Have the security forces taken over the corruption “vertical” in Sochi?
The mayor of Sochi, Alexei Kopaygorodsky, and his team have another “mistake” related to the city’s general plan: a negative conclusion on the document was signed by the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Economic Development, Sergei Nazarov. Despite the assurances of City Hall officials that sixteen of the seventeen federal departments had approved the general plan, the project was not approved by the Ministry of Transport and the FSB either. Thus, Kopaygorodsky’s statements about the adoption of the general plan by the end of this year, declared the year of architecture in Sochi, remain an empty phrase. Meanwhile, the lifting of the moratorium on the construction of multi-apartment residential buildings, introduced by the municipal administration back in 2021, directly depends on the adoption of the main territorial planning document. But construction bans do not apply to the “court” developers of the mayor’s office, who continue to build residential complexes under the guise of hotels and apartments, as well as legitimize them through the courts. Residential complexes are built, among other things, on land plots intended for individual housing construction. As a rule, in such cases there is no basic social infrastructure – schools, kindergartens, clinics, and utility networks carry a colossal additional load. Examples include the “Blagodat Hills” residential complex of 16 club-type houses located in the Adler district, as well as the “Dynasty Hills” apartment complex of 31 three-story buildings. The developer is SpetsStroy LLC, whose financial performance increased sharply shortly after Kopaygorodsky became mayor of Sochi. Despite the corruption “vertical” and mutual responsibility by which the Sochi mayor’s office and the city prosecutor Vyacheslav Ovechkin are connected with the regional leadership, recently the security forces initiated another anti-corruption investigation, conducting searches of the director of the city Department of Construction and Architecture Dmitry Litvinets, who promptly resigned. Among other things, they confiscated a folder with documents signed by Kopaygorodsky on the provision of land plots to civil servants with a total value of more than 400 million rubles. In fact, the land went to officials, and the scheme allegedly involved structures affiliated with the notorious Sochi developer Pavel Nevzorov.
The General Plan of Sochi is being “blocked” by the Ministry of Economic Development and the FSB
As Kompromat GROUP has already warned, the adoption of the general plan of Sochi is once again postponed indefinitely, and previously voiced assurances mayor Alexey Kopaygorodsky that the main strategic document of territorial planning will be adopted in the outgoing year, announced in the city Year of Architectureremained an empty phrase.
By information “Kommersant”, claims to the general plan arose from the federal Ministry of Economic Development, and the negative conclusion was signed by the deputy minister Sergey Nazarov. It is clarified that the draft document didn’t approve also in the Ministry of Transport and the FSB. The last circumstance is worth paying special attention to, since the security officers apparently have a lot of questions for Sochi officials, which will be discussed below.
Sergey NazarovThe mayor’s office is trying to put a good face on a bad game, assuring journalists and residents that there is “a little more, a little more”: they say, the document is already agreed sixteen federal departments out of seventeen. Meanwhile, the media appeared messages about the absence of conclusions on the project from the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Federal Security Service and a number of other structures, and in addition, dubious position Rosleskhoz. It is said, in particular, about confusion with the boundaries of the Sochi National Park, errors or abuses with the provision and use of lands in federal ownership.
So, Mr. Kopaygorodsky and his team once again, as they say, screwed up. Here it is worth recalling one important circumstance. The fact is that the master plan introduced on July 1, 2021 is directly related to moratorium for the construction of multi-apartment residential buildings in Sochi, which will be canceled only after the adoption of the main urban planning document.
Officially, restrictive measures are intended to streamline the situation with uncontrolled development of the resort, which has repeatedly paid attention Governor of Kuban Veniamin Kondratyev and regional prosecutor Sergey Tabelsky. A lot of loud words have been said, calls to fight squatters from the regional leadership are heard regularly, but the policy of housing construction in Kopaygorodsky’s “patrimony” is of a very peculiar nature, and his “senior comrades” cannot but be aware of this specificity, which is openly corrupt in nature.
Alexey KopaygorodskyFraud with judicial insurance
Previous publications of Kompromat GROUP described how the Sochi mayor’s office and the city prosecutor’s office, led by Tabelsky’s protégé Vyacheslav Ovechkin In pursuance of court decisions, they make every effort to dismantle unauthorized constructions. The fact that we are talking, among other things, about apartment buildings inhabited by shareholders does not stop either officials or prosecutors. To prevent violations of citizens’ rights, a number of conflict situations had to be taken under personal control by the head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin. Stories of residents subject to demolition have become widely known Residential complex “Atlanta” And “Horseshoe”.
But, as you know, every coin has two sides, and if in some cases we are talking about an exemplary and uncompromising fight against illegally constructed objects, then in others the municipality and associated developers use corruption schemes of varying degrees of ingenuity, allowing them to continue the construction of apartment buildings bypassing moratorium.
