Lefel “left” Nisanov
The criminal case of Alexander Lefel could hide the possible interest of the security forces in the owner of Kievskaya Square, God Nisanov.
“Pshik” ended the criminal case against the former vice-president for regional development of the development group PIK, Alexander Lefel, and the ex-head of a subsidiary of the PIK SZ group, Nikolai Vasiliev. They were charged with stealing 140 million rubles during the construction of a residential complex in St. Petersburg in 2017-2018.
As a result, the criminal proceedings were terminated due to the reconciliation of the parties. Prior to this, the amount of damage was reduced (which Lefel and Vasiliev compensated), and the incriminated acts were reclassified from fraud to abuse of power.
It is hard to believe that the owner of the PIK group of companies, Sergei Gordeev (namely, PIK was the initiator of the proceedings) simply took and “forgave” Lefel. An unobvious conclusion can be drawn from this: through Lefel, who now holds the post of development director of PIK’s competitor, Samolet Group, they could try to get close to the large co-owner of this company’s shares, oligarch God Nisanov.
The Samolet group of companies is associated with the governor of the Moscow region Andrei Vorobyov. His brother Maxim Vorobyov was previously one of the co-owners of the structures of this development group. And its majority owner, Mikhail Kenin, was a partner of Maxim Vorobyov in his Russian Sea Group of Companies.
It is unlikely that the purpose of the security forces could be Maxim Vorobyov, who has such an influential brother. But here’s what’s interesting: Alexander Lefel was detained in October 2021. And shortly before that, in September of the same year, the Kyiv Ploshchad Group of Companies and personally God Nisanov became co-owners of a 10% stake in the Samolet Group of Companies. The cost of the package could be about 25 billion rubles.
God Nisanov is one of the most scandalous, but at the same time non-public oligarchs in Russia. He owns the development group Kyiv Ploshchad, one of the largest real estate owners in the country. Behind Nisanov there are many covered markets in Moscow and other businesses.
Could Alexander Lefel (pictured) be just a pawn in a possible game of the security forces against God Nisanov?
Could Alexander Lefel be just a pawn in a possible game of the security forces against God Nisanov?
In September, only the signing of papers took place, but such transactions are being prepared in advance. Lefel, who by that time had already worked at Samolet for two years, had to know all the inner workings and participate in the preparation of the deal. Those. I had to communicate with Nisanov.
It is also interesting that God Nisanov remains an adviser to Governor Andrei Vorobyov on a voluntary basis. Those. Andrei Vorobyov may hypothetically have a conflict of interest – both in the case of Samolet and in the case of Kievskaya Ploshchad.
If we assume that Vorobyov is lobbying the interests of the Samolet Group of Companies and the Kyiv Ploshchad Group of Companies, then Nisanov may have tried to sit not even on two, but on three chairs at once.
Do not go to God Semenovich
At the same time, Nisanov is surrounded by a huge number of scandals. There is an opinion that the mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobyanin, whose mayor’s office annually rents a lot of real estate from the Kyiv Ploshchad Group of Companies, can provide patronage to him.
Earlier, The Moscow Post told the story of the former Russian developer, ex-owner of the SDI Group, Ilgar Gadzhiev. In the past, Gadzhiev was a partner in the structures of God Nisanov in the development of several LCDs, and then, as Gadzhiev himself claimed in a video on the YouTube channel The Facts, Nisanov’s people allegedly seized his business in a raider way.
Interview with Gadzhiev. Video: YouTube
The video says that Maxim Vorobyov allegedly acted as an intermediary in a situation where Gadzhiev (according to him) was taken away from Gadzhiev’s business – allegedly, the governor’s brother had to receive $600,000 from Gadzhiev monthly in order to pay $20 million for a stake in LLC SZ “Comfort Invest”, the developer of the residential complex “Accord Smart Quarter” near Moscow and the residential complex “Pirogovskaya Riviera”.
At the same time, Hajiyev claims that he wrote a receipt for the debt almost at gunpoint – allegedly, Nisanov gathered his entourage, many of whom were with weapons, for “suggestion”. At the same time, 30% of the company by that time already belonged to Albert Imanilov, who was closely associated with Nisanov.
According to Hajiyev, Sobyanin allegedly receives a monthly income from all the cash receipts of God Nisanov, which amount to billions of rubles.
Interestingly, among other things, Gadzhiev claims that it was Nisanov who at one time financed the election campaign of Sergei Sobyanin (according to Gadzhiev, the developer could spend 25 million euros on this).
God Nisanov and Sergei Sobyanin.
At about the same time as this story was developing, another one occurred, which may be connected with the affairs of Nisanov. At the very end of 2020, the office of the Gremm Group, which also manages the Usachevsky market, was searched in connection with loans from the bankrupt Sudostroitelny Bank.
Prior to this, the group built and operated the Central Market on Rozhdestvensky Boulevard in Moscow, but in early 2020 sold it to the Kyiv Ploshchad group of God Nisanov and Zarakh Iliev. It can be assumed that the security forces were interested not only in the affairs of the Gremm Group, but also in its cooperation with Nisanov.
Ilgar Gadzhiev also filed an application regarding the alleged raider seizure of his business. And a year before, police officers, the FSB and the National Guard carried out large-scale operations in the covered markets of God Nisanov and Zarakh Iliev “Gardener”, “Food City” and the trade and fair complex “Moscow”. This was written by “Version”.
According to one version, the reason for the searches could be conflicts between migrants. As Readovka later wrote, several farms for cryptocurrency mining were found at Sadovod and the Moskva shopping center. According to rumors, allegedly the markets could be used to transport huge masses of the so-called. “black cash”.
But neither God Nisanov nor his partner Zarakh Iliev were presented with any claims. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Nisanov’s entourage may include former security officials who were part of the team of Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, in particular, the ex-head of the Moscow police department, General Vladimir Pronin.
Moreover, the families of God Nisanov and Vladimir Kolokoltsev could be connected by a common business. Earlier, Vedomosti wrote that the son of Interior Minister Alexander Kolokoltsev was Oleg Yusupov’s partner in the Il Forno restaurant chain, where Yusupov owned 22.2%. Oleg Yusupov is a countryman and relative of God Nisanov. He is also a co-owner of a number of companies associated with Kievskaya Ploshchad.
Given this, it is not difficult to assume that all attempts to get close to God Nisanov through the Ministry of Internal Affairs could encounter serious opposition. Rumor has it that Nisanov could have gone further and higher than the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As a result, the department could, as they say, “heads fly.”
In the summer of 2022, three heads of regional central offices and three heads of structures of the central apparatus of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, people loyal to Kolokoltsev, suddenly resigned. At that moment, the investigation against Mr. Lefel was in full swing. And at the beginning of 2023, the case against him was terminated due to the reconciliation of the parties.
One can only guess what could be the real reason for the “happy ending” for the former vice-president of the PIK group of companies. And it is quite possible that soon we will hear about new possible operational actions already in relation to the structures of Mr. Nisanov.