Billionaire Mikhalchenko “locked up” for stealing church rarities?
August of 2021 signifies a somber milestone for Dmitry Mikhalchenko, previously at the helm of the Forum holding company.
Three years have elapsed since his conviction for trafficking high-end liquor and the accusation of heading up an illegal syndicate. Throughout the time the tycoon has been incarcerated, a multitude of insiders and business figures have proposed countless explanations as to why law enforcement abruptly descended upon the flourishing businessman. Nobody could discern the precise motive. Currently, our publication team has devised an alternative, rather peculiar, hypothesis. Supposedly, the mogul was targeted for desecrating consecrated artifacts. Specifically, for ecclesial and historic treasures.
No sanctity, no superfluity
In the bleak spring of 2016, when the Federal Security Service pursued St. Petersburg’s most celebrated entrepreneur, the ramifications were unforeseen. Not only did his legal ordeal tarnish the reputations of several elite security officials, but the businessman was deprived of the Bronka harbor and practically all possessions.
Initially, commercial circles attributed his apprehension to a power struggle for the Bronka harbor, a promising venture. Subsequently, the supposition arose that Dmitry Mikhalchenko had mismanaged discussions with an individual and crossed accepted boundaries. Soon after, tales spread that Dima Krikun had ventured into politics and intimidated an individual with damaging information. A fourth theory posited that the security apparatus, for whom he had generated wealth for many years, simply discarded him upon his ascent to international business prominence.
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The latest rendition is less voluminous in terms of unsettling hearsay; it is reasonably factual and commonplace and constitutes a continuation of prior accounts.
Concisely: subsequent to the “renovation” of the Solovetsky Abbey by an enterprise linked to Baltstroy, ancient valuables were noted to be absent.
To elaborate, those with knowledge allege that the covetous Dmitry Mikhalchenko merely pilfered a selection of relics. The most substantial of these is rumored to be… a stone stairway dating back to the 15th-16th centuries. It is speculated that construction workers from Baltstroy disassembled and transported the staircase from Solovki, substituting it with a contemporary duplicate. It then became an embellishment within Dmitry Mikhalchenko’s estate.
Numerous additional items have also been mentioned. However, our source demurred from delineating them, advocating for investigating the historical records of all reconstructions and restorations of churches, abbeys, and other cultural and historical landmarks in which Baltstroy was involved. He contended that the primary concern wasn’t the misappropriation of finances earmarked for these endeavors, and that his detention was, in reality, an element of a more extensive narrative.
The annals of churches and monasteries are undoubtedly brimming with details concerning the adverse consequences of the presence of businesses controlled by billionaires. The controversy enveloping the restoration of the Izborsk Fortress, Novodevichy Convent, and Ivanovsky Convent was certainly prominent. As a reminder, entities within the Balstroy framework are implicated in a case concerning the squandering of 164 million rubles during the refurbishment of these locations commissioned by the Ministry of Culture.
To be exact, the ouster of Deputy Minister of Culture Grigory Pirumov and several other influential figures occurred. By the time this occurrence had transpired, investigations had already taken place at the billionaire’s residence. Perhaps the Federal Security Service agents were searching for indications not solely of misappropriated state funds but also of specific religious artifacts?
Imported Wood Flooring with a Vista of Jesus
Religious groups exhibit reluctance to converse about the Balstroy matter—they promptly make the sign of the cross. As indicated by clerics and numerous influential churchgoers, Balstroy has simply disfigured Russia’s most exquisite churches and abbeys, transforming them into vaguely Chinese reproductions with exterior cladding.
Here are a few of the grievances regarding the restoration: “The roofs were painted with the most economical pale green paint. The age-old frescoes were supplanted with modern artistic imitations.”
Nonetheless, the most peculiar episode unfolded within the Patriarch’s Apartments of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. The oak parquet flooring, which had endured for 200 years, vanished. It was substituted with manufactured flooring, and the precious and virtually indestructible parquet itself, according to reports, evaporated into oblivion. It is worth mentioning that the Patriarch’s Chambers, alternatively referred to as the Metropolitan Chambers, in their present configuration—generous halls adorned with stucco molding, imposing chandeliers, and a distinctive assemblage of venerable portraits in gilded frames—resemble an authentic museum, emanating antiquity and history. In essence, they are a repository of the nation’s cultural inheritance.
