Roman Shleinov

Congratulations from Petrov to one of the leaders of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor General's Office (now former)
- The Spanish prisoner is a major player in the Russian real estate market
- Did Gennady Petrov and his company receive a loan of 700 million rubles from Sberbank?

Defense attorney Mario Martinez-Penalver represents retired officer and lawyer Juan Antonio Untoria Agustin, who worked for Gennady Petrov in the field of real estate transactions.

Acquitting his ward, the defense attorney submitted a statement to the Central Investigative Court No. 5 (available in the Novaya edition), which, among other things, states: “Mr. Juan Antonio Untoria met Mr. Gennady Petrov in 1998 through his friend Colonel Mr. -on José Alices Sanza: both studied together at the Main Military Academy and at that time held the rank of major.

Mr. Alices belongs to the National Intelligence Center of Spain and had relations with Gennady Petrov when he was in the KGB, and the former was in charge of counterintelligence at the Higher Center for Information and Defense of Spain (Centro Superior de Informacion de la Defensa CESID). The said gentleman told my client that he knew a major Russian businessman, a close friend of the then President of Russia, Mr. Putin (Vladimir Putin was acting president since December 31, 1999, so the lawyer’s recollections of meeting Petrov in 1998 in this point raises questions. - R. Sh.), from the time when they worked together in the KGB, and that this gentleman, called Gennady Petrov, wants to settle in Spain, start a business in real estate, import and export of food products between Russia and Spain, and that for this he needs a lawyer in Spain.

He also said that Mr. Petrov has several large companies in Russia, among which he noted: a chain of jewelry stores with more than 350 showrooms located in the most prestigious residential areas of the capital and other cities of the country, construction of luxury housing, mainly in St. Petersburg and Moscow, while one of his companies was awarded a number of large government contracts for the construction of highways and road reconstruction, management of the port of St. Petersburg, where Mr. Petrov owns more than 30%, import of cement, a network of supermarkets and small wholesale centers trade (as he was told, about 200).

In view of such assurances, and based on ten years of professional relationship with Mr. Petrov, who always gave only lawful instructions, my client never had any suspicion that Mr. Petrov might have any connection with criminal activity. Moreover, at present my client is firmly convinced that everything cash funds coming from abroad to companies associated with Mr. Petrov come from accounts belonging to completely legal companies.”

“My client always considered Petrov a major businessman connected with the highest political circles of his country. This opinion was confirmed when Mr. Petrov introduced him to two of his close friends who were interested in purchasing housing in Palma de Mallorca - Mr. Reznik and Mr. Leonid Reiman. Mr. Reznik and Mr. Reiman, represented by Mr. Petrov, were clients of my client (the lawyer also gives the address of the villa purchased by Reiman: Palma de Mallorca, Santa Ponsa, Malgrats street, building 10. - R. Sh .)".

Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov has not yet responded to Novaya's request.

We have already mentioned State Duma deputy Vladislav Reznik, who appears in the case - official reports said that he communicated with Gennady Petrov regarding transactions for the purchase of a villa and a boat.

Reznik did not respond to Novaya’s letter.

The name Leonid Reiman mentioned in the lawyer’s statement completely coincides with the name of the former Minister of Information Technologies and Communications, who is now an adviser to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Novaya sent questions for Reiman to the press service of the presidential administration; there has been no response yet.

Juan Antonio Untoria's defense insists that he never belonged to a criminal community and had no idea that his client Gennady Petrov could allegedly carry out any illegal activities. Juan Antonio always considered Petrov a major entrepreneur, “close to the highest political circles of his country, thanks to the importance of the companies he owned.”

“In some cases, he said that since his youth in St. Petersburg, he had been friends with Putin, Reznik and Reiman,” the lawyer writes in his statement. - The fact that Petrov was introduced by his friend, Colonel of the National Intelligence Center of Spain, Mr. José Alices Sanz, Petrov’s warm friendship with these politicians and two trips to Russia, when Juan Antonio Untoria visited Petrov’s various companies, have always been strong evidence for my client, not allowing any suspicions regarding the good name of Mr. Petrov.”

Help from Novaya:

The letter from his defense stated, in part, that due to the arrest of Juan Antonio Untoria, the cocktail party had been cancelled. “Various people were invited to it, and the presence of Mr. Sarkozy, the father of the French president, who was also expected along with his wife,” was expected. The cocktail did not take place, among other things, because the police sealed the rooms belonging to the wife of Juan Antonio - “the only owner of the apartment where the married couple lives, whose family has been friends with the Sarkozy family for many years,” as the lawyer emphasized.

Novaya contacted Juan Antonio Untoria by phone. He said he could not comment because the criminal case is ongoing. He considers this case political and thinks that the scandal was inflated by influential circles.

We sent a letter to Gennady Petrov's son, Anton, with a request to express his attitude to this case or present the opinion of Petrov's defenders. There were no comments.

The case file contains a statement by Roberto Masoriaga Las Ayas, Petrov’s Spanish lawyer. He denies all accusations and says that Gennady Petrov and his family have been living in Spain for more than 10 years and left for this country to avoid possible conflicts with criminal elements in Russia.

The lawyer notes that Petrov was not prosecuted in Spain, but in the past was subject to economic criminal charges in the USSR, which was abolished after the collapse of the Soviet system. The lawyer especially emphasizes that only he, his wife and youngest daughter, as well as servants lived in Gennady Petrov’s house, but the police and civil guard officers staged a real invasion using helicopters. The seizure was accompanied by the breaking of doors and exploding windows, then the police demanded to show where the weapons were kept, which were never in the house.

Russian experts have ambivalent perceptions of the story of the colonel of the National Intelligence Center of Spain, who introduced Gennady Petrov to lawyer Juan Antonio Untoria Agustin.

The intelligence services of all countries of the world work with the category of citizens to which Petrov belongs, believes former Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Skuratov. “They almost always try to use such people to obtain information, especially if we assume that they are talking about some kind of imaginary or real relationship with the KGB.

According to Skuratov, Petrov could be interesting as a person with great connections with the Russian state elite, which, unfortunately, is completely indiscriminate in its contacts. Such contacts can cause damage to national security interests, says the former prosecutor general.

It cannot be ruled out that a colonel of the Spanish special services could have been chasing money,” a retired FSB officer shares his opinion on condition of anonymity. - And he recommended his friend Petrov as a person in the past associated with the KGB and Putin, simply to increase him and his status, although in reality there is nothing of this.

On the other hand, the officer thinks, a man with a controversial reputation, who moved to Spain after he began to fear criminal elements in Russia, perhaps had to interest the Spanish state in some way so that he would be allowed to grow old on the sea coast without hindrance. From this perspective, the story of past connections with the KGB and Putin in addition to extensive contacts with Russian officials, parliamentarians and businessmen - a good reason to interest the Spanish intelligence services.

According to former Prosecutor General Skuratov, the National Intelligence Center of Spain does not have overwhelming influence on the country’s investigative agencies and justice, so he does not see anything strange in the situation of a high-profile criminal investigation.

Experts doubt that Gennady Petrov could be a full-time KGB employee. This does not fit with the economic criminal article under which Petrov was charged in Soviet times. But at that time, a person like Petrov could be of interest to the KGB as a secret informant. And no one doubts that many St. Petersburg officials were familiar with him, who then moved to Moscow and significantly expanded their influence.

The material was prepared in the course of work on the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) www.reportingproject.net - a joint program involving the Center for Investigative Journalism (Sarajevo), the Romanian Center for Investigative Journalism, the Bulgarian Center for Investigative Journalism, Media Focus, the Caucasus Center investigative journalism and New Newspaper", as well as journalists from Montenegro, Moldova, Albania, Ukraine, Georgia and Macedonia.

In the next episode:

Spanish prisoner and transportation of petroleum products
- Did Gennady Petrov have “Olympic” projects in Sochi?

The gambling business in St. Petersburg was started by Russian organized crime groups and Japanese yakuza. Under the control of the mayor's office. Unique evidence of a direct participant in the events

Vladimir IVANIDZE,
special for “Novaya”

How the current St. Petersburg clans were born. How the initial capital of modern power elites and crime bosses was formed. Actually, from what rubbish, by whom and how were giant financial empires created, most of which are still in the shadows. Our interlocutor, Japanese entrepreneur Kinichi Kamiyasu, who stood at the very origins of the gambling business in the Northern capital in the early 90s, talks about the loudest pages in the history of gangster St. Petersburg: the yakuza, Chechen organized crime groups, Tambov, Malyshev, shooters with gypsy barons, casinos under the patronage of the mayor’s office, mansions surrounded by machine gunners, high-profile arrests, fake documents, ordered court decisions and security raiders.

Characters and appearances

Vladimir Kiselev — famous businessman, whose name is mentioned in connection with the grandiose projects of the Federation Foundation, at which Vladimir Putin was present and even played the piano.

Kinichi Kamiyasu - businessman, lives in Stockholm.

Sergey Kuzmin - Where he is at the moment is not known for certain. His wife is under investigation in Spain.

Vladimir Kumarin (Barsukov) — sentenced to 14 years in prison in a maximum security colony.

Alexander Malyshev (Alexander Langas Gonzales)

Gennady Petrov — is under investigation in Spain.

Vladimir Putin - Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, presidential candidate.

Birch alley, house 7 - now there is an office building, which, in particular, houses: the online store Akuzu.ru, the Samadhi fitness club and the Intellect center, which studies the problems of the noosphere.

