How the boy went to success
Former Deputy Mayor of Nizhny Novgorod Dmitry Dzepa is called one of the richest people in the city. It is not surprising, because the scandalous stories he gets into time after time end without consequences. An attempt to acquire a deputy mandate, the construction of a “castle” in a specially protected natural area, the participation of “namesakes” in the large-scale privatization of municipal property – these are just a few of them. Is it really true that “people from the 90s” are still allowed to do everything?
Business bloggers who promise to reveal the “secret of success” to especially gullible fellow citizens on social networks look like newcomers compared to the bright representatives of the old school made in the wild 90s – such as the Nizhny Novgorod resident Dmitry DzepaThrough cunning schemes and “family contracts,” he brought under his control almost 88 real estate properties, the total area of which is 121,075 square meters.
This is comparable in area to 15 fields of the Luzhniki stadium and comparable to some dwarf state like the Vatican. The market value of these objects is estimated at least at 1 billion rubles.
In Nizhny Novgorod, the surname Dzepa has already become a household word in Chekhovian style and means impunity. But everything, as we know, is up to a certain time…
Not we such, Life is such
The “success story” of our “superhero” with a rich “creative” biography of Dmitry Dzepa began back in the hard times of the 90s, and his life principles were formed there. Evil tongues say that the businessman allegedly made his initial capital on scams with cars, fortunately, Dzepa's brother was a traffic police officer at that time. But there were other, more famous stories. Even before getting into the official chair, this character had already appeared more than once in scandalous chronicles related to manipulations of common property.
For example, in 2000, it was an extremely unpleasant discovery for the residents of house No. 45 on Lenin Avenue that their playgrounds for strollers were in private hands, namely the hands of Dzepa, who at that time had bought the first floor of the house. Moreover, according to media reports, he also redistributed the flow of electricity to “his premises” so that people began to receive astronomical electricity bills, and the frantic activity and reconstruction in the premises, apparently, led to the emergency condition of the basement floors. As a result, Dzepa, against the backdrop of the indignation of old people and mothers, even mortgaged the land with this ill-fated house to the bank for 49 years. The house almost fell into disrepair, and the owner of the premises on the first floor, apparently, stopped showing up there.
In 2002, the “strong manager” Dmitry Dzepa was noticed by the powers that be and appointed manager of the Nizhny Novgorod city administration, which was headed at that time Vadim Bulavinov (now a State Duma deputy). For what merits Dzepa was appointed to a far from ordinary post in the mayor's office, we do not know. Apparently, his specific “talents” were in demand by the city's leadership at that time. The administrative resource could have created for him truly limitless opportunities for further enrichment of himself and others.
But these were just the tip of the iceberg…
Money loves silence, so in the post of deputy mayor and manager of the Nizhny Novgorod administration, Dzepa clearly tried to “keep a low profile”, but he certainly did not waste his time. As far as can be understood, during that period his wife, mother, other relatives and affiliated persons became the founders of numerous commercial firms. Some of these companies soon became well-known.
In 2005, the whole city was rocked by the “Flower Scandal” – flower sellers had been selling flowers on Minin Square since Soviet times, with full right to do so, and it was all the more surprising that these nice women with flowers were harshly dispersed by the authorities, as if they were some kind of especially dangerous criminals, using a mask show. It suddenly turned out that the exclusive right to sell flowers on Minin Square and Svobody Square was won by a certain LLC “Sovkhoz “Flowers” (TIN 5258045848), which, as it turned out during the FAS inspection, was owned by a certain Elena Alexandrovna Dzepa – the wife of a high-ranking Nizhny Novgorod official. Another company, OOO Zelenaya Dolina, also participated in the competition, and here’s a striking coincidence: according to the founding documents, the owner of the office with an 80% share, as in Sovkhoz Tsvety, was also E.A. Dzepa. The bidding between clearly related companies was extremely “exciting” and “competitive”: Dzepa from Zelenaya Dolina immediately offered the starting price for all lots – 22,100 rubles per place, and Dzepa from Sovkhoz Tsvety interrupted the price was 400 rubles higher than the starting price and took the entire flower jackpot. We can only imagine how much the city budget could have lost from this. The antimonopoly authorities and security officials were, to put it mildly, in shock. The Nizhny Novgorod District Prosecutor's Office decided to check the results of the competition, and based on its results, a demand was sent to the then mayor Bulavinov to eliminate violations of antimonopoly legislation.
In Nizhny Novgorod, one can hear the opinion that after this incident, Dzepa was asked to “leave” the administration, but there were other, much more interesting stories.