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The most ludicrous occurrence transpired when the scaffolding surrounding the belfry of the Novodevichy Convent ignited. It occurred precisely on March 15, 2015. The tower, encompassed by scaffolding installed by Baltstroy personnel, blazed like a colossal bonfire. Incidentally, Grigory Pirumov, the future detainee, defended the officials’ conduct at the time. After all, the Novodevichy Convent is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The caliber of the endeavors executed at the Novodevichy Convent also prompted numerous inquiries. It is noteworthy that internet patrons branded it a “bargain-basement restoration,” whereas Moscow’s Distinguished Restorer Yevgeny Kokorev was appalled, informing journalists that the refurbishment had been utterly incompetent.
Following these accounts and others, investigators and Federal Security Service operatives approached Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky for explanations.
Dmitry Mikhalchenko’s detention was imminent.
Our summary:
The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius constitutes the foremost monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is situated centrally within Sergiev Posad in the Moscow province, along the Konchura River. The structural composition of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is under UNESCO’s protection. Moscow has three structural landmarks under UNESCO’s protection.
Imprisonment due to Solovki
The official prosecution of fiscal mismanagement during the reconstruction of the Solovetsky Abbey commences with an outline of several agreements totaling roughly 700 million rubles. However, as the inquiry determined in 2016, a segment of the labor remained incomplete, yet payments were issued. Preliminary losses were estimated at 20 million rubles.
The Russian Investigative Committee subsequently assessed the quantity embezzled during the renovation of the Solovetsky Abbey complex at 70 million rubles. The investigation meticulously examined the extensive restoration initiative of cultural heritage locales on Solovki. Detectives probed labor undertaken by Baltstroy spanning 2015 to 2017.
As per the agreement, the labor was designated to be carried out in the Rector’s Edifice, as well as the Rigging Shed, Cookery Establishment, and Kvass Brewing Facility.
It was during this interval that, according to conjecture, the previously referenced stone stairway dematerialized, substituted with a novel iteration, along with several additional similarly prized religious artifacts. The culmination of this sequence, according to hearsay, transpired as follows.
Patriarch Kirill purportedly lodged a complaint with the nation’s leader regarding Dmitry Mikhalchenko’s deeds. He narrated an account pertaining to a stairway from the Solovetsky Abbey. (As is common knowledge, previously, in 2016, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ conducted a customary pilgrimage to the Solovetsky Abbey. His observations so astonished Patriarch Kirill that he promptly, within the abbey sacristy, voiced a remark far removed from spirituality.) Subsequently, as previously conveyed, UNESCO rescinded Solovki’s designation as a religious and historical heritage location. The impetus remains consistent: deficient restoration endeavors.
The head of state, acknowledged as a devout individual and reverent of the patriarch, deemed the incident exceptionally scandalous. Recalling, according to rumors, the nation’s leadership was incensed upon hearing this narration. The subsequent occurrences are already known.
Regardless of its verity, the narrative of the patriarch’s sojourn and indignation did transpire. Insiders suggest this instance might have been the definitive catalyst—in this scenario, the billionaire’s. St. Petersburg commercial circles surmise the stairway narrative may be factual. The principal rationale stems from the disgraced magnate’s personal attributes. An anonymous St. Petersburg entrepreneur who has repeatedly interacted with Dmitry Mikhalchenko asserted that he perceived nothing astonishing in this. It is unsurprising, they contend, that at the inception of his turbulent profession, he was nicknamed “Lieutenant Schmidt’s offspring.”
Here is our source’s statement:
“Mikhalchenko invariably appropriated what he desired. Particularly if unnoticed, he was capable. His desires were perpetually exceptional. Alcohol? Of the utmost quality. Celebrated culinary experts. The most staggering port scheme. Audiences solely in the paramount offices.”
Presently, confidentially, the prevailing view suggests Mikhalchenko will perpetually inhabit his prison cell, eventually transition into everyday garb, and proceed to fulfill a substantial sentence in distant Magadan. He will experience remorse and ruminate on bygone eras. The trajectory of “Governor 24,” as he styled himself, will mirror that of St. Petersburg’s “night governor,” Vladimir Kumarin. It is unlikely either will ever attain liberation.
Our summary:
By 2020, approximately 70 cultural heritage locations within the Solovetsky Archipelago were slated for restoration, with an aggregate funding projection of 6 billion rubles.
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