"Novaya Gazeta" continues to explore the origins of the "St. Petersburg" business, which originated in those very "dashing 90s" to which it is now customary to attribute all problems and difficulties modern Russia. However, as it turns out, many fortunes were made in those days not without the knowledge of the Committee on External Relations of the St. Petersburg City Hall, in which the current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin worked. And many of these fortunes formed the basis of modern successful business projects, and the names of the “big entrepreneurs” of those times still crop up in huge scandals. Somehow: the story of the so-called “Tambov-Malyshevskaya organized crime group”, whose members are undergoing a large-scale investigation in Spain on charges of money laundering, tax crimes and participation in organized crime. Or - a series of media revelations concerning the activities of Vladimir Kiselev, whose name is associated with the mysterious Federation Foundation and the White Nights Festival Association, which has found a second life.

“Novaya” has already talked about who was real owner of this association, whose president was Vladimir Kiselev, are precisely the leaders of the Tambov-Malyshevskaya organized crime group: Alexander Malyshev, Gennady Petrov, Sergei Kuzmin and others.

In 1992, in St. Petersburg, a criminal case was also initiated against these characters - only on charges of banditry. Then, in particular, Alexander Malyshev, Gennady Petrov and Sergei Kuzmin were arrested. Vladimir Kiselev avoided arrest, but still had a conversation with law enforcement officers, and not of his own free will. Novaya Gazeta talked about this in detail, and, it would seem, there is nothing left to add to this. However, a very unusual witness of that era suddenly appeared - Kinichi Kamiyasu, head of the Swedish company Dyna AB. It was she who did business with the structures of Petrov and Malyshev, who, with the help of the St. Petersburg mayor’s office, actually became pioneers of the gambling business in Russia.

In 1991, Dyna AB became one of the founders of the St. Petersburg company Petrodin. Dyna AB owned 35% of the authorized capital, and 65% belonged to the BKhM company, which was owned by two people: Gennady Petrov and Sergey Kuzmin. Let us recall that the Petrodin JV was one of the owners of one of the most powerful financial institutions today - Rossiya Bank.

It was the Petrodin joint venture that owned the Association of the White Nights of St. Petersburg festival, the president of which was the famous show businessman Vladimir Kiselev. By a strange coincidence, his career in Moscow blossomed when Vladimir Putin appeared in the Kremlin.

The Swedish representative office of the Japanese company Dyna, headed by Kinichi Kamiyasu, was developing and selling programs for slot machines with cash winnings. In the Russian criminal case of the Malyshevskys, his name appears to have appeared only once. And even then without a last name. That's how it was.

While Gennady Petrov was in prison awaiting trial, the defense did everything possible to secure his release. So, obviously, a letter in Russian from the Swedish company Dyna appeared in the case. It was signed simply: “Kinichi,” and addressed to “Dzerzhinsky District People’s Court.”

There was something vulgar even in the style of the document: the company name DynaABComputerService was clumsily stylized to resemble a laid out deck playing cards, and under this “header” the following text was placed (presented while maintaining style, punctuation and spelling).

"DYNA AB COMPUTER SERVICE
HäLSINGEGATAN 14-16
S-113 23 Stockholm
SWEDEN...

To the Dzerzhinsky District People's Court of St. Petersburg

More than a month ago, a representative of our company in St. Petersburg, Mr. Gennady Vasilievich Petrov, was arrested on suspicion of committing a crime.

Without delving into the essence of the suspicions regarding Mr. G. Petrov, I consider it necessary to bring to your attention that G. Petrov carries out great and very important work for both our states to fill the Russian market and is a trusted representative of our company here.

From the company's point of view, Mr. G. Petrov is an exceptionally capable, active, conscientious and honest representative of the Russian business world.

In the interests of both of our parties, in order to continue the business relationship begun fruitfully, in particular thanks to (inaudible) Mr. G. Petrov, we ask that he be released from custody during the investigation, and, as a full guarantee of his law-abiding behavior and immediate appearance at request in law enforcement agencies, are ready to make a DEPOSIT both in Russian and in freely convertible currency and the amount specified by you.

Sincerely,
KINICHI»

Who Kinichi is—at least a man or a woman—was not explained in the criminal case of the “Malyshevskys,” and there were no publications in the Russian press about a person with that name. But there was one clue - the Swedish company Dyna AB.

This company turned out to be the European branch of a Japanese company from Osaka - DynaCo. Ltd., which produced programs and slot machines with cash winnings. The most famous of these programs is Cherry Master. The company is currently developing an online casino. The full name of the mysterious Kinichi turned out to be Kinichi Kamiyasu - he is still a representative of DynaCo. Ltd in Europe.

He is a very polite and courteous person. Over the phone, Kinichi said that he had never written a letter in defense of Gennady Petrov, however, according to him, in the early 90s he really knew both Petrov and Kuzmin, who were his partners in St. Petersburg and even invited him to participate in the creation of the casino. This establishment was called “Casino Neva”. Remember this name...

The meeting with Kinichi in Stockholm was short but productive. He showed many photographs, some of which he allowed to be published. All his memories of St. Petersburg were connected in one way or another with the house on Kamenny Island. Gennady Petrov’s main office was in this house on Berezovaya Alley.

From the testimony of Sergei Drapkin, director of the “White Nights Festival Association of St. Petersburg”: “...Both walkie-talkies and one of the Nokia-Delta-Telecom devices were seized by police officers in the building at the address: Berezovaya Alleya, 7. There The office of the company "Petrodin" is located. The premises at the indicated address are used by our Association as a hotel for eminent artists...”

It is difficult to say which artists Drapkin told investigators about, because, according to Kinichi Kamiyasu’s story, in the early 90s this was the real headquarters of the “Malyshevskys” - an impregnable fortress guarded by trained people with machine guns. Not only representatives of the Japanese mafia liked to stay here, but also delegations of “partners” from Georgia, Ukraine and the Baltic states.

Extremely unpleasant scenes of extortion also took place in this office. As follows from the materials of the criminal case, it was here that Petrov and Malyshev explained to their victims how much money and where they should bring it. For example, entrepreneur Oleg Belikov, the head of the Helius company, was brought here, and they explained to him: now he will pay 100,000 rubles and will continue to pay every month, and if not, then his daughter will be killed and his apartment will be blown up. (Berezovaya Alleya, 7, is indicated in the file as the address of the Petrodin joint venture, although in reality legal address company was different.)

As for Casino Neva, Kinichi Kamiyasu explained: it was created in 1993. However, despite all Kinichi’s goodwill, I was never able to get a clear answer from him: who, when and where registered it? He promised to find registration papers, but I never received these documents. The only thing Kinichi Kamiyasu was sure of was that Gennady Petrov completely controlled Casino Neva, although neither he nor Malyshev and Kuzmin owned it directly. At least Petrov’s people handled all the paperwork, and all that was required from Kinichi was consent to the installation of his slot machines. He agreed.

In fact, Casino Neva was registered not in 1993, as Kinichi recalls, but earlier - in May 1992. Its opening took place in October of the same year at the Leningrad Youth Palace, as stated in the Kommersant article. Actually, the text talks about the First International Exhibition of slot machines and casino equipment, in which the Petrodin company took part. As for the casino itself, it was said briefly: it is a “joint venture” with the Austrian company Novomatic. There is not a word about who on the Russian side was part of this joint venture.

Novomatic is Europe's largest company producing casino equipment. It was mentioned in the European media that among the company’s partners there are not entirely law-abiding citizens. However, what can you do, this is the specifics of business.

As it was established, the Russian co-owner of the Neva Casino joint venture was Neva-Chance, created to manage a network of casinos and gaming halls in the same 1992 by the Committee for External Relations of the St. Petersburg City Hall. Let us remember that this committee was headed by Vladimir Putin.

Initially, Casino Neva was registered at 6 Antonenko Street. This address belonged to the Neva-Chance company, which, according to the order of the mayor of St. Petersburg, was supposed to own a share in each St. Petersburg casino. At one time, Putin’s Committee on External Relations was located at the same address, and Neva-Chance was then called simply - JSC Casino.

A few months after its birth, Casino Neva changed its name to Laguna and changed its address, but the taxpayer identification number remained the same - 7812037261. In 1997, the name was changed again - to Admiral Club. Several casinos opened by this company in prestigious places in St. Petersburg were called “Admiral”.

The special closeness to the city authorities of Casino Neva is revealed in the details. For example, the Committee for External Relations provided this company not only with its address, but also with telephone numbers: number 2741684 simultaneously belonged to both “Casino Neva” and “Neva-Chance”, established by the mayor’s office.

This “closeness” is also indicated by the results tax audit St. Petersburg casinos November 1992. (By the way, according to Kinichi, Petrov controlled the activities of the tax service of St. Petersburg.) After the inspection was completed, it was announced: “Casino Neva” is the only establishment, out of about a dozen casinos operating at that time, that “has permission to engage in the gambling business and regularly pays taxes to the budget " The quote from the tax official’s statement sounds surprising if we remember that not even a month had passed since the start of any real activity at Casino Neva.

One more example. In 1993, the Krasnogvardeisky People's Court of St. Petersburg decided to recover 15 million rubles from another joint venture, Nevskaya Melodiya. Kinichi, whose Swedish friend had a small stake in both this casino and the restaurant of the same name, also talks about it. But Petrov and Kuzmin decided to squeeze out this business by replacing all slot machines with those supplied by Kinichi.

Kinichi asked Petrov not to do this: “I said that I couldn’t do that, that this was my friend.” But persuasion did not help, and a raid began on Nevskaya Melodiya, which ended with a court decision. It is curious in this regard that it was the tax office that filed this claim for the recovery of 15 million rubles. According to the lawsuit, Nevskaya Melodiya did not have a license to engage in gambling business, although it was also registered as a branch of the Neva-Chance enterprise, created by the mayor's office. And it is unlikely that Putin’s committee could have “registered” this casino if it did not have all the necessary permits.

