Law enforcement agencies detained the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Oleg Sorokin. Searches are being carried out at his place of residence. State Duma deputy from the Nizhny Novgorod region Alexander Kurdyumov told TASS about this.
"He was detained, searches are being carried out," Kurdyumov said.
We add that Ivan Karnilin, in 2016 as mayor, was caught by the Anti-Corruption Foundation in illegal possession of real estate in Miami. In May 2017, Karnilin was sent into early retirement following an audit of foreign assets.
Sale of land rights to companies of relatives
According to the Investigative Committee, in 2011-2012 the administration of Nizhny Novgorod held auctions to sell the right to conclude agreements on the development of a built-up area in the Nizhny Novgorod region and on the lease of 14 land plots in the region. As a result of the auctions, contracts were concluded with RegionInvest52 LLC and Ingradstroy LLC, affiliated with Oleg Sorokin's close relatives, Interfax recalls.
The investigation studied the circumstances of the conclusion of transactions and the actual participation of the head of the city in the management of commercial organizations. However, during the verification of objective data indicating the commission of unlawful acts by Sorokin, it was not established.
The agency also recalls that on December 1, 2003, an assassination attempt was made on Sorokin when he was a businessman. He was hospitalized with three gunshot wounds in the Bogorodsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region. A year later, vice-speaker of the Nizhny Novgorod parliament Mikhail Dikin, as well as his brother Alexander, the chief of staff of the Prioksky police department of Nizhny Novgorod, were detained for attempted murder. In August 2006, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court sentenced Mikhail Dikin to 16 years in prison, Alexander Dikin to 15 years. In the summer of 2016, Mikhail Dikin was released on parole from the Mordovian colony.
Currently, Sorokin is being interrogated in a case initiated by the Investigative Committee, and only after the interrogation will his procedural status be determined, Interfax reports, citing its sources. Law enforcement agencies have not yet officially commented on Sorokin's detention.
Alexander Khinshtein, adviser to the director of the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops of the Russian Federation, on his Twitter page said that Sorokin's detention was connected with a case initiated in 2013 on commercial bribery for the right to lease 453 hectares in Nizhny Novgorod
In this case, businessman Mansur Sadekov was convicted, who was detained while trying to transfer 30 million rubles. management of CJSC "Vektron", not allowed to participate in the auction. Following Vectron's complaint, the FAS eventually canceled the auction for the right to lease 14 land plots with an area of 453 hectares with the only participant, Ingradstroy LLC.
Sadekov acted as an intermediary in this matter. According to him, he pawned cash in a safe deposit box for the management of Vektron so that it would withdraw the complaint to the FAS, not file lawsuits and not create obstacles to obtaining a land plot. At the same time, Sadekov complained that no one was questioning Sorokin and that he was in the case only as an "unidentified person," according to the local publication "In the city of N." Sorokin himself denied his connection with Sadekov, stating that he was dragging him into the case in order to “get out” with minimal losses. As a result, Sadekov spent four and a half months in Matrosskaya Tishina, pleaded guilty, cooperated with the investigation, and was sentenced to a fine of 307 million rubles. His version that the Nizhny Novgorod mayor was the organizer of the bribe was not confirmed during the investigation, Kommersant reported.
A year and a half later, Ingradstroy LLC against the FAS in the court of cassation received the right to a long-term lease of 453 hectares in the Sovetsky district of Nizhny Novgorod for complex housing development and the construction of engineering infrastructure.
Prior to his entry into politics, Sorokin was engaged in the construction business. In 1998-1999, Sorokin was the general director of the Start plant, in 1999-2001, he was the deputy director for finance of the state institution Road Fund of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. In 2003, he founded the Stolitsa Nizhny group of companies, which specializes in the construction of housing and shopping centers.
In 2005, he became a member of the regional parliament, where he headed the commission for construction and architecture, and in October 2010 he was elected mayor of Nizhny Novgorod.
In 2014, when Sorokin was the mayor of Nizhny Novgorod, the Investigative Committee already checked him for involvement in illegal participation in business activities, RBC-Nizhny Novgorod.