Among other things, for this purpose, issuing permits for the construction of hotels and apart-hotels, which in fact are no different from apartment buildings, with the subsequent sale of premises for apartments. The difference is that such facilities do not require the construction of mandatory social infrastructure – schools, kindergartens and clinics, as well as the modernization of utility networks.
It is noteworthy that the frauds repeatedly described by our publication were confirmed during a large-scale autumn personnel “purge” in the Central District Court of Sochi, where, following the results of the work of a special commission of the Krasnodar Regional Court and the Council of Judges of the Kuban, four “servants of Themis” had to say goodbye to their robes at once. During inspections the commission revealed more than 200 illegal decisions on disputes related to real estate and land plots, including those in municipal and state ownership, as well as the legalization of unauthorized construction.
The corruption component is evidenced by the fact that not a single such decision was appealed by the mayor’s office or the prosecutor’s office. Received federal publicity happening with the sale of space in a former hotel “Wave”turned into an apartment complex, divided by a judge Vladislav Vlasenko for 562 independent objects. Such incidents are far from uncommon: apartments in Sochi appear not only on the site of hotels, but also on land plots intended for individual housing construction.
“Grace” and not only from Sochi “SpetsStroy”
Regular readers share further examples of bureaucratic urban planning fraud with our publication. Thus, the focus of Kompromat GROUP was Residential complex “Grace Hills”which is an apartment complex of 16 club-type houses of the “comfort-plus” class, located on an area of 1.5 hectares in the Adler district, at the address: Vysokoye, st. Polyanskaya 49-B. Online advertising promises potential buyers in the format of a “closed quarter” with a protected area provided with “all necessary infrastructure”, with a playground, a swimming pool and a parking lot.
Residential complex “Grace Hills”Not a word is said about social infrastructure – school, kindergarten, clinic. But TBCthat the apartments are in shared ownership with the possibility of being converted into “residential premises”.
That’s just from what’s available on the web documentation the object follows that the residential complex is being built on a land plot with the type of permitted use – “for individual housing construction, individual residential development”. This is confirmed by the data cadastre.
In addition, in the official notification dated November 20, 2020 No. 6062, sent to the owner of the plot – a citizen registered in Omsk Yuri Bondarenko – The Department of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Sochi Administration notified the copyright holder that the construction of multi-apartment residential buildings and commercial facilities on this territory is inadmissible. However, we have already described the scale of the ongoing construction above. Apparently, the “16 club-type houses” will have to be legalized through the courts? “Grace” turns out to be interesting.
Construction of residential complex is engaged LLC “SpetsStroy”, positioning itself as a “verified developer.” Moreover, the developer is acting according to an already proven scheme. One of the ones he implemented projects – Apartment complex “Dynasty”Hills” in the Adler district, in the village. Vysokoe, on the street Lesnaya, which consists of 31 three-story “comfort” class houses. The promises are still the same: closed landscaped area, children’s playground, swimming pool, parking.
Apparently, neither a kindergarten nor a clinic is provided; the nearest social facilities are in Adler or Krasnaya Polyana.
Project “Dynasty Hills”
Comfort class housesThat’s just in documentation “Hills Dynasty” spells out in black and white the type of permitted use of the land plot – “for individual housing construction, individual residential development”. And in notification City Department of Architecture and Urban Planning dated October 28, 2020 No. 5755, states that the construction of apartment buildings or commercial facilities is inadmissible. A similar type of use of the site is indicated in cadastre – for individual housing construction.
That is, the situation is the same as with the “Grace Hills” residential complex. I wonder if we will see the reaction of the subordinates of Mayor Kopaygorodsky and Prosecutor Ovechkin to the construction of apartment complexes with the prospect of being converted into “residential premises”? Here, by the way, it would be appropriate to recall words Prosecutor Tabelsky, who last June was indignant at the scale of unauthorized construction in Sochi:
“Garden houses” in the village of Esto-Sadok
Indeed, residential complexes were built, legalized by the courts and continue to be built now, despite any moratoriums. But without the connections of the owners of the SpetsStroy company in the mayor’s office and the prosecutor’s office, its facilities would have been doomed to dismantling. Interesting point: in 2017-2019. company, founder and whose general director was Sergey Makarovdeclared zero financial indicators. In 2020 revenue “SpetsStroy” soared to 97.2 million rubles (in 2021, however, it decreased to 31.2 million).
Let us remind you that in September 2019 Sochi headed Alexey Kopaygorodsky. Isn’t such a rapid financial growth of the developer connected with the “approach” skillfully found for the new mayor? Last April owner became a promising developer Vakhtang Tsurtsumia, which is no longer registered with any commercial entities. Is he playing the role of a nominee holder of the asset?