The answer, perhaps, lies in the fact that, according to Kinichi, the Nevskaya Melodiya casino was controlled by the leader of the Tambov group, Vladimir Kumarin. So it is quite possible to assume that this was just one of the episodes in the struggle for the redistribution of spheres of influence in the gambling business of St. Petersburg. Which, we recall, according to the order of the head of the city, was directly supervised by the mayor’s office - namely, the Committee on External Relations.

Of course, almost 20 years later, such subtleties may seem insignificant. However, in our opinion, Kinichi’s interview can clarify the picture of what was really going on in St. Petersburg in the early 90s and where the current high-profile scandals came from.

— So, you had your first meeting with Gennady Petrov and Sergei Kuzmin at the end of 90?

- Yes, in December 1990. This is because of one Russian who was in Stockholm... His name<…>Manvel Davidov. He is not from the mafia, not from the mafia at all. But his father, Temo, he was from the Chechen mafia. Manvel then fled the USSR and ended up in Stockholm. He didn't have any documents.<…>I gave him a job<…>bought him a Polish passport.<…>So he saw what I was doing at that time. I traded slot machines with cash winnings and created a gaming club. Then he told me: “You should meet my father and my father’s friend. This is Gennady Petrov, he is one of the big men in the Russian mafia.”

— Did he say it so openly?

-Yes. He recommended me. Then we went to St. Petersburg together, and there I met Gennady. Manvel's father treated me very well, and he had already recommended me to Gene to open a slot machine business. At that time, I had new slot machines, with a new revolutionary program, but there were few places in St. Petersburg to install them.<…>And Gena had great opportunities.<…>they accepted my business and decided to try it. I went back to Stockholm and prepared the papers for the joint venture.

— So this guy, Manvel, introduced you to his father, and he already introduced you to Petrov and Kuzmin?

-Yes Yes. And with Malyshev too.

— With Alexander Malyshev?

-Yes Yes. (Laughs.) Alexander Malyshev... Sasha...

— So you knew them all?

-Yes, I understand. It's unusual. But I knew them all. Lots of feasts together. I'll show you the photos now.

— Of course, I understand that they were friendly to you, but this is the mafia!

-I know. But I wasn't scared at all. I know such people. I grew up in the same family. My father was a member of the mafia in Japan.

— Are you talking about the Yakuza?

-Yes. Not everyone can engage in a business like mine: slot machines with cash winnings, casinos, and so on. You need to have power and influence. You need to know a lot of people, especially people like Gena Petrov. I represented the interests of a Japanese company that was creating programs for slot machines. This was my main business. And in the 90-91s, this company released one of the best programs on the market, and it was my program. My company presented it at an exhibition in Las Vegas.

— This program was called "Cherry"?..

-Yes, exactly, “Cherry Master”! This program became known all over the world. I believed that even if the Russian people did not have enough money to play, nevertheless, money gradually came to Russian economy. <…>One of my friends had already invested in St. Petersburg, shortly before me. This was the first Swedish-Russian enterprise, Nevskaya Melodiya.

— Was it a casino?

-Yes, my friend’s casino. I arrived almost at the same time. They also bought my program and I helped them set everything up. I remember that I still had slot machines in metro stations back then. And they immediately opened a casino and a restaurant.

— By the way, I still don’t understand when your “Casino Neva” opened?

—In 1993.

— And before it was simply called “Casino” or?..

—No, “Casino Neva” was the first name. Well, I'll show you a photo of the opening. How are Gena and... Sergei doing? Are they in Spain?

— Yes, in Spain. They have serious problems with the police there. But here's what I wanted to ask. Isn't Kuzmin in Stockholm? I found one Sergei Kuzmin here.

-Yes?! Are you sure? There are many such names... If I had seen him, I would have recognized him immediately. I know that Gena’s friend lives here, a very large businessman. What's his name?.. I don't remember.

— OK then. So how did you start your business in St. Petersburg? Who bought your gaming machines?

-I didn't sell them. I started by investing 300 devices in 1991. We made good money on them in '91 and '92. Later Gena told me that they want to invest money from slot machines in a casino, open a casino, and that my part will be 25%. Well, I said that I don’t need money yet and I’ll be happy to invest in a casino. Sometimes I received some money. Sort of like a lot of out of pocket expenses. I was in no hurry to grab my share of the money. Besides, I trusted them a lot. And they were very influential people, they controlled the whole of St. Petersburg. It was easy to understand, even if I didn't speak Russian.

— But were they honest with you? Have they ever tried to deceive you?

“I didn’t look at it from that point of view. I didn't have any chance anyway. Therefore, I believed that if I invested 300 devices, then this money would come back to me. If my part is 30% or 25%, then, in any case, I could get 10% of the income, I could roughly calculate the winnings on the machines. And 10% was already good money. In short, I was rich at the time and didn't care much about risks. They had an office in an old building, a beautiful place... Now I’ll look for the address... Putin also had a building nearby. (Reads aloud: “Stone Island.”) <…>And Gena was there every day. Every day there was a line of people waiting outside the gate to meet Gena. It was like being in a mafia movie. Security guards with Kalashnikovs opened the gates and carefully examined whoever came. Some boss from another region comes to talk to Gena, and he must wait his turn. Every morning Gena sat there. He often told me: “Kinichi, I’m so tired of this, people only talk to me about their problems, and sometimes I just don’t have time to deal with these problems. But this is my job...” And so every morning. It was all like in a movie.

— And the address of this building was...?

—Birch Alley, 7 (reads in his old notebook). There weren't many rooms there, no more than 20. I always lived in room 7.<…>But this was not a hotel in the usual sense.<…>So, in 1991 there were machine guns in the subway and shopping centers, and we made good money. And in 1992, the authorities took a very big step towards legal casino activities. The doors were open. And then the first exhibition of equipment took place, Putin spoke to us and said: “Welcome foreign investors.” After the exhibition we had a cocktail evening on Kamenny Island. Not in our building, but very close. Literally two steps away.

— In 1992? What kind of exhibition is this?

—Equipment for casinos, slot machines, roulettes...<…>I had my own stand at this exhibition: the Dyna/Petrodin stand. (Together we look at photographs from the exhibition.) Putin must be around here somewhere. I remember a Japanese photographer took a picture of us together. At that time I didn’t really know who this person really was – Putin. But I knew Mayor Sobchak well. At that time, Gena had complete control over him. There were many foreigners at the exhibition, Putin spoke to us, and after that I invited everyone to our house on Berezovaya Alley. Even the head of Novomatic was there (the largest Austrian company in the casino industry). Here I brought you copies of articles about the exhibition from a Japanese magazine. There is an interview with Putin. Translate?

— Yes of course thank you.

-So,<…>here he is talking about casinos... “The gaming business is one of the most important for St. Petersburg”... “This is a very important investment...” And here he tells a Japanese journalist that “income from casinos in St. Petersburg goes to poor people.”

— Was Gennady Petrov at this exhibition?

—Their people were there and helped me, but Gena and Sergei were not there. In 1992, shortly before the exhibition, they disappeared. They were captured and sent to prison, and Malyshev too. I know for sure that they had to pay a lot of money, and after about 10 months Gena and Sergei were released from prison.

— Did they pay a bribe?

-Yes, sure. By the way, in this Japanese magazine they even published about me that I am connected with the mafia. And they also mock me for how I’m dressed, and for bringing the wives of Russian mafiosi to the exhibition. They are about Lena and Sveta, the wives of Gena and Sergei. I don't understand what's wrong with that? Gena and Sergei were in prison at that moment. Why couldn't I invite their wives? (Shows a photo of a man sitting with Malyshev and Petrov.) And this is my friend from the Japanese mafia. Gena was very pleased with his arrival and said that he himself would take him around the city in his car.

— May I ask his name? Name of your Japanese mafia friend?

-His name… (wrinkles a little, as if doubting) Iida. He's my boss's brother. We grew up together in Nara. And they were always like one family. His older brother became a big man in politics and the mafia at that time. He created a group that dealt with relations with Russians, business and economics. Primarily in the Far East. They took valuable seafood from the Russians and sent used cars in exchange. They then came to St. Petersburg, and I introduced Gena and others to them. Gena was very pleased that I introduced him to the Japanese mafia... (Shows me other photographs.) This is Gena's driver. He was killed. Many people died at that time. (Points finger at photo.) This one is killed, and this one is also killed.<…> (Shows another photograph in which he is sitting in an embrace with Kudryash - Pavel Kudryashov). And this is Pasha. After Gena, Sergei and others were in prison, Pasha controlled the entire organization. But for a very short time.

— Do you remember his last name?

— Have you met Putin?

-I haven't met him. Well, except for that meeting with cocktails when he welcomed investors to St. Petersburg casinos.

— But was Putin close to any of them? With Gennady, or Sergei, or with Malyshev?

— It seems to me that first of all with Gena Petrov. Gena even told me that he was building a house next to Putin’s house. Neighboring house.

— Who was the real boss: Gena or Malyshev?

-Gena, of course. I know that Malyshev’s job was to control pure crime. Killing people was his job. He gave orders to another part of the organization, "the people on the street."

— So, Gena was the brains of the organization?

-Uh... yes, but I think that all economic matters were decided by Sergei Kuzmin. As soon as the conversation turned to business, Gena always said that he would let Sergei speak. Sergey assessed projects very quickly. He was the one who said what was too expensive and what was worth doing. And Gena simply listened and then decided that if Sergei agreed, then we would do it. In economic matters, everything was decided by Sergei’s voice. And I introduced many Swedish businessmen to Sergei. Many were interested in import-export operations.

— What kind of relationship did you have with Malyshev?

—As for Malyshev, we didn’t see each other as often as we did with Gennady. We saw each other when there were big parties or dinners, and so on. One day, when a group from the Japanese mafia arrived, we were having dinner. And at that moment there was a big problem between Malyshev and, it seems to me, the gypsy group. They staged a showdown right in front of this hotel. (This refers to the office on Berezovaya Alley.)