The TFR suspected that RegionInvest52 LLC and Ingradstroy LLC, affiliated with close relatives of the mayor, illegally received contracts for the lease of 14 land plots, as well as for the development of a built-up quarter of 2 hectares on the street. Ilinskaya and pl. Gorky in the center of Nizhny Novgorod.
The check of the TFR was preceded by checks and searches of the companies Stolitsa Nizhny and Start-Stroy, controlled by Sorokin's wife Elada Nagornaya, but in February 2013 the criminal case was dismissed due to the lack of corpus delicti.
Based on the results of the TFR check, no procedural decisions were made, and Sorokin served as mayor until the fall of 2015. In 2016, he was elected to the Regional Legislative Assembly.
Arrested on charges of taking a bribe "in the form of illegal provision of services of a property nature." The deputies call the ex-mayor of Nizhny Novgorod "entrepreneur number one", and his wife, who manages the family business, became the richest of the wives of Russian officials in 2012 with an earnings of 1.5 billion rubles. Political scientists link the criminal prosecution of Oleg Sorokin with the efforts of the presidential envoy in the Volga Federal District (VFD) Mikhail Babich to strengthen the positions of the interim governor Gleb Nikitina .
“Mr. Nikitin has the power and political support of the embassy, which actively helps him as a young politician. For each well-known player in the Nizhny Novgorod region, a folder has been opened, which is taken out at the right time. We saw this in the case of Vadim Bulavinov and the former leadership of Nizhny Novgorod. As for Oleg Sorokin, where there is big business, big claims inevitably arise,” says political scientist Valentina Buzmakova. The head of the political expert group, Konstantin Kalachev, also did not rule out the “influence of the embassy” in the vice-speaker’s case, but noted that in relation to Mr. Sorokin, “Sadekov’s case is not the only thing that could be found and proved.” Political scientist Alexander Kynev noted that Oleg Sorokin, who, along with the governor, was a key politician in the region, "is a unique case of political vitality." “Despite a lot of compromising evidence on him, for many years this did not lead to any consequences,” the political scientist noted. “Sorokin, obviously, had extensive connections in Moscow, which, probably, have now weakened. And the acting head received carte blanche, incomparable with what Shantsev had.
The stories of famous people are inspiring. Sometimes they allow you to look at a specific life situation from a different angle, and sometimes just understand some common truths. Everyone finds something for themselves in such a story.
Who are we talking about?
In the article we will talk about Oleg Sorokin, a well-known deputy and businessman, who is an important person in Russia. We will consider biographical information from the life of a man, learn about his family, and also try to understand the most high-profile scandals associated with his name. Where to begin? Perhaps from a brief acquaintance.
Biography
The hero of our article was born in 1967, on November 15th. He grew up in an ordinary family, but he was never an ordinary child. In appearance, the boy almost did not stand out, but he carried in himself big plans, which he was going to achieve at any cost. He began putting them into action immediately after school, when he entered the Nizhny Novgorod Commercial Institute. Needless to say, he later graduated with honors? At the moment, the man is not only a businessman, but also a deputy. In parallel with this, he runs a company called Nizhny Capital. He is distinguished by an active life position, direct participation in the life of the city and big plans for the future.
Own company
In 2003, Oleg Valentinovich Sorokin created the Nizhny Capital company. This is his brainchild, which he planned for many years. The company specializes in the construction of residential buildings and large shopping centers. The man opens his own TV channel, on which, of course, he actively promotes the services of the above-named company.
At the same time, in the city, on the site of the canteen, which belonged to the Start plant, active construction began. It turned out that this company of Oleg Sorokin is building a huge shopping center called "Etazhi", which would meet all modern European standards. A little later, a large office building "Capital Nizhny" was erected. In 2005, between the Moscow railway station in Nizhny Novgorod and the Central department store, that is, on Revolution Square, the Respublika shopping center was erected.
