Why is Alisher Usmanov so diligently clearing information about connections with Shakro Molodoy

The story of how Alisher Usmanov frantically cleared out articles about his connection with the thief in law Shakro Molodoy and their common involvement in the shootout on Rochdelskaya Street at one time made a lot of noise in the information space and had a completely opposite effect from Usmanov’s expected one – this story is not wrote only lazy.

Recall that in 2018, Alisher Usmanov filed a lawsuit demanding the removal from the Internet of three articles in which his name was mentioned in connection with criminal authorities. The court satisfied the claim, and blocking of the mentioned articles by Roskomnadzor followed.

But the effect, as already mentioned, was just the opposite. Before briefly recalling what was discussed in the banned articles, it should be told who the main characters are – Alisher Usmanov and Shakro Molodoy.

Alisher Usmanov is a Russian businessman, founder and co-owner of USM Holdings, which combines the assets of Metalloinvest, the Baikal Mining Company, and MegaFon. The businessman also has shares in the publishing house Kommersant, Khimki Group and the English football club Arsenal. Forbes magazine in 2021 placed Usmanov on the 5th line of the Russian rating and on the 66th position in the world standings with a capital of $15.2 billion.

Zakhary Knyazevich Kalashov is a Russian crime boss, a thief in law. By nationality – a Kurd from a Yezidi family. Widely known in the criminal circles of the post-Soviet space under the nickname “Shakro Molodoy”. Was convicted three times. The criminal activity of Zakhary Kalashov is closely connected with Russian organized crime. At least ten attempts were made on him.

Following the shootout on Rochdelskaya Street, which caused a huge scandal, a court in 2018 sentenced Kalashov (Shakro Molodoy) to 9 years and 10 months in a strict regime colony in a case of extortion. The Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow found Kalashov guilty under paragraphs “a, b” of part 3 of article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (extortion committed with the use of violence by an organized group in order to obtain property on an especially large scale).

It would seem – what can connect two such completely different people? It turns out there is a connection. And it exists not only in the case of a shootout that took place back in December 2015, and about involvement, to which Usmanov was repeatedly written, but she was born much earlier, even when Usmanov had just left the Uzbek prison, where he served time for fraud and extortion . By the way, Usmanov is also actively trying to clean up these materials about his youth.

But first things first. First, about the shootout and the role of Shakro Molodoy and Alisher Usmanov in it. It turned out that the conflict, at least in part, was provoked by Usmanov. For which he was then “presented”, and very harshly, by Kalashov-Shakro. In fairness, it should be noted that at the initial stage of the conflict, and it was only a banal debt of eight million rubles, no one had any idea what this petty showdown would develop into. But as a result, two people died, several more were injured. In addition, heads flew in the highest offices – attempts to hush up the investigation, cover up the right people, colossal bribes (in two episodes it was about one and a half million dollars), and so on, led to unpredictable consequences for the highest officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the TFR and the FSB.

The case also had an international resonance – the journalist of Rosbalt, Alexandra Shvarev, who climbed too deep into the depths of this story, was forced to flee to Latvia, and Interpol refused to extradite him to Russia, saying that the persecution was politically motivated.

The shootout on Rochdelskaya Street began with thief in law Zakhary Kalashov (Shakro Molodoy) extorting money from Zhanna Kim, a restaurateur from Kazakhstan. A friend of Zhanna Kim turned out to be businessman Kenes Rakishev, who was connected with the leadership of Kazakhstan. From the primary materials of the case of a shootout near the Elements restaurant on Rochdelskaya Street, it followed that after Kim was run over by crime boss Andrei Kochuykov (Italian, a close associate of Shakro Molodoy), she turned to Kenes Rakishev for help. And he sent to sort things out with the Italian lawyer Eduard Budantsev, who is closely associated with the “M” Department of the FSB of the Russian Federation.

It all ended with a shootout and two employees of the private security company killed by Budantsev. When the Dozhd TV channel was preparing material about the role of Rakishev in this story, its representatives, according to journalists, offered any money, so long as the information did not see the light of day.

“Rain” in its investigation suggested that Rakishev was introduced to Budantsev by Iskander Makhmudov. However, Rosbalt sources suggested that this acquaintance could have had another initiator – billionaire Alisher Usmanov. This circumstance did not escape the attention of Shakro Molodoy himself. When the Italian ended up in a pre-trial detention center and the “debriefing” began, the “thief in law” went to sort things out with Usmanov. Apparently – as an unwitting culprit for the appearance of Budantsev on the “arrow” with the Italian. At least, this is what follows from the indictment against ex-employee of the ICR Mikhail Maksimenko.

As a result of the shootout, when more and more famous names began to emerge in the case, it got to the “very top” control. For a long time, representatives of the TFR, Shakro Molodoy himself and his entourage were monitored, their conversations were tapped. And Denis Nikandrov, a participant in the “backstage games” in the UK, gave detailed testimony.