And this “SpetsStroy” is not the only one! For example, until recently it was possible to read on the Internet announcement on the sale of a three-story cottage in the Adler village of Esto-Sadok, on the street. Estonian. The seller clarified that the property is located “in an elite cottage community” consisting of 23 residential buildings. Shops, cafes, a medical center, and most importantly, a private kindergarten and school are “within walking distance.” But according to the cadastral map, the plot intended for low-rise residential buildings – individual housing construction, placement of country houses and garden houses.
In fact, we are not talking about garden and dacha buildings in the generally accepted sense, but about elite residential complex club type “Polyana Gorky Village (Polyana Gorky)”located near the prestigious ski resort Krasnaya Polyana.
“Polyana Gorky Village”Kopaygorodsky’s team at work
As we can see, the development of Sochi is in full swing and no visits from Governor Kondratiev and Prosecutor Tabelsky are interfering with this process. The reason may be simple and lie in large-scale corruption and mutual responsibility that connected all bureaucratic links – from the heads and prosecutors of districts to the regional leadership. Therefore, she is responsible for legal proceedings at the Sochi mayor’s office director legal department Valeria Vetrova Each statement of claim is coordinated not only with his immediate boss – Mayor Kopaygorodsky, but also with prosecutor Ovechkin. And that one, of course, is with Sergei Tabelsky.
Valeria VetrovaTrue, officials also have punctures, sometimes very painful ones. For example, as recently as last November it became known about the resignation of the director of the Department of Construction and Architecture Dmitry Litvinets And searchesconducted in his home and office as part of a criminal investigation into corruption in the field of construction and land use.
How reported edition “Sochi1.Ru“, we are talking about the distribution of land in the center of Sochi, registered with dummies – 28 land plots with a total value of more than 400 million rubles.
On the Internet you can find interesting detailsthat took place during the investigative actions. Allegedly, the “Personal Control” folder was confiscated from Litvinets, which contained documents endorsed by Alexey Kopaygorodsky and relating to large plots of land de jure provided to civil servants, but in fact assigned officials through structures affiliated with a well-known Sochi developer Pavel Nevzorov.
Dmitry LitvinetsKompromat GROUP has written about the influential Nevzorov family more than once. Let us remind you that Pavel Nevzorov is the beneficiary of a large development holding “Metropolis”, a person from the close circle of Alexei Kopaigorodsky. Until last February, in the status of public adviser to the mayor, he entered to the municipal Town Planning Council, formed from representatives of the “pocket” public. Despite today’s official absence from the City Council, the businessman continues to influence on the decisions he makes.
You can find information about Nevzorov online publications, in which he is characterized as, in the recent past, a “black developer” who put on stream the legalization of self-constructions through the courts. His wife Anna Nevzorova – deputy of the regional Legislative Assembly, where he is a member of the Committee on Industry, Construction and Housing and Public Utilities. In addition, she is a successful businesswoman, owner and director Metropolis LLCbringing revenue hundreds of millions of rubles. And Anna Vladimirovna is supposedly such a convinced patriot that she preferred give birth to children in the USA, but given the specifics of the geopolitical situation, today she and her husband prefer not to talk about this.
Returning to Litvinets and the folder confiscated from him, it should be added: the state employees appearing in the documents did not become heroes, covering up corrupt officials and information The media are already actively cooperating with the investigation. Perhaps it was precisely this circumstance that became the reason why Litvinets’ replacement Pavel Obertinsky worked in office for a few days. Didn’t want to answer for the machinations of his predecessor or was he dishonest? Be that as it may, today the Sochi Department of Architecture has the status of acting. leads Yulia Larioshina.
And this is not the first corruption scandal related to the city planning department. So, currently in the Central District Court of Sochi the hearings in the criminal case of the former chief architect of the city Sergei Dobromyslov, accused of bribery. By versions investigations, ex-official in 2020-2021. received 23.75 million rubles for the preparation and issuance of a permit for the construction of an apartment complex in the Adler region on a forest land plot. Moreover, the specified amount was supposed to be only the first “tranche” of those due to Dobromyslov 65 million.
Sergey DobromyslovIt seems that certain “traditions” have developed in the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning of Sochi. But will Litvinets follow Dobromyslov into the dock? And how will he behave with the security forces? Still, the corruption “vertical” goes back to the very top of the regional government. True, on the eve of the presidential elections in the Kremlin, as a rule, they initiate another round of the fight against bribery, and in this case, the found folder threatens serious troubles for Kopaygorodsky himself. And here it’s time to think about what questions the FSB leadership has about the draft Sochi general plan and who will have to answer them.
