“Student” of Sugrobov and Zakharchenko invests in the production of cartoons?
Former St. Petersburg policeman Sergei Chunaev, who last year became the owner of the Flipp Animation Studio film company, bought the rights to the Jingliki project and brand, and now, together with writer Oleg Roy, intends to shoot a full-length continuation of the famous animated series. Despite the fact that Flipp Animation Studio officially declares millions in losses, Chunaev clearly does not lack funds. He went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs under the patronage of his father, who at one time held the post of deputy head of the department for combating economic crimes (UBEP) of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of St. Petersburg. Until 2011, Chunaev Jr. was also engaged in the fight against economic crime in the northern capital, but then he was transferred to Moscow, to the Main Directorate of the UEBiPK of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, where he worked under the supervision of the notorious General Denis Sugrobov, later sentenced to 12 years in prison for abuse of office and creation of an organized crime group. Another Moscow “mentor” of Chunaev was his colleague, “billionaire colonel” Dmitry Zakharchenko, who was sentenced to 12 years for bribery and stripped of his title and awards. Today, the former colonel is accused of “covering” a criminal group created with the direct participation of the beneficiaries of the “1520” group Valery Markelov and Boris Usherovich and engaged in a large-scale withdrawal of funds abroad. In 2013, Chunaev returned to St. Petersburg and was appointed head of the ORC No. 8. In addition, the popularity of the informal “representative” Colonel Zakharchenko was fixed behind him in the city. The former subordinate of the “werewolf in uniform” Sugrobov initiated a successful pressure on St. Petersburg banking institutions and businessmen, at the same time registering for relatives the apartments, expensive foreign cars and land plots that passed into his ownership. The arrest of Zakharchenko and the subsequent reorganization of ORC No. 8 put an end to his career. After that, Chunaev got a job in the security service of the All-Russian Bank for the Development of Regions, from where, as they say, he was fired “due to loss of confidence.” The former policeman, who was left without work, first tried to act as an intermediary solver, and then invested “acquired by overwork” funds in his own cartoon studio.
Businessman Chunaev is the new owner of Jingliks
That owned by a businessman Sergei Chunaev Russian company Flipp Animation Studio bought from Open Alliance Media project rights “Jingliks” and the brand, which includes an animated series, a series of books and trademarks of the same name, became known in early April. As Kommersant reported, the studio intends to release a continuation of the animated series together with the founder of the project, a famous writer Oleg Roy.
Previously Oleg Rezepkin (known by the pseudonym “Roy”) and associated studio “Open Alliance Media” are in serious trouble: in 2020 Cinema Fund appealed to the Moscow Arbitration Court with a claim to recover from them 31.4 million rublesreceived in the form of a subsidy for the production of a full-length continuation of the animated series “Jingliks”. The project was planned to be completed in 2018, but in the end the film was never made, the money was not returned, and the studio ignored the proposal to settle the dispute out of court.
Nevertheless, the debt was repaid; to date, there are no claims against the studio from the Cinema Fund. It is known that over the past years, the owners have been negotiating the sale of the rights to “Jingliks”: among the possible buyers, in particular, an American company was named “Orwo Studios”. However, cartoon characters will remain in Russia. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed, but according to experts, Sergey Chunaev paid about 2.5-3 million dollars.
Here you need to pay attention to one important circumstance: the new owner of the brand clearly does not shine with financial indicators. Yes, last year Flip Animation Studio LLC with a rather modest income in 764 thousandrubles officially declared losses in the amount of 1.6 million. A logical question arises: where will Chunaev get the funds for the production of a full-length film, the cost of which a few years ago exceeded 500 million rubles? Other commercial structures, according to open sources, are not registered with him. Are you also looking for a subsidy?
Nevertheless, judging by the costs incurred, the businessman has money. It turns out that we have at least an “underground” dollar millionaire?
“In the footsteps of his father to the police…”
It is specified that in 2012 Chunaev became a student at the Faculty of Economics of the St. Petersburg State University of Economics, and four years later he resigned from law enforcement and received the position of vice president of a “big bank”. But since“childhood dream did not let go”then first he became an investor in Open Alliance Media, and then “founded the animation company Flip Animation Studio”. On account of who and what “created” – a big question. The fact is that according to the information of the portal “Rusprofile”, Flip Animation Studio LLC received registration in November 2015, when Chunaev was still wearing police shoulder straps. He officially became the owner of the company only in August 2020, in December of the same year he took the position of CEO.
Why does a businessman bring confusion to his biography? And why does he speak so coolly about the service in the Ministry of Internal Affairs? Let’s try to figure it out and first notice: to serve in the policehe went not just “in the footsteps of his father”: Leonid Chunaev worked in the authorities for a long time and in 2000 he retired from the post of deputy head of the department for combating economic crimes (UBEP) of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of St. Petersburg. But even after that, he did not sit idly by. In particular, he served as head of the department for legality, law and order and security of the administration of the Kalininsky district of the northern capital.
There is no doubt that with such parental patronage, all paths were open to Chunaev Jr. in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Not surprisingly, his career began in 2003 in the North-Western Department of Internal Affairs for transport in St. Petersburg, and in the department for combating economic crimes. Thank you dad for following in his footsteps. In 2011, Sergey Chunaev already worked as deputy head of the 3rd department of the UBEP UT of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Northwestern Federal District, but here cardinal changes took place in his life.