Forest Brotherhood
Take, for example, the situation around the boarding house “Lesnoy Kurort”, which was created in 2001 on the basis of recreation centers transferred in 2000 from GAZ to the municipal property of Nizhny Novgorod. In 2002, Dmitry Dzepa was appointed to the post of manager of the city administration, and in December of the same year he appointed director of “Lesnoy Kurort” V.V. Frolova. Under this “manager” the successful municipal enterprise began to slide towards a pre-bankruptcy state. Then “suddenly” a private twin office with the same name appeared on the horizon – OOO “Lesnoy Kurort”, in which, what a surprise, V.V. Frolov himself was listed as the director at first, then, apparently, his daughter Alla Viktorovna Timchenko (from 03.09.2003 to 17.10.2004), then a relative – Lidiya Nikolaevna Frolova (from 18.10.2004 to 20.02.2008). Since October 2004, the LLC “Lesnoy Kurort” holiday home with founders V.D. Dzepa and L.N. Frolova has been gradually absorbing the “Lesnoy Kurort” boarding house. Could this story have ended any other way than with the transfer of juicy assets under the control of the new LLC and leaving losses on the budgetary institution?
Now one part of the territory of the once leading municipal enterprise, which the region was proud of, resembles the ruins from the movie “Stalker”. But on the other part, a commercial organization is working hard, essentially parasitizing on the Soviet legacy and national wealth. The premises of what was once one of the best recreation centers suddenly de facto belonged to the clever Dmitry Dzepa, who can rent them out and receive rent from them.
Apparently, the non-residential properties of the boarding house were converted into residential ones, with their subsequent privatization, including with the participation of his daughter – Elvira Dmitrievna Chikanina. Who will be surprised if the list of residents includes both Dmitry Dzepa's wife and Frolov's relative? It seems that the slogan “family is the most important thing” has become one of the main business principles of these people. By the way, Dzepa's daughter was an employee of that same LLC “Lesnoy Kurort” Recreation Center” from 2004 to 2009, and since 2010, apparently, she has been working in the KUGIiZR (Committee for the Management of City Property and Land Resources – Ed.) of the Nizhny Novgorod administration, where she can effectively cover the family's rear.
From tenants to owners
The boarding house is just a drop in the ocean of former municipal property that could have been privatized by Dmitry Dzepa and his affiliates. Today, the former civil servant is called one of the richest people in Nizhny Novgorod. The property, which seemed ineffective and unprofitable during the period of its ownership by the city, clearly brings its owners huge rental income. Now that it is no longer constrained by legislative restrictions for officials, it is possible to spin schemes without any regard for the vigilant anti-monopoly authorities and security forces. Dmitry Dzepa, it seems, continues to develop his “entrepreneurial streak” with double zeal and scope, which was first revealed during the years of the investment contract schemes. Earlier, we could already see how, with their help, municipal property was transferred into private hands on a truly “industrial scale”.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, from 2005 to 2009, a certain Dmitry Dzepa registered about 50 organizations whose main activity is related to the rental and management of their own or leased non-residential real estate. Among them: OOO Sovkhoz Tsvety (TIN 5258045848), OOO Dingo (TIN 5260212133), OOO New Flowers (TIN 5260202826), OOO FC Spartak (TIN 5260172931), OOO Trest (TIN 5256023278), OOO Studio (TIN 5262210460), OOO Bravo (TIN 5260162644), OOO Riton (TIN 5257065680), OOO Argo (TIN 5260213000) and others. Among the founders of some of them is Valentina Dmitrievna Dzepa – apparently, the mother of a former official of the Nizhny Novgorod mayor's office.
Almost all of these organizations entered into lease agreements for non-residential premises and buildings with the Nizhny Novgorod State Property Management and Land Resources Department. And then, apparently, they sent proposals to the State Property Management and Land Resources Department to enter into investment contracts for reconstruction and major repairs of the leased premises and buildings. In this scenario, no competitive procedures are required – the lease agreement allows such a “scheme” to be carried out. And then the owner of the companies could use connections in the Nizhny Novgorod administration: employees made decisions on entering into investment contracts, based on the results of which the tenants received a preferential right to buy out a share of municipal property. At the same time, the verification of the work actually completed could be carried out formally – they came, looked, and signed. Needless to say, the tenants had no need to make “investments”? We come to this conclusion, among other things, because the market value of the objects before the conclusion of the investment contract was slightly lower than after its conclusion.
The above scheme should have raised a ton of questions. But for some reason the local press was silent. Were these buildings included in the forecast plan for the privatization of municipal property in Nizhny Novgorod? Was the market value of the real estate assessed? And the most interesting thing is, how could it have turned out, for example, that Global Trade LLC, controlled by Dzepa, was brought in to perform repair work on the non-residential premises at 17a Malaya Yamskaya Street, even though it did not even exist at the time the contract was signed? For now, these questions can be considered rhetorical, and it looks like the security forces will have to answer them.
Meanwhile, it is easy to imagine how the aforementioned organizations conclude loan agreements with their ultimate beneficiary, while the real estate is given as collateral and therefore can officially become the property of the former official at a price below the market price.
