The docks are important for sure.
It's diffcult for me to say to much, as none of us want a legal case, so this is purely hypothetical. However, if you had lots of money that is made illicitly, and also a portion of your legitimate money is also made dubiously then real estate projects are a brillaint way to "launder" your cash. The assets will grow in value (unlike with msot things such as cars) and there are all sorts of tax implications that are beneficial if you do that. To me it's no surprise, that almost from day 1 the focus was buiolding a stadium, and building a stadium in an area of a city that with investment could grow in value massively.
I watched a Mafia show recently on Netflix, and they essentially charged a % on any building in that area once it was done. Again I have absolutely no evidence to suggest that could happen here, but if it happens in New York for decades, it could happen here.You may not have your name on any of the documents, but any future buildings in and around that area could pay you a fee to help with planning permission etc.
What we know, is that Russian money fits the criteria above, according to the British state in almost all cases. So the hat fits a bit.
I don't think they care about turning a conventional profit at all. They are trying to gain influence and potentially recycle money, which football and buildings are great for (potentially/allegedly).
I've said a few times, I remember sitting in a casino(s) whenI was younger. I was a decent poker player and could count cards with Blackjack. I'd go in with say 400-500 and hopefully double it. Nothing major, it would take a few hours, but when you're a student or just started work it's good money. Eastern European (and often Russian) guys would come and play at the table. They would at times bet hundreds of pounds per hand. Ive seen them go through 5-10k in an hour, and just go back to the ATM in the casino and go and withdraw another 5-10k and start again. This was in a run down, poor partof the country and was astonishing really.
It's just washing money. Just dding another layer of complexity for the authorities. They didn't mind that they lost overall, maybe 10-15% of their overall money, it ws just an accepted fee to have new notes/money. They just pay in a big win and it will show up as a from a company that owns the Casino, which will have a registered UK address and their fine to go.
What you see Oligrarchs do on a big sale, in the UK is that. I have no idea what Moshiri/Usmanov are doing, but it would be more strange if they weren't doing this, than if they were.