— Are you saying that the gypsies started shooting there?

— There was no shooting, but everyone stood with Kalashnikovs and aimed at each other while Malyshev and the gypsy boss were talking. Then they told me: “Kinichi, it’s very good that everything happened right now. You can explain to our friends in the Japanese mafia how we resolve issues with these people."

— What did your friends from the Japanese mafia say?

-Oh... (Laughs.) They weren't very surprised. They said they understood the situation. The same thing happened in Japan 30-50 years ago. They also did such things. By the way, I also carried a revolver at one time when I was in St. Petersburg. Because when Sergei and Gena were taken (in 1992 -Ed.) , then such people from the KGB appeared... Well, they left the KGB and began working in the private security business. They took over various hotels and buildings, and they also wanted to take over this hotel (on Berezovaya Alley). It was not Vladimir Kumarin, they were former KGB members, as I think. I was scared, to be honest, at the time. My name was known and... In a word, they gave me a pistol, just in case.

— Did you know a person named Kiselev? Vladimir Kiselev. He also managed a pop music festival in St. Petersburg. Festival "White Nights".

—I didn’t know him very well. We only occasionally crossed paths. I always thought that he was just under Gena, carrying out his orders. He always smiled and shook my hand, but we hardly spoke. And Gena and I talked all the time. Through my translator, of course.<…>

— Why do you think 1992 turned out to be such a dramatic year for Petrov and other “Malyshevskys”? Everything was in their hands, no? What's happened?

—I think that Gena grew up in the hierarchy too quickly. He needed more time. He got irritated very quickly. He always carried a gun in a holster and smoked all the time. But that was understandable. He had to fight with other groups all the time, and he was on edge all the time. When I met him in 1990, he was a very simple and rather poor man, it seemed to me. I could not imagine then that he would become such an influential person. I couldn’t imagine it at all... And Malyshev too... He was like an ordinary gangster. But here everything was clear, Malyshev’s job was to manage other gangsters, and so on. But Gena was different. He always needed someone to be there. And he knew many important people. As for racketeering and blackmail, they, of course, had to do this so as not to lose control. Certainly.

— Did you know Vladimir Kumarin?

—After Gena and Sergei were arrested, I crossed paths with Kumarin. More precisely, he came to me himself. After the arrests, I was very worried about investing in casinos. And Kumarin invited me to work with him. He said that there was a very good ship and a good business could be done there, something like a floating casino. It used to be a fish restaurant, very famous. And then, for a short time, there was a Japanese restaurant there. And I should have already signed a contract with Kumarin. I then explained everything to Lena and Sveta... and asked if I could do business with Kumarin? But they told me to wait, that Gena would come out soon and everything would be fine. There will be no business with Kumarin. To be honest, I was sure at that time that Kumarin was working for Gena.

— They say they were close before?

-Yes, may be. But I've never met them together. Although, when Gena and Sergei were in prison, I often met with Kumarin.<…>At that time I didn’t know exactly what their relationship was. But Gena's influence was very serious. For example, I know exactly what he controlled tax service. Through the tax authorities, they could change any contract, especially contracts of foreign investors. And I know that my friend had the same problem at Nevskaya Melody. They changed the contract and he couldn't get any more money. The casino was under the control of Kumarin, and Kumarin gave the money to Gena. Gena himself told me this. And he also said that he wants to take out all the slot machines from this casino and replace them with mine. But I replied that I couldn’t do that, that this was my friend.<…>But it did not help.<…>They changed the contract - and that’s it, my friend stopped receiving money.

— Did you have a joint venture with Kumarin?

-No no. Only with Gena. This is the Petrodin company, from the words Petrov and Dyna. As I remember, I only sent them the power of attorney to sign and Dyna forms.

— Was your “appeal to the judge” written on one of these forms? It is in the criminal case. You are asking to release Gennady Petrov on any bail.

-Yes, now I remember that Sergei and Gena asked me to get all the papers with stamps from Sweden. Joint venture stamps, etc. Therefore, I think that they themselves wrote “my letter” to the judge. It wasn't difficult. But it was important to them then.

— Tell me, what was the most difficult moment for you personally?

—I was shocked when Sergei and Gennady ended up in prison and when our hotel was taken under guard by the “former” KGB. I didn't want to stay in that building anymore. The little I could do was come to St. Petersburg and find out some news from the wives of Sergei and Gena. And then another police chief was killed in St. Petersburg... And the situation was difficult. Many people died then. In addition, a huge amount of cocaine was also detained at that time.

— Do you know anything about this?

-No, but I thought it was Gena’s group. I read about this when I was in Sweden. They wrote here that perhaps it was Gena’s group. A very large amount of cocaine.<…>I also had problems because of this story. The Swedes knew what happened there. And I had a joint venture with the Russians. And every time I came from St. Petersburg to Stockholm, they detained me. Every time!<…>

— So they knew that you were working with the Russian mafia?

-Yes. And they checked me every time. Every time my car was searched for a long time, they simply turned it inside out. Terrible.

— Did Gennady and Sergey live in Sweden?

-No. They just came here sometimes (we are also talking about the early 90s. — Ed.), for a week. We tried to establish a business, import food products, and so on. I introduced them to businessmen here.<…>

— Did Gennady Petrov have people whom he completely trusted? Well, except for Sergei Kuzmin, of course.

-There was one person... His name was Vladimir. When Gena was arrested..., no, later, when he actually fled from St. Petersburg, Gena left me his phone number. He said that I could only talk to this person, Vladimir. But then he was killed.

— And his last name?

-I don't know. Is it true.

Vladimir IVANIDZE —
special for “Novaya”

In this indictment, investigative prosecutors Jose Grinda and Juan Carrau named the names of Russians who were part of a criminal community operating in Spain since 1996. In particular, this group included Gennady Petrov, Alexander Malyshev, Leonid Khristoforov, Sergey Kuzmin, Ilya Traber, Viktor Gavrilenkov and others.

We are discussing this report from the Spanish investigative prosecutors with Andrey Zykov, retired lieutenant colonel of justice, former senior investigator for particularly important cases of the department for investigating crimes in the field of corruption and economics of the investigative department of the Investigative Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the North-Western Federal District.

- The list of well-known Russian political figures who, according to Spanish prosecutors, have long collaborated with the criminal group of Gennady Petrov, includes people such as former Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov, former Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, former Minister of Information technologies Leonid Reiman, Sberbank President German Gref and others. What significance, in your opinion, does the published report of Spanish prosecutors have for today's Russia?

Obviously, there is reason to again ask the question that was asked by journalists in 2000: “Who is Mister Putin?”

The report makes you think about many problems that are specific to Russia. And it is also obvious that there is reason to again ask the question that was asked by journalists in 2000: “Who is Mister Putin?” But the meaning of this question is different today. Today I want to understand whether he is a “tail” that is wagging his “dog”, or a “dog” that is wagging his “tail”. By “tail” I mean the very position of the President of the Russian Federation, and by “dog” I mean that mafia, which is usually said to be immortal. It follows from this report that many people in leadership positions (including security forces) were appointed not by Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, but by bandits directly related to the so-called Tambov criminal group.

For example, in 2007, Alexander Bastrykin became the head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. Gennady Petrov and other members of the organized crime group simply call him Sasha. They call him constantly. “Sasha” himself calls Gennady Petrov and thanks not President Putin, but precisely Gennady Petrov for making him chairman of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation. As a sign of gratitude, he is ready to “set up a table”, “cover a clearing” and asks Gennady Petrov to invite to this “clearing” directly the person on whom his appointment depended.

Or another figure, Igor Sobolevsky. It seems that he once worked as a lawyer, then suddenly he became Alexander Bastrykin’s deputy in the same Investigative Committee. And, again, it turns out that it was not Vladimir Putin who appointed him to this position, but Gennady Petrov and the so-called Tambov organized crime group were involved in this appointment. And Igor Sobolevsky, in a conversation with Gennady Petrov, thanks him for this appointment. If such important positions in the security forces are occupied by people who were placed there by a criminal group, and not by the President of the Russian Federation, then it is really unclear who is the “tail” and who is the “dog”... Who rules our state?

- Spanish investigative prosecutors report in their report that members of the criminal group exercised control over the criminal activities of the corresponding criminal groups located in Russia that they led. In addition, they carried out the following activities: “murders, arms trafficking, extortion, fraud, document forgery, smuggling, drug trafficking, contract beatings, illegal transactions, etc.” Andrey, how do you, the investigator, see the architecture of this organization?

Before arresting members of this criminal group, representatives of Spanish justice had to work a lot. They had to learn about the connections that exist in Russian criminal groups, to understand the principle of centralization that is characteristic of them (when there is a boss at the top, and cronies at the bottom). It was even necessary to make some changes to Spanish legislation in order to bring these individuals to criminal liability. Indeed, when you look at the principles by which criminal groups are built, you discover an analogy with how state power is structured in Russia. Strict centralization - after all, it was precisely following this principle that Vladimir Putin at one time decided to abandon the elections of mayors and governors. And when it became clear that appointed mayors and governors steal no less than elected ones, and perhaps more, Vladimir Putin “disowned” his initiative.

Why is strict centralization good for gangs? The godfather does not need to hide in front of his people that he is a criminal. He tells them that there are suckers, people who can and should be robbed as much as they want. But the role of the president when he is among criminals is different. He, of course, also tells his subordinates that it is possible to rob the people. But at the same time, he cannot tell the people that “you are a bunch of suckers and must obey my close bandits.” He, according to the Constitution, is the protector of this people. He develops a kind of split personality. He has to lie to both.

