Firms that sold dangerous tours of underground Moscow, where eight people died, earned more than half a billion rubles on tours last year. Life understood how the world of extreme tourism works in Russia and what kind of money is spinning in it.
How is the investigation of the tragedy in Moscow going?
A court in Moscow arrested a businessman until October 21 Alexandra Kim in the case of organizing a deadly tour of the Neglinka collector. The organizer of the tour was also arrested Nikita Dubas.
According to investigators, on August 20, the digger guide Konstantin Filippov with a group of seven people illegally conducted a tour of the underground collector of the Neglinka River in Moscow. As a result of a heavy downpour that day, the underground channels were flooded. Because of this, all the participants of the tour, including the guide, died. According to the investigation, the guide knew that the weather would deteriorate, but he still led people to the dungeon to earn money.
It soon became clear that the organizers of the deadly sortie were digger Nikita Dubas, as well as the owners of sites – aggregators of travel services that sold tickets for the event, Alexander Kim and Alexander Lazovsky. At the same time, customers were deliberately misled: they were promised a safe tour, while visitors entered the collector illegally.
Dubas and Kim were detained, Lazovsky managed to escape from Russia. All three were charged under the third part of Article 238 of the Criminal Code (production, storage, transportation or sale of goods and products, performance of work or provision of services that do not meet safety requirements, resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence). This article carries a penalty of up to ten years in prison.
Now the investigation will also have questions to the structures responsible for the operation of underground communications, since, as noted in the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, “only employees of the special services of the city can be in such structures.” In addition, we have to figure out how this business area works and how much it is regulated by current laws.
Ticket seller from Kazakhstan
The first detainee involved in the case is a 35-year-old citizen of Kazakhstan, who has been living and doing business in St. Petersburg for more than a decade, Alexander Kim. In 2013, the owner of the then small company Sputnik received a grant from the creator of VK and the Telegram messenger. Pavel Durov to create a service for searching and booking excursions. Now it is a large aggregator, which last year earned almost half a billion rubles from the sale of tourist services.
By this year, the list of officially registered employees in the company reached 40 people. More than 17 thousand excursions in 787 cities are published on the company’s website. At the same time, the guides themselves place announcements, that is, Kim’s company does not take responsibility for organizing events and their quality.
Businessman Alexander KimHowever, this did not prevent the investigation from opening a criminal case against the businessman under Article 238 of the Criminal Code.
Searches were carried out in his house, and when investigators of the RF Investigative Committee raided his work, it turned out that Sputnik employees managed to take most of the documentation and equipment out of the office in St. Petersburg.
Who else is accused
The second defendant, the owner of the same aggregator registered in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities as Avangard LLC, Alexander Lazovsky, managed to escape to the UAE. Those close to him say that the 39-year-old businessman flew out of Russia as soon as the first publications appeared on the Internet about the death of tourists in the Neglinka underground sewers.
Alexander LazovskyHis firm was founded seven years ago, today it officially has eight employees, and last year it earned just under 100 million rubles. The site of the aggregator is still available in Russia and sells, among other things, extreme tours. Information about underground walks near Moscow, however, is now closed.
It is known about Lazovsky that recently he and his family lived in a townhouse with an area of 225 sq. m in one of the complexes near Moscow region Novokurkino. The businessman is not in poverty; he owned prestigious SUVs and several real estate objects in Moscow and the Moscow region. Part of this property is recorded on the mother and spouse.
How does a performer live?
The third person involved in the case is 31-year-old guide-digger Nikita Dubas, the same performer who first independently conducted dangerous hikes, and later, apparently, began to hire guides for excursions himself.
It was he who was sent the last text message of the deceased guide Konstantin Filippov, in which he reported that it was raining and asked if it was possible to get out on Trubnaya Square. At that moment, Dubas allegedly rested in Belarus, where he comes from. After information about the death of the group, he seemed to have come to the UK to testify.
Now the digger has deleted almost all of his accounts on the sites on the InternetUnlike the rest of the defendants, Dubas does not live very well: recently he was met in one of the panel high-rise buildings of the 44th series in the city of Moskovsky outside the Moscow Ring Road. Prior to that, my father and I owned an apartment in the metropolitan area of Konkovo. A couple of years ago, the guy bought the domestic Lada Vesta. By the way, in 2008, at the age of 15-16, Dubas was registered with the police as a member of an informal teenage group.
Before the death of people in the sewers, the digger was actively present on the Internet, published information about himself and his activities on specialized sites and social networks, but now almost all of his accounts have been closed or deleted, contact details and even photos have also disappeared.
It seems that on the websites of Kim and Lazovsky, he was registered as an individual entrepreneur, but Life was unable to find a corresponding entry in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. The TIN of Dubas appears only in the lists of the self-employed. Now the investigation is to find out what kind of business relationship he could have with the deceased digger Filippov, since according to the law, in the status of self-employed, Dubas does not have the right to hire employees.
Nikita DubasHow extreme vacation is organized
After the tragedy that happened in the underground collectors on the Neglinka River, all extreme tourism in Russia will come under scrutiny.
Now, in addition to relatively cheap walks through the capital’s sewerage (9 thousand rubles), cunning organizers are ready to offer anything for the money of wealthy Russians: even tank rides with shooting, even crazy stunts on combat fighters.
The site for the sale of excursions continues to workThe chain of organizers of VIP-holidays usually consists of a small agency that deals with some particular type of unusual entertainment. In some cases, the company does not even keep performers on staff, but simply hires them for a specific order. As it became clear after the tragedy in the Neglinka underground collectors, it is far from always transparent.
In order to have a stable income, the agency enters into an agreement with firms – aggregators of travel services. On their resources, they publish information about leisure provided by dozens of travel agencies and guides, advertise it on the Internet and thereby ensure an influx of customers. Such sites earn on a commission for each tour sold on their sites. No wonder that their income is measured in hundreds of millions of rubles.
How much does extreme entertainment cost
For example, on the Internet you can find offers to drive on the ultra-modern T-14 “Armata” tank, which is not even on the fronts of the Northern Military District now. Such a pleasure will cost the extreme 65 thousand rubles. “Complete a combat mission” on the T-80 as part of a group of up to five people will already cost 165 thousand rubles.
The price of rides on the legend of the Second World War – the T-34 tank – is more democratic, “only” 20 thousand. If this is not enough, for 2.5 thousand rubles. you can feel like an infantryman who is delivered to the battlefield on the BTR-80, BMP-1, BRDM-2 – the organizers promise conditions that are as close as possible to combat.
Those who have dreamed of becoming a military pilot since childhood can realize their dream for 800,000 rubles. For this money, the pilots, together with those who bought a seat on board the MiG-29 fighter, will perform an aerobatics program for 45 minutes. For a fee, a professional military photographer will be assigned to an “aviator” (that’s what they call those who bought a flight on websites selling flights) and will be hung with GoPro cameras in order to leave memories of entertainment as colorful as possible.
Any extreme recreation is available. There would be moneyA more budget option is to fly one of the pioneers of the Soviet MiG-15 jet fighter aircraft. For 250 thousand rubles for half an hour, those who wish will experience loads from 2 to 7 G, climb to a height of 6 km and perform a number of simple aerobatics.
Against this background, a respectable vacation on the water looks very democratic: an hour trip for a company on a Ferrari speedboat will cost only 32 thousand rubles. If a photographer is assigned to the vacationers, the cost will increase to 40 thousand. You can taste the life of the owner of a double-deck yacht with a flybridge (a bridge on the roof of the ship’s wheelhouse where passengers rest) for 37 thousand rubles per hour – and 47 thousand if with a photographer .
