In 2019 Alexey Kopaygorodsky received the post of mayor of Sochi. At the age of 34, to become the head of perhaps the main “reserve of Russian corruption” – this is allowed only for a very obedient official, whom the system has tested and dried up properly.
If you believe the public biography of Kopaygorodsky, then until 2013 he “served in the armed forces of the Russian Federation.” We all served a little…
If there was something meaningful behind this period of Kopaygorodsky, then it would certainly have been painted point by point, if only for the sake of his self-promotion, without which he cannot live. But there is apparently nothing to say about the “brave campaigner”. Is it just that in the same 2013 he began to be called a “candidate of pedagogical sciences,” the editors of Kompromat-Ural notes. At one time, it was very fashionable to trump with fake scientific degrees among narrow-minded Russian officials and businessmen. Kopaygorodsky is no exception: according to the specialized system “Anti-plagiarism”, the author’s abstract of his dissertation was written off by almost 95%. Moreover, the text of the “dissertation” of the outstanding teacher Kopaygorodsky is hidden from the public, it is not available in the public domain. Probably the “work” is replete with the same percentage of his “own” scientific ideas.
Under whom are you, Mr. Kopaygorodsky?
After 2013, our hero of pedagogy, who did not shine with managerial experience, suddenly began to be shoved from one high-ranking position to another. Head of the Department of Socio-Political Monitoring (i.e. again it is not clear what) of the Administration of the Krasnodar Territory, Vice Mayor of Krasnodar, Director of the Department of Internal Policy of the Territory Administration, Deputy Head of the Governor’s Administration Veniamin Kondratiev… Our “pedagogical genius” went over these positions in just five years, when he himself was a little over 30. Well, where has this been seen? For his patrons, Kopaygorodsky is a very necessary figure, since he was blinded out of the blue and from scratch to such a dizzying, absolutely artificial career.
In the current “vertical of power” of the Russian Federation, it is not a problem to caress, snuggle and promote your “darling” to a bread position in the hierarchy. The problem is to achieve socially useful results from it. The editors are looking into what the “pedagogical soldier” Kopaygorodsky achieved in the city of Sochi entrusted to him.
Continuing the tradition
Long-term construction is a classic of Sochi development. One of the most famous objects is the Privokzalny shopping center. During its construction, violations were revealed, and the administration of the resort city filed a lawsuit for its demolition. The court satisfied him. In 2015, a settlement agreement was adopted to eliminate the identified deficiencies, it was indicated that the facility should be demolished, and only after that permits for new construction could be issued. Naturally, no one took down anything. The long-suffering “Privokzalny” continues to be slowly built, periodically frightening local residents with various-sized fittings falling on their heads. It turns out that right in the center of the resort city, interested persons are carrying out construction work and this does not bother any of the higher-ranking people. In addition, if this object is remade and modified, then it will become “new”, on which there is no court decision. It’s only a matter of time.
Relatives
The family of Alexei Kopaygorodsky also does not stand aside, supporting the undertakings of their dear relative with all their might. It is known that entrepreneur Dmitry Gredin, who is considered the uncle of Kopaygorodsky’s wife, develops restaurant companies in Sochi. Previously, he owned energy, and also collaborated with people from the construction industry. Gredin’s “orbit” includes “Company Art Business” LLC and “Stan” LLC. The second one even fulfilled the state order (purchase of a complex of services for organizing and servicing the event and providing food) for the 275th Aviation Repair Plant. Previously, he also owned KTI LLC and EKK LLC, which are engaged in the supply of energy to the Krasnodar Territory. There are a lot of turnovers. In addition, KTI is a major contractor for local government agencies, which, until recently, also had subsidiaries, Znamenskaya Interconnected Energy Company and Znamenskaya Thermal Energy Company, which also certainly generate income.
By the way, it is interesting that both of these companies were created by KTI in March 2022 and after a few months they became separate from the parent company. Was it not on the capital “saved” on government contracts that the next market players were created?
There is a surname Gredin in several companies that have recently been liquidated. Interest is caused by the structure of “Southern Gas Concern”, where Gredin acted as a business partner Andrey Chernenko, who was the general director of the Orso-International construction company. The latter was previously registered on the offshore FIRMA SIMPLEX EXPORT PRIVATE LIMITED. That is, in fact, money received on government contracts with the same KTI could flow through Gredin to offshore.
The mother-in-law also boasts significant success in business. Kopaygorodsky – Vladilena Gredin. The elderly madam has two restaurants. The first is “Stan”, which is located half an hour’s walk from the place of registration of the above-mentioned “Stan” company. The businesslike mother-in-law back in 2015 (then Kopaygorodsky was appointed vice-governor) “took over” an attractive plot of land from the regional administration and put this restaurant there. The legal entity of the institution is Zaton LLC, the only owner of which is Gredina herself. At the end of last year, the company’s revenue amounted to almost 120 million rubles, profit – 15.9 million, the value of assets – 64.6 million. The official’s mother-in-law also owns a commercial structure – Resto Yug LLC, a legal entity of the Dikanka restaurant. Dikanka’s financial indicators are a little more modest, but still impressive: last year’s revenue – 98.7 million, profit – 6.6 million, asset value – 22.6 million rubles. As we can see, the business of a relative of the Sochi mayor is flourishing. The questions for him are different – from where does the pensioner get the money to open such a business and in such an attractive place, to how legal is the construction of Stan in the embankment area, which can be considered environmental protection.