- The figure of Gennady Petrov, the leader of the Tambov-Spanish criminal group, is very interesting. Co-owner of the famous Rossiya Bank, he actively collaborated with the leaders of other criminal groups, and with politicians, and with large businessmen, such as Oleg Deripaska, Alexander Abramov, Iskander Makhmudov and others.

Here is what is said in the report of the Spanish investigative prosecutors about the pre-Spanish, Russian past of Gennady Petrov: “In the Russian criminal environment, he is known as a criminal authority. The leader of the Tambov organized crime group, the existence of which has been confirmed by the Russian authorities, various police services, international data, a number of expert reports and intelligence information about their activities and the pyramidal structure of the organized crime group, the existence of which, as well as his status in it, was admitted by the accused himself. Petrov has numerous criminal records, was registered with the police many times, served a prison sentence together with Sergei Kuzmin. On February 8, 1985, Petrov received 6 years in prison according to the verdict passed by the Zhdanovsky Municipal People's Court of the city of Leningrad. Petrov was under judicial investigation in connection with belonging to a criminal organization, where he was a member together with Alexander Malyshev. Thus, on September 5, 1992, about 30 people were detained as part of a certain criminal group led by Malysheva. An unregistered pistol was confiscated from Alexander Malyshev during his arrest. Members of the criminal group were accused of banditry and committing various group crimes."

Andrey, what can you say about Gennady Petrov?

His active work began in the mid-80s, but its heyday came in the early 90s. I remember many publications. Nikolai Andrushchenko, one of the founders of the newspaper "New Petersburg", as a deputy of the Leningrad City Council, was included in the offices of Anatoly Sobchak and Vladimir Putin. He recalls that Vladimir Putin’s office was then headed by Igor Sechin. Access “to the boss’s body” was through him. Igor Sechin has a very good relationship with Gennady Petrov, and Gennady Petrov was seen quite often in Vladimir Putin’s office. Vladimir Kumarin and other leaders of criminal groups were also seen there. At that stage you had to communicate with them. Marina Salye also wrote that in order for companies through which officials could withdraw money to exist, officials needed to deal with criminals. And the heyday of the activities of the so-called Tambov organized crime group occurred during the time of Anatoly Sobchak and his deputy Vladimir Putin

Nikolai Andrushchenko recalled that Anatoly Sobchak at the beginning of perestroika gave the impression of a disinterested liberal professor. However, after Vladimir Putin and Viktor Zolotov approached him, Anatoly Sobchak changed, he developed a craving for a luxurious life. And he began to sell his conscience.

- Gennady Petrov was a co-owner of Rossiya Bank from 1998 to 1999. The history of Rossiya Bank awaits its researcher. One of those on the list of Spanish prosecutors, who actively cooperates with the Tambov-Spanish criminal group, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, Vladislav Reznik, was from 1990 to 1995 the chairman of the board of the Rus insurance company, on the basis of which the Rossiya Bank was later created ". It is noteworthy that in those years, the future president of Russia, lawyer Dmitry Medvedev, worked for some time under the leadership of Vladislav Reznik. What else is Rossiya Bank famous for?

Gennady Petrov is directly related to this bank. He then (I don’t know how it is now) owned 2.2% of his shares. Another member of this team, Sergey Kuzmin, is also related to this bank - the same 2.2% shares. He is also involved in the “Spanish case”. This bank "Russia" seems to have absorbed a criminal group that has been given the right to plunder Russia. The very creation of the bank was not entirely legal. Initially it belonged to the regional committee of the CPSU, which, together with the Rus insurance company, was its founder.

So Mr. Reznik is related to this bank. Shortly before the events of 1991, very large sums were poured into this bank, about 500 million rubles. Spanish investigators drew attention to the fact that it is quite possible that Gennady Petrov lives on money from the CPSU. It turns out that when we are looking for money from the CPSU, we do not notice Bank Rossiya right under our noses. And those persons who privatized this bank themselves took out loans from this bank and used this money to buy shares of the same bank. This bank was practically stolen from the state. His money ended up in the hands of a criminal group. In general, I am inclined to consider the activities of the members of the Ozero cooperative and the shareholders of Rossiya Bank through the prism of Article No. 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which implies punishment for creating a criminal group. This group was created with criminal purposes, which are well known to all citizens of Russia: to rob the country, to plunder it.

- The report of Spanish prosecutors provides an excerpt from a printout of a telephone conversation between Gennady Petrov and former State Duma deputy Mikhail Glushchenko, who was sentenced this year to 17 years in prison for organizing the murder of Galina Starovoitova. Mikhail Glushchenko tells Gennady Petrov that it is necessary to understand and solve the problem of the “armless” (meaning Vladimir Kumarin). The conversation takes place in early July 2007, and in August of the same year, Vladimir Kumarin was arrested. The organizer of his arrest is General Nikolai Aulov, who now works as deputy director of the Federal Service for Drug Control Viktor Ivanov.

It is interesting to note that the High Court of London recently published materials from the case of the murder of former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, including a dossier on Viktor Ivanov. This dossier, prepared for Alexander Litvinenko by former FSB Colonel Yuri Shvets, says in part: “Everything changed in the late 1980s, when the KGB ordered its officers to engage in business and involve anyone in it.” useful people, including criminals, who in those days were the only ones who knew how the market worked, at least the black one. Fulfilling the order, Viktor Ivanov, who worked as the head of the anti-smuggling department of the Leningrad FSB department, established business connections with the Tambov criminal group and its leader Vladimir Kumarin. The Tambov organized crime group waged a life-and-death battle with another powerful gang - the Malyshev gang - and its leader Malyshev. In this gangster war, Viktor Ivanov took the side of Vladimir Kumarin and helped his group win. The main asset for which they fought was the St. Petersburg seaport, which was used as a transshipment base for the transport of Colombian drugs to Western Europe. As a result of this dubious business cooperation, Ivanov acquired a stake in the capital of the St. Petersburg seaport and he still manages this business. On the other hand, in the mid-1990s, the Tambov organized crime group transformed into a holding with many branches and subsidiaries."

In one of the conversations recorded by the Spanish service, Gennady Petrov states that Vladimir Kumarin was arrested by order of the “Tsar”. The investigation believes that Vladimir Putin was called “Tsar”. Can you explain why, in your opinion, Vladimir Kumarin was arrested, because he was one of the members of the Ozero cooperative?

Members of this SPAG society, many of whom were convicted in different countries of the world, were involved in money laundering and trafficking in Colombian cocaine. Vladimir Putin was also a consultant in this company. And Vladimir Kumarin was well acquainted with Vladimir Putin. Journalist Nikolai Andrushchenko claims that he had a topless photo of Putin with Kumarin. During the search, this photograph was stolen from him.

But then the order comes: to imprison Vladimir Kumarin, and even the term is indicated - 30 years in prison. Which of the security forces was supposed to carry out the operation to imprison him? Mikhail Glushchenko was supposed to testify against Vladimir Kumarin. And his immediate imprisonment and detention were handled by Nikolai Aulov, a lieutenant general who at that time headed the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Central Federal District of the Russian Federation. By the way, before this, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Central Federal District was headed by Alexander Bastrykin. Having moved to the Investigative Committee, he gave up his place to Nikolai Aulov. Nikolai Aulov, like Alexander Bastrykin, was very closely associated with Gennady Petrov. Spanish investigators counted 78 calls between Gennady Petrov and Nikolai Aulov, with 74 calls coming from Nikolai Aulov. Gennady Petrov gave instructions to General Nikolai Aulov, and he reported to Gennady Petrov for the work done.

Vladimir Kumarin gave an interview in which he said that he met with Alexander Litvinenko. Moreover, Kumarin says that this meeting took place in St. Petersburg. This is completely impossible. In 2000, Alexander Litvinenko moved to London and asked for political asylum. There was no way he could return to Russia; he would have been immediately arrested here - they would have found something to show him. Obviously, this meeting took place in Spain.

Why did Vladimir Kumarin need this meeting? He understood that he could turn out to be a "bargaining chip" in big game. He remembered the fate of Roman Tsepov, also a person close to Vladimir Putin. The circumstances of Tsepov's death are very similar to the circumstances of Litvinenko's death. The question arises: was polonium tested as a poison on Roman Tsepov? Trying to hedge his bets, Vladimir Kumarin could have transferred some materials to Alexander Litvinenko, which could have become known to Vladimir Putin. Therefore, the “Tsar” gave the task to Gennady Petrov and other persons in Spain to discredit Vladimir Kumarin. Let Mikhail Glushchenko, who was presented as the person who ordered the murder of Galina Starovoytova, point to Vladimir Kumarin. Which is what was done. As can be seen from the report, this conversation has been going on for several months before Vladimir Kumarin’s imprisonment.

And Nikolai Aulov reports on every step of the investigative team, about how Vladimir Kumarin was detained, what was discovered, how he behaves, that the lawyer Afanasyev was not allowed to see him, that the lawyer was not allowed to bring medicine to the prison. Vladimir Kumarin has been in prison since 2007 on practically falsified criminal cases. I would not be surprised if he is recognized as the mastermind behind the murder of Galina Starovoitova. The authorities need to hide the true mastermind of her murder, and Vladimir Kumarin is a very convenient object on which this crime can now be “pinned,” a former senior investigator for particularly important cases said in an interview with Radio Liberty.

The indictment in case No. 321/2006 was transferred to the Criminal Chamber of the National Court of Spain on October 19 this year. The prosecutor's office demanded 8 years in prison for Gennady Petrov, 5 years in prison for his wife Elena Petrova and 5.5 years in prison for other defendants, including State Duma deputy Vladislav Reznik.