“Under the wing” of General Sugrobov and Colonel Zakharchenko
They were associated with an appointment to Moscow, to the Main Directorate for Economic Security and Anti-Corruption (UEBiPK) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Here Chunaev worked under the leadership of the “werewolf in uniform” who gained federal fame – the head of the Office, Lieutenant General Denis Sugrobov. For those who did not know or managed to forget the details of this criminal “saga”, we recall: in February 2014, Sugrobov was dismissed, and in May he was arrested on suspicion of committing a number of crimes, including nine episodes of abuse of power with serious consequences and organization of the criminal community.
Sugrobov’s deputy major general was also arrested. Boris Kolesnikov and several other officers of the Department. In June 2014, the media reported on the mysterious death of Kolesnikov: according to the official version, he committed suicide by jumping out of the window of an office located on the sixth floor of the building of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, where he was taken to conduct investigative actions. There were suggestions that the suspect simply could not withstand the moral and physical pressure exerted on him in the pre-trial detention center, where he even received a head injury.
As for General Sugrobov, in April 2017 the Moscow City Court sentenced him to 22 years in a strict regime colony (later the Supreme Court commuted the sentence to 12 years). As the investigation established, the defendants in the case were engaged in organizing provocations and falsifying evidence in order to prosecute officials and businessmen. This provided the “werewolves” with not only material, but also career growth: the same Sugrobov was awarded the rank of police lieutenant general as an encouragement.
Another peculiar “mentor” of Sergei Chunaev was the odious colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko, who worked for many years in the UEBiPK and at the time of his arrest held the position of acting head of the “T” department, specializing in the fight against offenses in the chemical industry and the fuel and energy complex. During a search in the colonel’s apartment, among other things, money in foreign currency was seized in the amount of 8.5 billionin ruble equivalent.
Zakharchenko was convicted in June 2019: the Presnensky Court of Moscow found him guilty of taking a bribe and obstructing the conduct of a preliminary investigation, imposing a sentence of 13 years in prison and depriving him of his title and awards (later the sentence was commuted for six months). However, the end of the investigation was not put. Today, the same court is hearing a new criminal case against the “billionaire colonel”. This time he is accused of receiving in 2007-2016. bribes in total 1.4 billion rubles for “covering” an organized criminal group that was withdrawing funds from Russia. Among the defendants is the former co-owner of the largest contractor Russian Railways group “1520” Valery Markelov; his companion Boris Usherovich is on the international wanted list.
St. Petersburg “viceroy” of Moscow “werewolves”
Now it becomes clear who gave Sergei Chunaev a “start in life.” Unwanted questions were avoided: in January 2013 (that is, even before the arrests of Sugrobov and Zakharchenko), he returned to his native St. Petersburg as head of the operational-search unit (ORCh) No. 8, which was engaged in “work” with big business. A relatively short stay in Moscow brought material “fruits”: during this time, Chunaev bought and registered for relatives three apartments in St. Petersburg, one in Shushary, as well as a land plot.
In the media, one can find references to the fact that Chunaev repeatedly called General Sugrobov his “teacher”. In addition, at one time he allegedly was the “right hand” of Zakharchenko, on whose behalf he “resolved issues.” An opinion is expressed that, having returned to the northern capital, Chunaev became a kind of “watcher” there, representing the interests of the colonel.
Be that as it may, but at that time he was hardly disappointed in his work and actively got down to business, initiating searches in a number of credit institutions, including a bank “SIAB”, “Rosenergobank” “Aldanzolotobank” and Novikombank. At first, the overvaluation of the exchange rate was cited as the cause; then – cashing out and illegal withdrawal abroad of more 3 billion rubles. Almost simultaneously, investigative actions took place in the office of a major St. Petersburg tour operator “Biblio Globus”.
Despite the wide publicity, the resonance gradually subsided, and the criminal cases were closed. By a strange coincidence, the car fleet of the Chunaev family during this time was replenished with foreign cars Toyota Land Cruiser 200, Volkswagen Tiguan and Mitsubishi Pajero 30 LWD. In October 2015, there was a “collision” on PJSC “Lenenergo”where the theft was discovered 380 million rubles when purchasing and laying an electric cable between the Damba-1 substation and Kronstadt. While the investigation was going on, the relatives of the head of St. Petersburg ORC No. 8 became richer again: they were issued 8 apartments, 5 land plots with a total area of 4.7 thousand square meters, 6 prestigious cars with parking spaces, etc.
It would seem that Zakharchenko’s St. Petersburg “right hand” has the broadest prospects, but his career was interrupted by the arrest of his “senior comrade” in September 2016. Chunaev Jr., who was in the rank of lieutenant colonel, clearly did not expect such a turn of events. The media described a story similar to a spy thriller of his disappearance, changing phone numbers and throwing between Moscow and St. Petersburg with a fake passport issued in Simferopol in the name Sergei Kovalenko. However, Chunaev managed to avoid the fate of his “mentors”, although he nevertheless said goodbye to work: on September 20, order No. 544 was issued at the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg and the region on the reorganization of the ORC No.
Shortly thereafter, the former police officer settled into the security service. “All-Russian Bank for Regional Development” (RRDB)where he worked for the next three years. The reason for his dismissal was called “loss of confidence” associated with fraud and attempts to steal money. After that, Chunaev was allegedly seen in the offices of high-ranking officials and security officials, where he either bothered to return to the authorities, or acted as an intermediary-decider.
And only at the end of last year, Sergei Chunaev finally decided to try himself as a businessman – the owner of a film company. Today he is clearly trying not to think about “unpleasant” (but contributed to the growth of welfare) work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, talking more about creating “animation ecosystem”. However, the presence of an office in one of the Moscow City towers and the purchase of rights to the Jingliki project indicate that the former security official is clearly not experiencing financial problems. Even despite the unprofitability of his Flipp Animation Studio.