In 2006, the man started a huge project, which has not yet been in the history of the city. He decided to build a large residential complex and began to bring this idea to life in the same year. The residential complex "Seventh Heaven" was called. Interestingly, it consisted of 18 skyscrapers, which were surrounded by Meshchersky Lake and the embankment of the Volga River. Successful location, which combines not only domestic issues (traffic interchange and proximity to the center), but also the issue of aesthetics. This made the residential complex incredibly popular, and very quickly all the apartments in it were sold out. The project was global, so even with the active pace of construction and development, it took time. As a result, in 2012, people were able to move into their new apartments.
It must be understood that Oleg Sorokin is not one of those people who fully devote themselves to only one project. During the development of the Seventh Heaven residential complex, he was already thinking about a new idea. In 2007, he decided to build a shopping mall called Fantastica. A little later, a huge Real hypermarket opened in the city. However, this hypermarket, by mutual agreement, was subsequently bought from Oleg Sorokin by the Auchan company.
Elada Lvovna Nagornaya - the wife of the hero of the article - began to manage her husband's business after he was elected to the post of city head. People knew who they were voting for and wanted the city to be ruled by a man who had already done so much for him and was clearly not going to stop. So, Oleg Sorokin is the mayor of Nizhny Novgorod, and his wife Elada is the head of the family business.
In 2012, a man thinks about the largest project, namely the creation of the Tsvety residential complex, which would become the largest not only in the city, but also in the region. Construction began in autumn 2012. I would like to say that according to the plan it consisted of 26 houses. At the same time, special attention was paid to the creation and development of underground infrastructure.
When the foundation was laid, Oleg Valentinovich Sorokin decided to build a supermarket near the residential complex "Seventh Heaven" and quickly made this desire a reality. Already by 2015, the businessman was able to present to the townspeople a new shopping center "Firebird", which is located on Sovietskaya Square. In the spring of 2016, construction began on a residential complex called "Aquamarine" (Leninsky district of the city).
assassination attempt
Oleg Sorokin loves Nizhny Novgorod very much, because this is his hometown. Residents also support the man in all endeavors and rejoice that there is such a capable person who is ready to take care of the interests of everyone. However, not everyone wants to share Oleg's joy. We will not hide the fact that he launched his activities very actively, so he immediately became a competitor for someone. Of course, we all do not wish harm to people in principle, however, in some situations, the benefit and the desire to win overshadow human impulses. This happened to those whom Oleg annoyed.
In the winter of 2003, there was an assassination attempt on him. It happened on the highway Nizhny Novgorod - Kasimov. Oleg Sorokin, whose biography we reviewed, was driving in his car on business. Suddenly, the car started firing. Not expecting such a sudden attack, Oleg was in shock. As a result, he received three bullets in the body, and then he had to undergo many operations until he was able to get back on his feet.
Later, the court found that the attackers were police lieutenant colonel A. Dikin and vice-speaker of the legislative assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod region M. Dikin (two brothers).
Oleg Sorokin: personal life
The man is married to the daughter of the director of the Central Department Store, Elada. Also, the woman's father is the director of the advertising and marketing department at the Nizhny Capital company and the honorary consul of Hungary in the city.
According to estimates for 2013, Elada Lvovna took the top of the ranking of the richest wives of officials. In one year, she earned 1.5 billion rubles. It is known that in 2015 a woman became the owner of a controlling stake in OAO Semenovskaya Khokhloma Painting.
The children of Oleg Sorokin are a separate issue. The couple had 2 boys and a girl: Danil, Nikita and Elizaveta. The girl was baptized by Pavel Astakhov and Yulia Anufrieva (a well-known lawyer). Baptism took place in 2016, June 4th. Son Nikita, who was born in 1992, became a deputy of the Legislative Assembly in the Nizhny Novgorod region in 2016.
Mayor
Oleg Sorokin was elected mayor of the city in October 2010 at one of the meetings of the city Duma. At the new post, the man replaced V. Bulavinov. Of the 42 votes, 28 were in favor of Sorokin's candidacy.