Today, these persons involved in the report of Spanish investigators live in Russia, they have no problems, and things are going well for them. Gennady Petrov, who returned to St. Petersburg, still lives quietly in the same house with Kozhin and the Fursenko brothers on Berezovaya Alley. His son Anton continues to run the business. Alexander Malyshev visits St. Petersburg doctors. The modest travel agency is headed by Leonid Khristoforov. Ildar Mustafin sells food products. General Nikolai Aulov heads the operational-search department of the Russian Federal Service for Drug Control in Moscow. First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market Vladislav Reznik carefully goes to Duma meetings. Former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov works as industrial director for the aviation cluster of the state corporation Rostec. German Gref continues to head Sberbank. Former Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov continues to work as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Gazprom Corporation. The list goes on...

Posted by: admin January 29th, 2016

The life and death of Putin's acquaintance from St. Petersburg "Roma the Producer"

In the photo below - St. Petersburg, September 27, 2004. Funeral of crime boss Roma Tsepov (Beilenson), nicknamed “Roma the Producer.” The photo was added to the court materials in the Litvinenko case as evidence of Putin’s connections with the mafia.

It was a noble funeral, yes. The Prince Vladimir Cathedral, where the funeral service was taking place, was cordoned off. One by one, the foreign cars of the distinguished guests arrived. When the body was buried in the cemetery there was a fireworks display - a platoon of riot police fired a volley of blank cartridges.

Relatives and friends of the deceased came. There was the head of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of St. Petersburg and his deputies. Also the head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Northwestern Federal District. The head of Putin’s personal security and the head of the internal security department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation urgently arrived from Moscow. From the lads was Kumarin (“Kum”), the leader of the largest Tambov organized crime group in the city. And also deputies, senators, oligarchs, etc.

The deceased himself did not hold any positions during his lifetime and was officially only the owner of a private security company (PSC). He was 42 years old.

Of course, the deceased was a difficult person. Since the 90s. he knew a St. Petersburg official (then little-known) named Putin. I know him closely. Thanks to this, he accomplished many glorious deeds. Many of those present owed their stars, positions, and business successes to Roma. He was their patron. Producer with a capital P.

Those present left the Prince Vladimir Cathedral with heavy hearts and vague guesses. After all, the deceased did not die a natural death. He was poisoned with an unknown radioactive poison, which could not be identified then (in the fall of 2004). Moreover, he did not die immediately, it was two weeks of suffering from radiation sickness: decay of the bone marrow, liver, hair loss, continuous bleeding stomatitis in the mouth due to a drop in leukocytes, etc. Someone dealt with him very cruelly and viciously. A criminal case was opened for murder, but it ended in nothing.

At the exit from the cathedral, mourners for Roma the Producer were captured by a Novaya Gazeta photographer. This is how the famous photograph came about, which many years later Judge Robert Owen would add to Litvinenko’s case. And really, where else will you see the main cop of the city of St. Petersburg and the main bandit of the city together? And so that Putin’s security chief would also be with them? - Only at the funeral of Roma the Producer.

Although the deceased was killed in such an unusual and savage way, he himself was a person whose life would have been better not to stand in his way. If he gave someone advice, it was worth listening. If you made an offer, it was worth accepting.

You have already heard about Kumarin. He was at Roma's funeral. Together with one journalist, by the way:

Mikhail Glushchenko (Misha Khokhol) could not come. As he later recalled, back in 2002, Roma Tsepov came to him (his private security company provided security for Khokhla) and stated that Mikhail needed to immediately leave the country, since “problems arose with his safety.” And Glushchenko immediately left. At the time of Roma’s death, he was not in Russia.

Please note that Glushchenko is an international master of sports in boxing, the most famous St. Petersburg bandit, State Duma deputy

And then one day, Roma Tsepov came and said: “Misha, we have to get out!” And Misha immediately left. He lived in Spain for a long time until he returned to Russia in 2009. And he was immediately arrested, received 8 years, racketeering, murder. Those. Roma Tsepov was right when he said in 2002 that he could no longer guarantee his safety.

There was an instructive story with the authority of the same Tambov organized crime group, Ruslan Kolyak (aka Bug-Eyed, Lupaty, Puchik). He and Roma had a difficult relationship, they were at odds and then reconciled. But in the end, in the early 2000s, they separated completely. Those. Bug-Eyes decided to go against the Producer.

“From what I personally heard, I know that Tsepov for a long time I had a very bad relationship with Ruslan Kolyak. I even remember how at one time Kolyak boasted that he burned Tsepov’s cars, that he would soon “lower him” and other such “blah blah”. This was in 1997-98, but in 2003, shortly before his death, the same Ruslan Artemyevich, whom I somehow met by chance, was interested in whether I could arrange a meeting for him with Tsepov on some particularly important matter. for Kolyak question. (Ruslan asked this question rather angrily and not without a bit of mockery; it was clear from him that the very situation when he was forced to break himself and bow to Tsepov was extremely unpleasant for him).”

The result is this: although Bug-Eyed promised to have sexual intercourse with Roma in an unnatural way, nothing came of it. In the summer of 2003, he was shot dead while on vacation in Yalta, and a whole line was forced into a cafe on the beach. And his entire business (there were several casinos, clubs, a stake in the Pulkovskaya Hotel, etc.) went to Roma.

Or there was another case. At the beginning of 2004, one St. Petersburg journalist named Maxim Maximov decided to conduct an investigation into how Deripaska fought to seize the Arkhangelsk pulp and paper mill (the so-called “forest war” of the oligarchs in 2000-2003).

It turned out that the power part of the operation to seize the plant was provided by Roma Tsepov and his two friends - General Zolotov (chief of Putin’s security) and General Novikov (chief of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the North-West). Zolotov - very influential person, who has the nickname “Generalissimo” in the Kremlin. Novikov is a complete protégé of Roma the Producer, and he promoted him to this position. Naturally, Tsepov and other participants in the raider takeover were not eager to read about their adventures in the newspapers. Especially Deripaska (London, stock exchange, investors).

And on June 29, 2004, journalist Maxim Maximov disappeared without a trace. As it turned out later, he was invited to a meeting by a certain person, a police informant, promising to hand over interesting materials. He offered to go to the office in the basement on Furshtatskaya, 26. However, it was a trap. There turned out to be a bandit bathhouse, where three police officers close to General Novikov were waiting for him. As witnesses later testified, the cops strangled Maxim, wrapped his body in plastic (prepared in advance) and took him somewhere out of town. Despite this, the case was put on hold and closed.

In 2009, 5 years after Maxim’s death, St. Petersburg journalists held a kind of protest at the scene of the murder. Flowers, candles, a portrait of the murdered man were brought, and this homemade board was attached to the house:

In 2007, deputy Viktor Ilyukhin tried to revive this case. I wrote a letter to prosecutor Chaika. Its text can be viewed. How is it, Ilyukhin asked, that police officers (he names their names) killed a journalist who was digging under Deripaska and his friends. And these officers are General Novikov’s closest acquaintances and subordinates. But the investigation is not being conducted, because... connections lead far to the top.

I found someone to complain about the government’s connections with crime! By the way, Roma Tsepov himself was a police officer. Yes Yes. I bought myself a Colonel GUBOP crust back in the 90s. Where did the fireworks at the cemetery come from? Well, what’s surprising: it was in St. Petersburg that the concept of “striped roof” was born, i.e. joint organized crime groups of bandits, cops and security officers. And now there is also a striped roof over the Kremlin. The trial in the Litvinenko case showed that the deceased was killed because he was investigating how Putin protected the Tambov gang when they were driving drugs through the St. Petersburg port.

In general, I have a proposal: stop pretending and change the five-pointed stars above the Kremlin to eight-pointed ones. Like these ones:

However, I wouldn’t want you to get the impression that Roma Tsepov was some kind of monster, around whom there were only bandits, corrupt cops and corpses. No, rotating for years in the very underworld of Russian life, among the bug-eyed ones, generalissimos and other Deripaskas, Roma remained a creative person. Periodically, his soul was drawn to beauty and he produced not only cops, but also modern Russian cinema.

The writer Andrei Konstantinov mentioned above in his book “Gangster Petersburg” dedicated the following lines to Roma:

“In the so-called “certain circles,” everyone knows Roman Tsepov, despite the fact that he is absolutely not a public person... The hackneyed cliche “gray eminence” suits him much more. Therefore, if someone was interested in this person to such an extent that they wanted to see him live, then I can only refer him to the series “Gangster Petersburg”. There, there is a scene in which the Lawyer (Pevtsov) kills Misha Rezany in front of the “authorities” sitting at the table. So one of these “ghoul” characters, Tsepov, is.”

It's like that. In certain (i.e. gangster) circles, everyone really knew him, the “gray eminence”, etc. And indeed it was Roma the Producer who gave money for the series “Gangster Petersburg” and himself starred in a cameo role there. This multi-part saga about St. Petersburg criminals went off with a bang among Russian viewers. Like “Brother-2”, “Brigade”, etc. products.

Here it is, the same shot from the 2000 film, where Roma the Producer briefly flashes in the role of a criminal authority. Essentially plays himself:

Well, in general, as you understand, Roman Tsepov achieved great heights during his lifetime. Came to success, as they say now. How did he manage to achieve this? Where did he come from in gangster Petersburg?

IN Soviet time Roma was a simple officer of the internal troops with the rank of captain. He served as assistant to the head of the political department for Komsomol work in the unit that guarded the zone. For the sake of studying at the military school of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he abandoned his father’s surname (Beilenson) and took his mother’s surname (Tsepova).

Roma Tsepov at the military school. By the way, he was a candidate for biathlon

And in general he was fond of shooting.

But Roma’s military career did not work out. In 1990, he got tired of guarding the zones, left the army and began new life. He created his own brigade in St. Petersburg, close to the Tambov ones. IN better times it reached 100 people or more. Since 1992, the team has been working under the guise of a private security company with the elegant name “Baltic Escort”.

