The former owner of Uralchem ​​bought a plot of land in Barvikha from Ildar Samiev through an offshore company; while he was a State Duma deputy, he hid the fact that he was a beneficiary

Mazepin, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, then said that to purchase the plot, he turned to his acquaintance Alexander Surin, through whose Cypriot offshore the transaction was carried out. “Accordingly, the offshore company, which was the seller of the land plot, was nominal,” the prosecutor said in the Odintsovo court. “It turns out that in fact Mazepin acquired [участок] from former State Duma deputy Ildar Samiev, who hid the fact that he was the ultimate beneficiary,” said a representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office. RBC sent a request to Dmitry Mazepin’s representative.

The case materials contain purchase and sale agreements concluded by Samiev’s father, his sister, and the Samiev spouses. “This is an example of an illustration of the fact that all family ties were involved in the sale of the site,” noted a representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office. The ex-deputy was not involved in the case of alienation of the sanatorium lands, but his parents, Rosa and Rafik Samiev, are indicated as third parties in the case file. The ex-deputy was declared bankrupt in 2021.

The entrepreneur was also interviewed in the criminal case Dmitry Smychkovsky and several other officials – former employees of the Presidential Administration. From Smychkovsky’s explanations, the prosecutor’s office concluded that all foreign companies taking part in the deal were nominal – none of them carried out real activities. “Companies were created on offshore territory to avoid disclosing information about owners, and this is also a good mechanism for removing property from the territory of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country),” said a representative of the supervisory agency.

Smychkovsky in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) is accused of giving a bribe of $1 million to officers of the Investigative Committee, including the former head of the Main Investigation Department for Moscow Alexander Drymanov, for the release from the pre-trial detention center of criminal authority Andrei Kochuykov (known by the nickname Italian). Britain in 2019 refused to extradite him at Moscow’s request.

Representatives of the defendants at the meeting opposed the addition of the criminal case materials to the trial materials. The judge did not grant the prosecutor’s request for inclusion, but decided to bring them into compliance and re-submit them.

Representatives of the defendants also raised objections to the lawsuit itself, calling its demands a revision of privatization standards and contracts concluded and executed in good faith. They noted that in the statement of claim, the Prosecutor General’s Office points to the illegal seizure of state property 99 hectares of Barvikha territory. At the same time, in the end, only persons associated with specific 13 plots with a total area of ​​8.02 hectares, which are located in different parts of the lands that were previously assigned to the former sanatorium, were involved in the case, representatives of the parties indicated in court.

They also drew the judge’s attention to the fact that the reasons why these particular territories are being demanded to be returned to state ownership are not clear. In their opinion, if the claim is satisfied, the prosecutor’s office will be obliged to demand the seizure of land from other owners.

What is the essence of the claim of the Prosecutor General’s Office against the owners of plots on the lands of the sanatorium

In mid-March, RBC reported that the Odintsovo court in the Moscow region began hearings on the claim of the Prosecutor General’s Office concerning the territories that were previously used by the Barvikha sanatorium. The defendants in the claim of the Prosecutor General’s Office are the international commercial company Kensway Limited, registered in the state of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as six individuals: ex-owner of Uralchem ​​Dmitry Mazepin, chairman of the supervisory board of Sistema Bank Alexey Bogachev, wife of restaurateur Arkady Novikova Nadezhda Advokatova, mother co-founder of Mercury Zoya Strunina, Ekaterina Dzhanashia (the plot was bought by her husband, a developer Mikhail Khubutia) and businessman Valery Goldyshev.

A representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office said at a meeting on Thursday that the department saw “corruption and a conflict of interest” in the actions of the participants in the deal.

The plots were acquired by them in 2013–2022. 28 third parties were involved in the consideration of the case, including the Ministry of Finance, the government of the Moscow region, the Presidential Administration, the Ministry of Property Relations, the administration of the Odintsovo city district, the Federal Agency for State Property Management, the Rosreestr office for the Moscow region, the Barvikha sanatorium, several foreign companies and Russian citizens.

A source familiar with the details of the case explained to RBC that the Prosecutor General’s Office demands the seizure of 13 land plots in the village of Barvikha and the village of Zhukovka. The area of ​​individual plots ranges from 30 acres to 2 hectares. For example, the prosecutor’s office demands the confiscation of a plot of 1.35 hectares from Dmitry Mazepin, about 1.4 hectares from Bogachev, and two plots of 2.1 hectares and 8.3 acres from businessman Gordyshev. The department is asking Ekaterina Janashia to reclaim three plots of land – two of 30 acres and one of 37 acres.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, in 2001, 99 hectares of the Barvikha territory were illegally seized from state property by the Presidential Administration and institutions under his control. The forest plot was taken out of federal ownership, transferred to a private investor and designated for individual residential development, “covering these actions” with the need to implement an investment project – the reconstruction of the Meyendorff estate. Its implementation was to be carried out by the Country-Pro company, which subsequently began “dividing the land” for the purpose of subsequent sale under construction of housesthe department stated.

Earlier, RBC reported that objections to the claim of the Prosecutor General’s Office from one of the third parties indicate that the plaintiff’s arguments are erroneous and contradict the circumstances of the case. The legality of the deal is confirmed, in particular, by the governor’s decree signed in 2001 Gromova about the refusal of the sanatorium from a plot of 99 hectares and documents confirming this decision, signed by the administrative authorities of the Odintsovo district. According to the same resolution, the Ministry of Property Relations of the Moscow Region signed a purchase and sale agreement for this plot with Country-Pro LLC.

The objections to the claim also draw attention to the fact that at that time the decisions of the administrative bodies of the Odintsovo district and the authorities of the Moscow region complied with the requirements of the current legislation. And the goal of the investment agreement – the reconstruction of Meyendorff Castle and the territories of the multifunctional complex of the Presidential Administration for holding international meetings and negotiations – was achieved. Meyendorff Castle and its territory have the status of the state residence of the President of Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism).

The materials of one of the third parties also indicate that the Administrative Office and the Barvikha sanatorium did not lose their assets: “The disposal of land plots was proportionately compensated by the improvement of the remaining territory and the creation of the Barvikha state residence on the basis of the restored Meyendorff castle.” This was an exchange of ineffective property (unused land plots) for another (the Barvikha state residence), the document notes: the land buyers, under an agreement, freed the territory of Meyendorff Castle from workshops, garages and private gardens; They made a fence around the perimeter of the estate, landscaped the territory of the park of the Barvikha sanatorium, reclaimed the landfill, repaired the bridge, carried out sanitary cleaning of the forest and removed forest debris. They also built a chapel and fenced off a war memorial.