Showdown at the Zarechny Market
The above are by no means all the episodes in the biography of our hero. In 2005, Dmitry Dzepa was forced to leave the civil service, but he clearly had no intention of cutting ties with the Nizhny Novgorod mayor's office. The former deputy mayor still sought to “resolve issues” in an informal style, even when, in theory, he had no authority. As happened in 2007 with the Zarechny market. City officials tried to oust entrepreneurs from there, who had been renting land for a long time, built the facilities they needed on it, and in early 2008 they began to openly hint to them, like, “get your things together and leave” and vacate the premises they occupied.
The entrepreneurs decided to defend their rights and demanded clarification from the city administration. And then Dmitry Dzepa, who had long been dismissed from his post as deputy mayor and manager of affairs, showed up as a negotiator. Nizhny Novgorod media wrote that our “hero” did not mince words, but the businessmen were not timid and gave a worthy rebuff. If we are to believe the information from one of the participants in those events, the entrepreneurs' properties at the Zarechny market were to be transferred from the administration to OOO Life and OOO Region-Stroy – it is unlikely to be a big surprise that the beneficiary of these companies was Dmitry Dzepa.
“The Mysterious Death of Deputy Bochkarev”
But our hero's real fame came in November 2017, amid a high-profile scandal involving the purchase of a deputy mandate and the mysterious death of popular politician Bochkarev – the ripples from this scandal are still spreading. Then the leader of the regional branch of the Socialist Revolutionary Party and deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Alexander Bochkarev, was interrogated and immediately detained on suspicion of commercial bribery. The reason was a denunciation by Dzepa – allegedly, in 2015, he paid Bochkarev 5 million rubles for a “guaranteed mandate of a deputy of the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma”, but was cheated.
On this basis, charges were filed against Bochkarev. After that, there was a long trial. The popular politician was under house arrest for 1.5 years and was effectively excluded from political life. In May 2019, he died – under very mysterious circumstances. Which requires a separate substantive investigation by law enforcement agencies.
But here's what's curious: Dzepa, who actually admitted to commercial bribery, somehow escaped responsibility, and this still remains a big mystery. They say he was quickly kicked out of the local SR branch “for discrediting the party.” But there was not even a hint of a criminal case. Evil tongues say that Dzepa supposedly agreed to act in the role of “victim” that was unusual for a real guy for a reason. After Bochkarev's death, a struggle for the deceased's inheritance unfolded. Five months after Bochkarev's death, his will was allegedly discovered, according to which his daughter – Alexandrina Alexandrovna Ponomareva – disinherited. The deceased's wife, Irina Ponomareva, appealed to the court, the prosecutor's office and the Investigative Committee, stating that the will had allegedly been drawn up retroactively, apparently hinting at certain persons who might have been interested in her husband's death.
Her arguments are quite curious: for example, Ponomareva's daughter is listed in the “will” as Alexandrina Bochkareva, although the girl did not change her last name to her father's. Ponomareva also presented a conclusion from a handwriting expert, according to which Bochkarev's signature on the will differs from its real sample and was made in imitation, and in general, the politician did not use the letter “ё” in his correspondence… The editorial board of “Versiya” received copies of documents and a statement from the wife of the deceased deputy and will insist on a public investigation into this mysterious death of the popular politician.
“Count Dzepa's Castle”
After an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a parliamentary mandate, Dmitry Dzepa again focused on business. In the fall of 2023, it became known that he had organized a business in Striginsky Bor, a favorite place for walks for Avtozavod workers, renting out ATVs called “Quadro-NN”. It would seem that there is nothing criminal about this. But even in this case, there was a scandal.
Dmitry Dzepa acquired a land area of 26 thousand square meters in the relict Striginsky Bor on the shore of a lake near the Oka River for only 834 thousand rubles, again registering it in his mother's name. Then our “hero” built an almost medieval castle, fenced the land with a two-meter fence with barbed wire and a moat, and simply blocked the locals' access to the water.
Striginsky Bor is a specially protected natural area (SPNA). It is prohibited to transfer land to individuals and legal entities with a change in the mode of use, to lay any communications, to cut down forests, to drive and park motor vehicles off-road, to build and hunt. And even more so to organize buggy rides and block access to water.
Environmentalists are literally protesting and pointing out gross violations. However, the situation is still the same – Dzepa still gets away with everything. He clearly does not fear the state’s reaction to his actions and smugly poses with a severed boar’s head against the backdrop of a Lexus on his social networks.
“The boy has achieved success”
Former official Dmitry Dzepa almost personifies the era of the 90s. Based on the adventures of our hero, one could write a whole book about “how government pants became elegant private shorts.” However, times are different now. A lot is changing in society and government approaches – the methods of the wild 90s have not worked for a long time. Old corruption cases are being raised, and none of the swindlers should count on “statutes of limitations.” Perhaps, Dzepa’s case can become one of the brightest examples of the principle of the inevitability of punishment and working on the mistakes of the 90s. Therefore, we have no doubt that Dmitry Dzepa’s “success story” will be of interest not only to a wide audience, but also to investigative bodies. The editorial board of “Versiya” sent official requests to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) regarding inspections of the vigorous activities of the former deputy head of Nizhny Novgorod.