days — compared to typical months-to-year timeline for federal property acquisitions
• Planned capacity: 5,000-10,000 beds (mega-center) — would triple the population of Social Circle (pop. 5,400)
• City Manager locked the water meter; city actively resisting

Scale in Russia

• Developed 33-37 industrial parks across Russia, Europe, and the US
• 5+ million square meters (54+ million SF) total
• Four in-house manufacturing plants producing building components
• Russia’s leading developer of Class A+ warehouse/logistics projects
• Uses German modular construction technology

US Operations

• US presence since 2017
• 20+ industrial properties across CT, GA, NC, NJ, PA, TX, VA
• Key complex: Southern Gateway at Lambert Farms (McDonough, GA) — 3 million SF speculative industrial park
• Multiple rejected projects: Banks County GA ($325M, rejected 2022), Madison GA (voted down Nov 2023)
• PNK is one of six companies targeted by Warren/Raskin investigation (March 29, 2026). Response deadline: April 13, 2026.

Sanctions Status

• Neither PNK Group nor Andrey Sharkov appear on the OFAC SDN list (based on search — direct OFAC tool verification recommended)
• However: documented partnership with sanctioned Sberbank, appearance in ICIJ Offshore Leaks, and participation in Roscongress events warrant continued scrutiny
• Foreign nationals are prohibited from making US political contributions (52 U.S.C. 30121) — Sharkov’s citizenship status at time of any donations is relevant

Key Investigative Threads

1. ICIJ Offshore Leaks node 20494 — What specific offshore entity is Sharkov connected to?
2. Sberbank disentanglement — When PNK separated in 2023, what happened to Sberbank financial relationships?
3. Timing of 2023 separation — Same year as Social Circle purchase. Was the separation designed to make the entity “clean” for US government contracting?
4. 4-day sale closing — How did a $128.6M federal property acquisition close in 4 days?
5. Warren/Raskin response — PNK’s response (due April 13) will be critical
6. FEC records — Direct search for Sharkov and PNK Group political contributions

Sources

• Covington News: Feds paid over $128.5 million
• GPB News: ICE bought a warehouse in Social Circle
• The Real Deal: The industrial owners selling to ICE
• WhoWhatWhy: #DHSProfitMachine
• Moscow Times: Putin chocolate bars
• ICIJ Offshore Leaks: Sharkov Andrey
• Roscongress: Andrei Sharkov speaker profile
• Sberbank AM-PNK agreement
• More Perfect Union: Banks Benefiting from ICE Warehouse Craze
• AJC: Two Georgia warehouses
• Warren/Raskin investigation