"Belarusian Barbie" Katerina Koba got married in Switzerland. Probably to a mysterious Russian multimillionaire
The 37-year-old former model, now a blogger, Katerina Koba, carefully hides her beloved.
Katerina Koba. Photo from her Instagram
Katerina was born in Murmansk. But when the girl was little, her parents divorced, and her mother, with her two daughters, moved to Minsk.
In the 2010s, Katerina Koba was a significant figure in the Belarusian high society. She was a successful model, had hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, and hosted TV shows — first on "Belarus 1", then on "BelMuzTV".
Katerina Koba worked as a host alongside Artyom Rybakin
Katerina also appeared in the first version of Max Korzh's music video for the song "Nebo pomozhet nam" (Heaven will help us). She even tried to record a playful song herself called "Shtuchka" (Gizmo/Thingy).
The petite blonde so resembled the famous doll that she began to be called "Belarusian Barbie". Koba successfully used this — even launching her own website Barbie.by.
Katerina was married to businessman Vitaly Gamzovich, who dealt in car parts. They had a son together.
But at some point, the Instagram picture of beautiful love changed — gradually, joint photos with Vitaly disappeared from the model's social media. In 2018, Katerina admitted that she had already divorced. When exactly this happened is unknown.
Katerina Koba's first wedding
Gradually, Koba disappeared from the Belarusian high society. It seems Katerina's last moment of fame was in 2020. At that time, she made international headlines due to an absurd situation. In the midst of the pandemic, Katerina began claiming that a badge around her neck protected against viruses. She said that such a blocker was difficult to obtain, and a friend had given her the miracle protection.
Katerina Koba and her "virus blocker". Collage from nevsedoma.com.ua
Soon it turned out that such a "virus blocker" was even sold on Chinese websites — and, of course, did not save from any viruses. Koba eventually apologized for the mistake.
In recent years, Katerina Koba has been living in Switzerland. She has her own clothing brand — mainly sports suits for yoga. Offline, these can be purchased in stores in Minsk and Moscow.
Katerina vacations in expensive hotels, spends time in the Maldives, and shows off designer items like a Chanel handbag.
Katerina has 440 thousand followers on Instagram. Recently, she shared happy news with her followers: she published a video in which she, wearing a white dress, puts an engagement ring on the ring finger of her right hand.
"The happiest and most exciting day," Koba captioned the reel.
Her friend from Minsk, the famous Belarusian hairdresser-makeup artist Katerina Sytsevich, flew in to do the bridal makeup. She is also a popular blogger with 114 thousand followers on Instagram.
On the walls of the rooms where Katerina filmed the video, you can see a famous photograph by British photographer and director Zana Briski (known for her wildlife photo projects and as co-creator of the documentary "Born into Brothels"), as well as a painting likely by artist Mike Dargas (one of the most prominent representatives of contemporary German hyperrealism).
Given that there is a lot of men's clothing in the background, the filming likely took place not in a hotel, but rather in the home of someone who loves and appreciates art.
Katerina did not answer her followers' questions about who the groom was. One follower wrote: "I've been following you since Vitaly, were you alone all this time?". Koba's friend replied: "All this time she was with the best man, whom she married." Katerina liked this comment.
Commentators didn't hesitate to go to Katerina's first husband's Instagram to inform him about her wedding. Vitaly replied: "Katyusha has been married for seven years, yesterday was just the formal part of their wonderful relationship."
Koba carefully hides her beloved. The only thing she allowed herself was to publish their joint caricature, drawn during Oktoberfest.
However, several details indicate that the new husband could be Russian millionaire Alexander Smuzikov.
54-year-old Alexander Smuzikov fundamentally does not give interviews. It seems that only once did he make an exception for Forbes and answered a few of their questions in writing. In 2013, Smuzikov was included in the list of the richest businessmen in Russia — at 169th place. At that time, according to the magazine's calculations, he had 600 million dollars.
For a long time, it was impossible to even find photos of the millionaire — journalists could not find them even among the businessman's former partners.
But a few photos did make it onto the internet — all thanks to Alexander Smuzikov's hobby. He loves hunting very much, so he is willing to pose with unusual trophies like a hippopotamus.
Alexander Smuzikov
Another passion of Smuzikov's is art. He is one of the largest collectors of Russian avant-garde art.
Works by Marc Chagall are also in the collection of the Russian businessman. By the way, they were exhibited this year in Tashkent — Smuzikov occasionally allows museums to display his paintings.
Alexander is also written about as a patron who supports young artists.
And he also actively buys unique books for his library.
How did Alexander make such insane money? Forbes begins the story of Smuzikov's life path by stating that in 1989 (Alexander was born in Yekaterinburg, and had just finished school in Moscow at that time) he was sentenced to three years for robbery — the young man snatched a fur hat from a person. Such hats were expensive then. His next conviction was for possession of weapons.
In the mid-1990s, Smuzikov became a partner of oil trader Alexander Krasnolobov. Their company "Tradex" was engaged in a simple business that enriched dozens of people connected with post-Soviet ruling elites: buying oil, sending it for processing to refineries in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, and selling the oil products to the West.
The first point of Smuzikov's real success, the magazine calls 2008 — when the businessman completed a major deal and quite successfully sold a network of gas stations to the TNK-BP company.
Smuzikov is on the far right
Now, according to the media, Alexander lives in Switzerland, in the city of St. Gallen. In addition to a Russian passport, he also holds an Israeli one.
In 2023, Ukrainian media, which call Smuzikov an oligarch close to the Russian government, reported that he was trying to obtain Portuguese citizenship (he submitted documents in 2020).
Little is known about what business Alexander is currently involved in. Last year, for example, it was reported that he is one of the largest players in the microcredit market in Russia.
Rumors about a romance between Katerina Koba and Alexander Smuzikov have been circulating for years. But all evidence of their relationship is indirect.
Katerina Koba carefully hides her man
For example, Katerina Koba shared footage from that very St. Gallen on Instagram. Last year, she met her friend in Switzerland — who also published videos from this not-so-popular tourist city.
Katerina has her own clothing brand. According to rusprofile.ru, her individual entrepreneurship is registered in Russia in the Tver region, Konakovsky district, in the picturesque village of Yedimonovskie Gorki.
The hunting club "Kzhatsky expanses", owned by Alexander Smuzikov, is registered there as well.
By the way, Katerina periodically advertises the "Yedimanovo Village" recreation base on Instagram, which is located in the same village at the headwaters of the Dvina. It seems that Smuzikov is also the owner of the base — as "Yedimanovo Village" is connected to one of his companies.
Katerina Koba has been promoting the "Yedimanovo Village" recreation base for years
Information can be found online that Alexander Smuzikov was married — and three children were born in that marriage, but, according to sources, he officially divorced a long time ago.
On Instagram, Katerina and her son Timur follow Smuzikov's son.
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