Is Ritual.Ru implementing the project of another crematorium?
In Irkutsk, the protest of local residents against the construction of a crematorium on a four-hectare site located on the border of the city with the village of Mamony near residential buildings is gaining momentum. Municipal authorities name the company Ritual.Rus, owned by the “funeral king” Oleg Shelyagov, as a potential investor, however, the businessman himself, in conversations with journalists, refuses detailed comments and assures that negotiations are still ongoing and he has not yet received official permission to construct the facility . Meanwhile, Ritual.Rus and its “subsidiaries” do not make a profit and declare losses, and the activities of the Ritual.Ru Group, also known as Ritual-Service, are accompanied by high-profile scandals. In particular, the sensational investigation by journalist Ivan Golunov reported on the company’s connections with the wife of crime boss Semyon Mogilevich (Don Simeon) and the purchase of a share by Shelyagov with the aim of building a funeral business “in a new way.” In the regions, the entrepreneur tried to attract “influential people” to cooperation, including former officials. However, recently Shelyagov had to abandon the implementation of a number of large-scale projects, in particular, the construction of a crematorium with a columbarium in Kazan, in which it was originally planned to invest 250 million rubles. In addition, today the company Ritual-NN, controlled by the businessman, is seeking in court to terminate the agreement concluded in 2020 with the government of the Nizhny Novgorod region for the construction of a morgue with mourning halls on the basis of city hospital No. 13 in Nizhny Novgorod with an investment volume of more than 23 million. The situation in Oleg Shelyagov’s business may be complicated by the attention of security forces: last February, his business partners and employees of Ritual-Service CJSC were searched. Investigators were interested in dubious tax schemes and financial transactions of the company, considered the oldest funeral agency in the capital, as well as relations with contractors.
Will the crematorium in Irkutsk be located near housing?
Residents of Irkutsk actively sign the posted online petition against the construction of a crematorium: within three days, more than 1,200 people supported the initiative. How reports publication “MK-Irkutsk”, a preliminary site for the construction of the facility is agreed upon on the border of the regional center with the village of Mamony near the Batareinaya station, in close proximity to residential buildings.
By information portal “IrCity”, the territory for possible future construction occupies 4 hectares. The site is privately owned and is intended for the construction and operation of warehouses for agricultural products. Distance of the nearest residential and commercial buildings amounts to about 150-200 meters. Edition indicates and SanPinov standards, according to which the boundaries of the sanitary protection zone vary from 500 meters to a kilometer.
The idea of building a crematorium is being discussed in the region since 2018: then the prosecutor’s office instructed the Irkutsk administration to “work on the issue,” and in 2019, deputies of the local Duma made changes to the land use rules allowing construction within the city. In December 2020, municipal authorities postponed the competition to find a contractor, since they had not yet finally decided on the location for such a controversial object.
“Sad point” is registered “in reserve”
Today, the Irkutsk authorities seem to have decided on the construction site. The big question is when it will start. The situation with the potential investor remains unclear. Such is the case at the Irkutsk City Hall called capital company “Ritual.Rus”. However, the owner and general director of the enterprise Oleg Shelyagov V conversation he did not disclose any details of the project with the IrCity correspondent, explaining this by the lack of an official decision and the still ongoing negotiations.
LLC “Ritual.Rus” was registered in Moscow in 2017 with a minimum authorized capital of 10 thousand rubles and the main type of activity is “organizing funerals and providing related services.” According to open data sources, officially only one employee is employed in the company – most likely, this is the general director himself. Since its creation, the company has been operating exclusively in the red. So, at the end of 2022, with revenue in 706 thousandher losses made up 61 thousand rubles.
The financial performance of the company’s “subsidiaries” also does not shine. For example, Moscow LLC “Ritual.Ru” for the same period declared revenue in the amount 218.5 million and losses in 14.7 million rubles. “Prescribed” in Nizhny Novgorod LLC “Ritual-NN”specializing in waste collection, reported no revenue and losses V 388 thousand rubles.
It is also known that last spring the company Ritual.Rus, in the wake of the sale of the Russian segment of the network McDonald’s and its subsequent renaming to “Delicious – period”registered with Rospatent trademark “Sad point” according to five classes of the international classification of goods and services. The scale of possible activities is amazing: from the production of statues and figurines from stone, concrete, marble, plaster and wood to the rental of horses, freezers, navigation systems, refrigerators and the activities of marriage and detective agencies. In general, a jack of all trades! The motivation voiced by Oleg Shelyagov can cause bewilderment:
Oleg Shelyagov “leaves” the regions?