They started like everyone else: they provided protection, guarded, and collected debts. Business was not easy. In the dashing 90s, they tried to kill Roma and imprison him several times. In 1994, he spent a short time in Kresty for armed robbery (an attack on the office of the Parallel-60 company). But the case fell apart and he quickly left. Then he also boasted that he spent his time in prison usefully - he met “Malysh” himself (the leader of the Malyshevskaya organized crime group), who was imprisoned there for banditry.

In 1999, they tried to imprison Roma again, this time for racketeering (extorting 70 thousand dollars from a businessman from Gatchina). But this case was also closed. The former head of the 7th department of the St. Petersburg RUBOP Igor Gusev (the department dealt with the leaders of large organized crime groups in the city) in April 2011 recalled in an interview with the newspaper “Our Version on the Neva”:

“I personally saw Roman Igorevich in 1999, when I was conducting operational support in a criminal case regarding the extortion of a large sum of money from the director of one of the commercial companies in Gatchina. Tsepov came to this businessman personally, hit him in the face with a man purse and demanded money at gunpoint. We then brought up a number of more episodes of his criminal activity - in particular, a robbery at the office. However, all criminal cases against Roman Tsepov were dropped when he had well-known patrons... Later, it was Tsepov who became the biggest disaster for our city. Having the unlimited support of the same patrons, communicating with all the criminal authorities of the city and turning into an untouchable, this thoroughly criminal person built the entire St. Petersburg Main Internal Affairs Directorate for himself.”

Major Gusev did not dwell much on “a number of other episodes of his criminal activity” that they brought up then. Meanwhile, the episodes were really interesting. In the 90s Roma had a mistress, this lady:

She is now in the art world. He writes scripts and films videos with famous artists. And then she was a realtor, the owner of a real estate agency, which was protected by Roma. I don’t know what happened there, but Irina (that’s her name) left Roma. And she began working with the Shevchenko brothers (another branch of the Tambov organized crime group). According to Tsepov, she had previously cheated him by selling him an apartment, which was pledged to the bank. Although I think there is something personal there.

“In September 1999, the St. Petersburg prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case under clause “a, b” part 3 art. 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in relation to Belokopytov N.P., Tsepov R.I. and Kuznetsov N.A., who on June 25, 1999, while in the office of Baltic Steel Corporation CJSC, demanded from Bratchikov A.V. transfer money to them in the amount of 70,000 US dollars, while Kuznetsov and Tsepov caused him bodily harm.

A month later, this criminal case was connected with criminal case No. 990711, initiated by the 1st department of the Investigative Committee of the State Investigative Directorate on September 16, 1999 under paragraph “b” of part 3 of Art. 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in relation to R.I. Tsepov, who, according to the wording of the case, in the period from December 1998 to August 1999, threatened to kill I.G. Afanasyeva. and the murder of her young son, demanded that she give him 100,000 US dollars as “compensation” for refusing to cooperate with his (Tsepov’s) security agency, taking possession of the victim’s property in the amount of at least 80,000 US dollars.”

This is exactly where Roma’s former passion is, it was her who he threatened to kill, as well as her young son. True, he didn’t kill him. When Putin came to power in 2000 and all cases against Roma were abruptly closed, he himself organized a criminal case against Irina. She was given 5 years for apartment fraud. Her problems only ended when Tsepov died. True, she never returned to real estate.

Major Gusev, who conducted cases against Tsepov in 1999, delicately did not name the patrons of this a thoroughly criminal person, who did not allow him to be imprisoned. This is understandable, the interview took place in 2011, the patrons were just preparing to be re-elected for another term.

An interesting point here is that Major Gusev served in the 7th department of the RUBOP of St. Petersburg, and in the 90s Roma just bought himself the title of an officer of this department with the rank of a freelance (secret) employee. Those. Gusev tried to imprison his “colleague”. I understand that this is already beyond the pale, but this is Russian reality. A bandit and a cop can be one and the same. In general, Roma had a new type of authority. You just can’t approach it like that.

June 2004, St. Petersburg. Roma Tsepov in his native Military-Political School of Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A gesture of charity - giving the cadets a TV and home theater.

How did Roma meet his patrons, about whom Major Gusev speaks without naming names? - There is no secret here. Back in 1994, Roma accidentally acquired one exclusive client for his private security company. The mayor's office of St. Petersburg asked him to organize personal security for Vice-Mayor V.V. Putin. He was not entitled to FSO security due to his position, so the mayor’s office brought in a private security company. This is how Roma met Putin.

This acquaintance soon elevated Roma to the criminal Olympus of St. Petersburg.

But it also destroyed him.

Why did the mayor's office choose this private security company to protect Putin? Who brought Roma the Producer to Smolny in the first place? - This was done by Romin’s friend Viktor Zolotov, an FSO officer and Sobchak’s bodyguard. Roma's private security company was friends with the FSO. FSO officers trained his guys, and they themselves worked part-time in private security, and went to showdowns in their free time. That's how we met. Later there were publications in the media that Zolotov actually had (unofficially) a stake in Romin private security company, which is why he pushed him to the top. It may well be, but, be that as it may, Roma achieved his goal - he climbed into high offices.

Viktor Zolotov, nicknamed “Generalissimo,” is a very important person in the Kremlin.

In 1991, Zolotov was in Yeltsin’s bodyguard, and even stood with him on a tank near the White House during the State Emergency Committee. Then he was sent to St. Petersburg to see Sobchak. Then in 1996, after Sobchak’s failure in the mayoral elections, he was fired from the FSO and he went to work for his friend Roma, at that same private security company. But soon his old friends got him a job again. In 2000, Putin made Zolotov head of the Presidential Security Service. Since 2013, General Viktor Zolotov has been the commander of the Internal Troops of the Russian Federation. Putin has a particularly trusted person; if anything happens, he can disperse the protests.

Who would have thought in 1991, at the time of the fall of the Soviet regime, that this big man behind Yeltsin would come to the fore and stand guard over a new, now purely mafia dictatorship? By the way, the child who is between Zolotov and Sobchak in the black and white photo is Ksenia Sobchak. It is extremely doubtful that her dad, around whom Putin, Zolotov, and Tsepov did business, knew nothing about this. And I had no share.

Not much is known about Zolotov’s personal qualities. Defector Sergei Tretyakov (former SVR officer, fled to the United States in 2000) was familiar with Zolotov and characterized him as an “ordinary thug.” Zolotov’s former chief in the FSO, Alexander Korzhakov, completely hates his subordinate (they had conflicts in life). In 2014, in response to a question from The New Times about Zolotov, Korzhakov snapped:

“I won’t talk about scoundrels... He [Zolotov] is very vindictive, just like our first person with whom he is close. And I’m an old pensioner, I have children, why do I need these problems?”

It’s interesting that Putin and his close friend Zolotov are similar not only in character (vicious and vengeful), but even in appearance, small glass eyes, pursed lips...

But let's return to Roma the Producer. How many people happen to have acquaintances with the powers that be? - This in itself does not mean anything. But Roma Tsepov was not like that. He made the most of his acquaintance with Putin and Zolotov.

It all started with a casino. The city hall gave them licenses, and Sobchak appointed Putin to be responsible for issuing them. He set to work with enthusiasm. The system developed was classical. The license cost a bribe (to enter the market), and then the work also cost money (a monthly “subscription fee”).

But there was one problem - bandits. They were the owners of the casino. Someone had to communicate with them, resolve issues, collect money. In addition, the bandits were squabbling among themselves. They could send the tax inspector or the cops as competitors to find black cash or drugs in the neighbor’s casino (and often there was no need to look for them). Competitors, for example, liked to do such nasty things to their competitors, using their connections.

In other words, every time some kind of intermediaries were needed, whom both sides would trust, and who would sort it all out. Of course, Putin could do everything himself. Among the Tambov people, he had an old judo buddy, Kostya Goloshchapov, and his own coach, Leonid Usvyatsov (the authority of Lenya the Sportsman), until he was killed. Among the Malyshevskys, Putin also had a friend from his youth - former wrestler Gennady Petrov, a major authority.

You won’t believe it, but the character on the left, Gennady Petrov, in the 90s was one of the founders of Rossiya Bank (this is “Putin’s wallet”). And it was him in June 2007, according to Spanish wiretapping, that Comrade Bastrykin thanked for his appointment as head of the Investigative Committee.

But let's get back to the casino. Money is good, but someone had to constantly be in touch with these soulful people in chains and with crosses. And then fate sent Putin Roma the Producer. This is who was the best fit for the role of mediator. He knew both bandits and cops, he loved this business (mediation) and he succeeded. With the advent of Roma, the casino protection system in St. Petersburg acquired a completely centralized form. Now Sobchak’s mayor’s office could only receive money; Roma would resolve related issues.

But the casino was just the beginning. Running in the system. The main thing began later, when Roma reached a new level: in addition to the usual protection racket, he began trading positions in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB and other government agencies. That’s when he received the nickname “Roma-Producer”. “Producer” because he produced. And not only TV series, but also people for bread-and-butter jobs.

As already mentioned, in September 2004, when he was buried, Vladimir Kumarin (“Kum”) and Mikhail Vanichkin, head of the St. Petersburg City Internal Affairs Directorate, came to say goodbye. Of course, Vanichkin knew that Kum would be at the funeral (Roma and the Tambovites worked closely together). Of course, Vanichikin knew that it was inappropriate for the head of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate to attend the funerals of criminal authorities. But on the other hand, how can you come? - In 2002, it was Roma who helped Vanichkin buy this position.

FSB General Konstantin Romodanovsky was also at that funeral (he was not included in the shot). This is the head of the internal security department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in 2000-2005. Those. the main fighter against corruption in the police department. He was very friendly with Roma. They fought corruption together. Well, if Romodanovsky has already come, then why shouldn’t Vanichikina come?