As a result, this case is literally teeming with the names of the heads of entire departments, oligarchs, State Duma deputies, shady businessmen, etc. In addition, the results of this wiretapping and the materials of the case were regularly “leaked” to the press by someone. The result of such a “drain” was a conversation between the TFR General Mikhail Maksimenko and his deputy Alexander Lamonov. They say that in connection with the story of the shootout at the Elements restaurant, the arrest of Kochuykov, a meeting took place between Zakhary Kalashov and billionaire Alisher Usmanov.

“LA” is Lamonov, “MI” is Maksimenko. They are discussing just the “shooter” of Usmanov and Shakro, on which, in connection with all these events, the latter made serious claims to the billionaire. Alisher Usmanov is forced to make excuses and promises not to do that again.

After this communication between the thief in law and the billionaire, Usmanov’s junior business partner, State Duma deputy Andrey Skoch, urgently joins the situation. Moreover, for him it is a very close topic.

In his youth, he was close to authoritative people from the Solntsevo district of the capital, Kochuikov also belonged to the latter. Skoch was then better known as “Scotch”, but this is so, by the way. And Skoch’s business partner in a number of projects, Oleg Sheykhametov (Sheikh), is generally friendly with the Italian, they were in prison together. Skoch is instructing Sheykhametov to try to redeem Kochuykov. As a result, the Sheikh, separately from Smychkovsky (Smychkovsky handed over a bribe of one million dollars, the money was allegedly given by Usmanov), agrees on the transfer of a bribe of 500 thousand dollars (the money was allegedly given by Skoch). The intermediaries are a former employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Evgeny Surzhikov, and an employee of the TFR, Denis Bogorodetsky.

Bogorodetsky, having handed over the money, asks Maksimenko that in connection with this story the names of Usmanov and Skoch should not “surface”. From all this, we can draw the following conclusion: because of this whole situation with Kochuykov, Shakro Molodoy “hit” Usmanov, he connected Skoch to the settlement of the issue, and Skoch allocated money and sent it to Sheykhametov to bring it in.

The case was quietly hushed up as a result, and Roskomnadzor blocked any mention of it in the press on the claims of Usmanov and Skoch. Kalashov, as already mentioned, went to prison.

But the topic did not disappear – many became interested in the early years of Usmanov, Kalashov and Skoch. It turned out that not only Kalashov and Skoch can boast of criminal nicknames – Shakro Molodoy and Scotch, respectively – but Usmanov in those distant years was better known as Uzbek.

In the databases of members of various organized crime groups, compiled by the services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for combating organized crime in the 90s and early 2000s, the name of Usmanov also turned out to be. It is indicated that he was registered as a person associated with an organized criminal group. Moreover, in the column with which organized criminal group this person is connected, it is indicated – “Solntsevskaya OPS”.

The following reference from these years tells us that Usmanov was not an ordinary member of the Solntsevo organized criminal group. In it, he is already listed as “the authority of the criminal environment”:

Now it becomes clear that all three participants in the story – Kochuykov, Skoch and Usmanov – were caught up in the 90s, when they were part of a close circle of strong guys from the Solntsevo region, headed by Sergei Mikhailov-Mikhas.

Usmanov’s father was the prosecutor of Tashkent – it was a very profitable position in the golden age of cotton affairs and developed socialism. Alisher was sent to Moscow to study and graduated from MGIMO in 1976. The young specialist returned to Uzbekistan and became a junior researcher at the Republican Academy of Sciences. However, something went wrong and in August 1980, Usmanov, along with his friend Nasymov, the son of the deputy chairman of the KGB of the Uzbek SSR, was convicted of fraud, theft and conspiracy to receive bribes for 8 years in prison. Parole took place only in 1986. The prosecutor’s son liked to explain his term with political reasons, exposing himself as a victim of “political repressions”.

Nevertheless, it was the criminal past that helped the formation of Usmanov’s business empire, whose roots go back to the late 80s. In the criminal world, a native of Tashkent received the nickname Uzbek and, according to the newspaper “Version” (dated 06/20/2000), was close to the leader of the Solntsevo group, Sergei Mikhailov (Mikhas). The media also reported that Usmanov also had numerous contacts and intersections with Vyacheslav Ivankov, nicknamed “Japonchik”, Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov, nicknamed “Taivanchik”, Viktor Averin (nicknamed “Avera”), Khozhakhmet Nukhaev, nicknamed “Khozha” , as well as with “native” Uzbek authorities Gafur Rakhimov, nicknamed “Gafur” and Salim Abduvaliev, nicknamed “Salim”, who control the production of drugs in Central Asia and their transportation to Russia and Europe.

So the story of the cleansing of mentions of the names of Usmanov and Shakro Molodoy has clearly deeper roots and much more important reasons than the banal shootout on Rochdelskaya Street and the unwillingness of the now respected businessman to spoil his reputation.