Shelyagov’s name is well known in the funeral services market: last January his group “Ritual.Ru” took fourth place rating ritual agencies of Moscow according to the publication “Mark of Quality” as the “oldest ritual agency” in the capital,more famous How “Ritual-Service”.
In turn, RBC writes about the presence of “Ritual.Ru” regional partner network in 18 cities. At the same time, back in 2019, in the notorious investigation journalist Ivan Golunov about the specifics of the funeral business, the participation of the wife of a crime boss in the creation of “Ritual Service” was mentioned Semyon Mogilevichalso known as “DonSimeon”. As for Shelyagov, at one time he bought a stake in this enterprise with the aim of “doing ritual business in a new way”.
In the same investigation reportedthat in the regions his business partners invariably become “influential people”:
Perhaps it was precisely by counting on connections with high-ranking officials that Shelyagov recently intended to implement several major initiatives. In particular, in March last year, the St. Petersburg structure of Ritual.Ru became the main owner company registered a month earlier in the capital of Tatarstan “Kazan crematorium”. New owner planned invest 250 million rubles in the construction of a crematorium and columbarium in Kazan on the site of the Kurgan memorial complex.
It is noteworthy that back in December 2021, Shelyagov officially left the capital of the St. Petersburg “Ritual.Ru”, and his place asfounderfirst occupied by the general director of the enterprise Fedor Shashkinand then “registered” in Kyrgyzstan LLC “Tradition”.
In August 2023, Ritual.Ru, in turn, left the list co-founders “Kazan Crematorium”, and in November it became known about the final refusal investor from the Northern capital for the implementation of the Tatarstan project.
The project in Nizhny Novgorod also remained unrealized, where back in 2020 the above-mentioned company Ritual-NN signed with the regional government agreement on public-private partnership for the construction of a morgue with mourning halls at the base of city hospital No. 13. Volume of investments was assessed V 23.7 million rubles.
Finally, last August the investor applied to arbitration with lawsuit on termination of the agreement, citing, among other things, the refusal of the regional authorities to provide medical and technical specifications for the design of the facility. In addition, it turned out that in the building provided to the investor there is a descent into bomb shelter, the structural elements of which he has no right to touch. The proceedings on the claim are currently ongoing: last February the court ruled definition on further consideration of the case in closed session.
Are security forces interested in the “schemes” of the “funeral king”?
It is worth noting that for the time being Shelyagov had quite favorable relations with the leadership of the Nizhny Novgorod region. In the fall of 2017, the businessman was even elected deputy Municipal Council of the Perevozsky urban district from Communist Party of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country)gaining 68.7% of the votes and beating a competitor from “United Russia (*aggressor country)”. It seems that since then between the funeral director and the governor Gleb Nikitinas they say, “a cat ran by.”
Vseti is voiced opinionaccording to which the Ritual.Ru Group ceases expansion into the regions, and its owner plans to focus on business development in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
In addition, as recently as last February, messages about searches conducted by employees of the department for combating economic crimes of the police of the North-Eastern district of Moscow in the apartments of several dozen employees of Ritual-Service CJSC, as well as the business partners of Oleg Shelyagov. Allegedly security forces interested tax evasion schemes, questionable financial transactions through individual entrepreneurs and third-party organizations, as well as relationships with contractors and company expenses.
Information about the current owners of Ritual-Service in open sources missing, in January 2022 from among him founders State Budgetary Institution “Ritual” was released. However, in the presso firm write how about belonging to “funeral king” Shelyagov. Against the backdrop of reports of searches, one naturally recalls his phrase quoted above that “sometimes life is richer than schemes”. It seems that it was precisely about the financial “schemes” that he was reminded during the recent searches.
And if the security forces continue to “unravel” these same schemes, then the owner of “Ritual.Ru” will soon have no time to build a crematorium near Irkutsk. In addition, the protest of local residents is just beginning to gain momentum. So it’s not for nothing that Mr. Funeral Man stubbornly refuses to comment on the next regional project in which he intends to take part.