Konstantin Poltoranin, Romodanovsky’s press secretary at the time, recalled in a 2012 interview:

“Tsepov, Putin’s acquaintance from St. Petersburg, apparently did not leave Romodanovsky’s office”.

It seems that Roma did not leave all the main offices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB at that time. By the way, General Vanichikin is now deputy. Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, responsible for the fight against organized crime. And the security officer Romodanovsky is the head of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation with the rank of federal minister. Romina's pets were promoted.

This is Dmitry Zapolsky, a famous St. Petersburg journalist and political scientist. At one time I knew Roma Tsepov closely. In 2012, Dmitry emigrated from Russia (as he says: “So that they don’t waste polonium on me”) and now lives in Thailand.

Gennady Petrov, a representative of the shadow Russian elite, arrested in Spain, is the key to understanding the system of informal connections between officials, businessmen, politicians and crime bosses. And also the changes that have occurred in this system. Novaya Gazeta gained access to the materials of a Spanish criminal case in which Petrov and several other people appear. Petrov is accused of being one of the leaders of a criminal group, as well as money laundering and tax evasion. Protocols of wiretapping his telephone conversations indicate that he entered into deals with entrepreneurs from the Forbes list and had friendly conversations with the deputy boss investigative committee under the prosecutor's office, was involved in the transportation of petroleum products, tried to influence personnel decisions at the government level and helped Russian parliamentarians buy villas. The case materials also include a company controlled by Petrov that services enterprises of the Administration of the President of Russia.

Petr Sarukhanov / Novaya Gazeta

The only thing that Gennady Petrov and Alexander Malyshev, another leader of the group and a defendant in the criminal case, avoided were politicians. In August 2007, Spanish police recorded a telephone conversation between them. They called each other “Sanya” and “Vasilievich”, often called each other, shared news and discussed business. Immediately after the arrest of Vladimir Kumarin (Barsukov) in Russia on August 22, a conversation took place between Petrov and Malyshev, in which Malyshev clearly expressed his understanding of the situation:

«<…>You and I have always been surprised, and now too, by his behavior for the past 5-10 years. They have their own life, we have ours. We are only interested in the economic issue, and we don’t care about the rest. If I could open a couple more stores, I would be happy. And the ambitions of these people to become number one are completely incomprehensible

<…>. Do you remember Izmestyev, there was a senator with that name? And so they accepted the Bashkir. Here is how it was. Where is the country house of the “king” ( talks about Putin. — Note spanish police) <…>. On the contrary, on the other side of the river, Vovka “Polyak” began to build ( we find out who is meant by this nickname.— R. Sh.). Are you aware? Vovka’s brother, if he tells someone to “dissolve,” he will “dissolve.”

However, this man began to say: “This land is mine, this is my property, we live in a legal state, I will write to Strasbourg,” and writes<…>. What stupidity.<…>Thank God, people come and say “dissolve.”

It sounds like a manifesto from early 1990s shadow leaders wanting to survive a time of growing government bureaucracy. They no longer claim the status of “number one,” which does not prevent them from using extensive connections, providing various types of assistance and remaining indispensable intermediaries and players in the Russian market. They were left a place in the complex sphere of informal “issue resolution.” So you can’t call them the last people either. Russian business and political circles do not see an ethical problem in relations with controversial figures with a criminal past and do not refuse their services.

reference

Alexander Malyshev- a well-known St. Petersburg authority who has repeatedly come to the attention of law enforcement agencies in different countries. In Russia he was convicted of premeditated murder in 1977 and negligent murder in 1984. In 1992 he was arrested, by 1995 he received two and a half years for illegal possession of weapons. Released because he had already spent time in pre-trial detention. In 2002, he was detained in Germany on suspicion of forging documents to obtain Estonian citizenship. The founder of the group, named after him “Malyshevskaya”, which since 1987 was considered a competitor to the Tambov group. The leader of the latter, Vladimir Kumarin (Barsukov), was arrested in Russia in August 2007. Accused of organizing murder, attempted murder and illegal seizure of property.

Gennady Petrov was the ward of Kumarin, and then Malyshev, although in Spain he was associated with Kumarin. It is possible that the groups that have been at war in St. Petersburg since 1987 have changed, and some of their representatives have found mutual language, turned into businessmen and established business connections with each other. For strangers, Petrov and Malyshev declared that they did not maintain any relationship.

Presidential Administration

In July 2008, prosecutors general from European countries gathered for their 8th conference in St. Petersburg. They were received by the Konstantinovsky Palace, which is part of the Palace of Congresses complex of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. The heads of 43 countries met here at the Russia-EU summit, and the G8 meeting took place here in 2006.

Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika and general secretary Council of Europe Terry Davis. We talked about the rule of law. The conditions for discussion were excellent. As stated on the palace’s website, in addition to architectural sophistication, it is distinguished by the latest technology and the use of advanced technologies, “and at the same time, the spirit of the times has not evaporated under the onslaught of the new, the traditions live on, which Emperor Peter the Great himself laid in the foundation of the palace with the first stone.”

Judging by the materials of the Spanish investigation, in full accordance with the spirit of the times, Gennady Petrov could not have done without Gennady Petrov. A number of Spanish companies are associated with Petrov, one of which is Inversiones Gudimar SL. According to the Spanish State Tax Agency, Petrov was the sole manager of this company. At the end of July 2002, he issued a special power of attorney in the name of his son Anton Petrov so that he could act on behalf of the company in Russia, and in particular, participate in the activities of the Russian companies Alivekt and Liniya Svyazi.

Novaya found out that both companies are from St. Petersburg. Alivekt is now listed as a co-owner of Line Communication (35%, according to the Skrin database). And Line Communication, which provides its services under the Balt Line brand, is an operator of telecommunications services. Among the company's clients, in particular, is the State Complex of the Palace of Congresses, where prosecutors and heads of state met.

Among other clients of Line Communication is the Directorate for Construction and Reconstruction of Facilities in the North-West federal district» Office of the President of the Russian Federation, Russian State Historical Archive, as well as state-controlled Aeroflot.

Line of Communication did not answer our question whether Anton Petrov or Gennady Petrov are related to the company. Press Secretary of the Presidential Administrative Officer Viktor Khrekov confirmed that their enterprises are Line Communication clients, the company participated in the competition, services telephony and there are no complaints about its work.

Khrekov also explained that management does not have the right to inspect companies.

In the same boat

Russian deputies are noted in the case materials. The protocol for wiretapping Gennady Petrov's telephone conversations dated October 29, 2007 contains a conversation between Petrov and his son. Petrov Sr. reports that he is on the ship with Reznik, a high-ranking colleague of Reznik (whom he refers to as Gryzlov’s deputy) and his wife. Petrov explains that Gryzlov’s deputy and the deputy’s wife want to buy a house in Mallorca.

Vladislav Reznik, let us remind you, has already bought a villa and a boat, which were previously registered with Petrov’s company. The villa was purchased in 2004 from the company Inmobiliaria Balear 2001. The boat was purchased in 2006, for which the company Centros Commerciales Antei, which owned the boat, was purchased from the company Inversiones Gudimar SL. The villa is included in the authorized capital of this company, and its shares are transferred to the Reznik family trust. The same company (trust) owns all property owned in Spain).

Vladislav Reznik did not answer the question of which of the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Boris Gryzlov could be on the ship along with Gennady Petrov. Boris Gryzlov did not comment on the situation. After Spanish law enforcement agencies searched Reznik’s villa in 2008, Gryzlov made a sharp statement about a political order and the desire of foreign security agencies to “denigrate Russia.” If it turns out that, in addition to Reznik, one of the vice-speakers of the Russian parliament communicated with Petrov about the villa, apparently, we will be talking about “double slander.”

Completely unexpected people call Gennady Petrov with various requests. So, on August 23, 2007, according to the wiretapping protocols, Vladimir “Barmaley” called Petrov to talk with Reznik, since at that moment Petrov and Reznik were together. “Barmaley” asks Reznik to talk to a certain G. so that he will stand up for Mikhail Blinov, who should take a position related to real estate issues.

Coincidentally, Blinov served for some time as head of the territorial administration Federal agency for federal property management, and then almost moved to Moscow and. O. local territorial administration, as if by personal order of German Gref ( this version was put forward by Kommersant-Dengi on August 27, 2007.).

Vladislav Reznik did not comment on the situation. As previously reported, he communicated with Petrov exclusively regarding the acquisition of real estate in Spain, had no other relations with him and did not provide him with any assistance. German Gref did not want to talk.

On August 28, 2007 at 9.36, Ilya Traber, a well-known entrepreneur in St. Petersburg who has been living in Spain for a long time, got through to Petrov. Traber is known for his work in antiques. And then he was related, in particular, to the Peter Information Bureau, together with former KGB officer Viktor Korytov, who later became deputy chairman of the board of Gazprombank, and Mikhail Sirotkin, later deputy head of the legal department of Gazprom. At the end of the 90s, the bureau was a co-owner (12%) of the Petersburg Fuel Company (PTK). In 1998-1999, Vladimir Kumarin (Barsukov) was vice-president and deputy chairman of the board of directors of PTK.

Traber, who reached Petrov, said that he wanted to communicate with Reznik and discuss a number of matters with him.

Vladislav Reznik did not respond to Novaya’s request whether he discussed business with Ilya Traber and what kind of business it was. It was not possible to contact Ilya Traber.

starring

The material was produced as part of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a joint program involving the Center for Investigative Journalism (Sarajevo), the Romanian Center for Investigative Journalism, the Bulgarian Center for Investigative Journalism, Media Focus, the Caucasus Center for Investigative Journalism and Novaya Gazeta. newspaper”, as well as journalists from Montenegro, Moldova, Albania, Ukraine, Georgia and Macedonia.