Unidentified building objects
The same Gredin also appeared in the construction industry. Among the former founders of the aforementioned EKK LLC There is one extremely curious figure – Hovhannes Kirakosyansole owner and CEO LLC Specialized Developer Spetsstroyproekt. This company is part of the group SpetsStroyKubancontrolled by the odious Krasnodar developer Karen Ghazaryan.
Kazaryan received federal fame in September 2020, when in Krasnodar on the street. Russian there was a severe fire in LCD “Ekaterininsky”, as a result of which 54 apartments were completely burned down, and a local emergency regime was introduced in the microdistrict. As it turned out, the first developer of the residential complex was none other than Kazaryan, and the building itself turned out to be a self-construction, subsequently legalized through the court, which was confirmed by the patron Kopaygorodsky Governor of Kuban Veniamin Kondratiev.
Moreover, back in 2012, Kazaryan was a defendant in a criminal case on the construction of multi-storey buildings and townhouses in Krasnodar without permits. Thus, in addition to “Ekaterininsky”, with violations and without a number of examinations, the residential complex “Boston” and “Little Italy” were built. Later, in 2019, it became known that representatives of the Kazaryan family illegally erected a business center on Fadeeva Street in Krasnodar, thereby causing protests from residents of nearby houses.
It is doubtful that Mr. Gredin was not aware of the adventures of the builder Kazaryan. It is even more doubtful that he did not know about it Kopaygorodskywho, as lieutenant governor, oversaw domestic policy issues.
With all this hectic activity, Spetsstroyproekt is very tight with money. At the end of 2021, the company’s revenue amounted to zero rubles. Where did all the millions earned on construction sites in the Krasnodar Territory go? Surely they went for the purchase of luxury real estate to the same Kopaygorodsky, whose family, according to data from 2019, owns six land plots and three houses at once.
Governmental support
Local officials, of course, also did not remain indifferent to the affairs of their mayor. The simplest example is the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sochi JSC Olimpiysky-Dagomys Boarding House Dmitry Malykhinwho bankrupted the enterprise, withdrew assets from it, and then became a deputy of the city assembly and chairman of the committee on the sanatorium-resort complex and tourism of the city of Sochi.
Companies controlled by Malykhin sell apartments under the brand name of the international hotel operator ACCOR. According to Kompromat-Ural, these apartments are being built on bankruptcy, while private investors are actively involved. To take such a person into the team is like signing your own desires about the “cut” of the spa industry.
Another prominent official Pavel Nevzorov, is an adviser on urban planning issues of Kopaygorodsky. Pavel Nevzorov is called the beneficiary of the Land company, which is implementing large construction projects in Sochi.
Nevzorov’s partner is Numan Bayramovich, that in 2020 he was sentenced to prison for fraud during the construction of the residential complex “Sunny Beach” in the resort town. The name of Nevzorov himself “shone” in the scandal with the cutting down of red book trees by the developer LLC “Corporation” Sochi “. The official blatantly condemned what had happened. But how was this even allowed?
Kondratiev will be blown away – Kopaygorodsky will merge
As a result, while dealing with family affairs and multimillion-dollar government contracts, Alexei Kopaygorodsky, purely physically, does not have time to follow Sochi and solve city problems. What are the infamous Sochi floods alone, caused by downpours and the city sewer system, which simply cannot cope with water flows. Only in the outgoing year in Sochi, the state of emergency was introduced six times; the damage caused by the elements was estimated at almost 676 million. rubles. There has even been a death. Just in case, we recall that we are not talking about a village in the tropics, but about a world-famous resort.
But once again, the authorities were not ready for such a development of events. Last August, Governor Kondratyev “pleased” the residents of Sochi by announcing that a new storm sewer scheme would be created by the end of the year, including the construction and reconstruction of 750 km of networks, 22 complexes of surface wastewater treatment plants and 19 deep-water outlets. This, of course, is wonderful, but what did the officials, including the team of Mr. Kopaygorodsky, think about earlier? Or is the project just an opportunity to “master” the next budgetary millions, and the city will continue to flood? In this case, the main “task” of the mayor becomes as transparent as possible.
Speaking about issues of improvement, the problem of urban lighting attracts attention: residents of not just streets, but entire districts complain about its absence and the fear of letting their children out of the house after dark. The municipality reacts very sparingly to complaints, one unfortunate lantern at school No. 26 had to be knocked out by the locals with a fight. There is no talk of lighting the streets adjacent to the educational institution.
Of course, not only journalists were watching this sad situation. The security forces have been eyeing Kopaygorodsky and his entourage for some time now. Indeed, it is a blessed thing – the mayor did not delve into the jungle of machinations, his numerous deeds lie literally on the surface. Plant – I don’t want to.