Conflict
The conflict happened in 2015, when the term of Oleg's presence in the position was coming to an end. Naturally, the edge was the question of who to elect next. Valery Shantsev, who at that time was the governor of the region, actively promoted the candidacy of his close friend D. Svatkovsky. There was no particular goal in this, but Shantsev would have received certain benefits if a person familiar with the regional government had been in the post of the city. The conflict between the governor and Sorokin was that the latter categorically did not support Svatkovsky. As a result, I. Karnilin was elected to the post of the head of the city. This small conflict episode was described in the local newspaper Stolitsa Nizhny.
Movies
In the fall of 2015, in the Vesti Nedeli program hosted by Dmitry Kiselev, a short video dedicated to Sorokin was shown on the Russia-1 channel. In November of the same year, a documentary film directed by A. Mamontov entitled "The Golden Calf" was released on the same channel. It showed a story about how Oleg Sorokin worked as mayor. It was told about global construction, which brought a lot of problems to the city. We are talking about the fact that communications in residential complexes were built not at the expense of the company, but at the expense of the money of the city residents. It should be noted that after the start of construction, housing prices immediately jumped.
Video material was shown, which was filmed secretly in French Cannes. On it, Oleg pays the taxi driver, waiting for landing at the airport.
Opinions
In 2013, one of the deputies of the State Duma, D. Gudkov, decided to send a request to the Prosecutor General so that he would pay attention to the actions of the Prosecutor's Office of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, which concealed some facts. He believed that some of the firms to which Sorokin issues land are associated with his business structures. A little later, after the check, which was taken up by the regional prosecutor's office, this was indeed proved. There were facts, but there were no actions on the part of the prosecutor's office.
In the summer of 2013, some deputies who were members of the city Duma petitioned for Sorokin to be removed from the post of mayor. The reason was the active usurpation of power, as well as the adoption of a number of decisions that only harm Nizhny Novgorod and its residents. The impetus for action was the fact that Sorokin, beloved by many, decided to turn Kulibin Park into a transport infrastructure zone. And all due to the fact that the new building, which was engaged in the company of Oleg Valentinovich, did not have enough territory for parking.
In the summer of 2013, a rally "Sorokin to resign" was held in the city. The reason for the meeting was the beginning of active development of the city territory with residential complexes and shopping centers, which is constantly increasing momentum. At the same time, the territory of ordinary residents was often confiscated under various pretexts. Most often, they bought it out and paid money, but it was impossible to completely refuse to sell their land.
In the winter of 2015, a new petition appeared, which still demanded the resignation of Oleg Valentinovich. It was also required to demolish its buildings in order to restore historical values and cultural appearance. The petition focused on removing all souvenir shops and stalls from the Kremlin.
Charity
Charity is not alien to the hero of our article. It is known that in the winter of 2015, a man donated money from his own funds to buy about 8 tons of food, which were later sent to the south-eastern part of Ukraine as a humanitarian aid. It was a kind of help to people from Donbass who found themselves in a difficult situation.
It would seem that God knows what an event, especially against the background of the sentence to the former federal minister for a bribe twice as much. But Sorokin not just a provincial deputy - this is the former mayor of Nizhny Novgorod, in fact the owner of the city, whose wife in 2013 with an income of 1.5 billion rubles. officially became the richest among the wives of Russian officials.
Business went up
Oleg Sorokin in 1987, having served in the army, went to the co-operators: he made souvenirs and “cooked” jeans. For a long time he was engaged in, according to him, "buying and selling." And in 1998, he received the ownership of the defense plant "Start", on the site of which a shopping center now flaunts. This marked the beginning of Sorokin's business empire. In 2003, he founded the Stolitsa Nizhny group of companies, the largest development holding in the region. After 2 years, he became a deputy of the City Duma and headed the commission for city development, construction and architecture. That is, the chief urban planner got the opportunity to seek the allocation of tasty plots of land for development. In 2010, he again became a deputy, but now he has been elected head of Nizhny Novgorod. At the same time, Sorokin Mayor acted as chairman of the City Duma. In 2016, the term of office of the mayor expired, and Sorokin was satisfied with the position of vice speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the region. According to unofficial data, in order to secure at least half of the supporters in parliament, the ex-mayor spent 2 billion rubles on the election campaign.
At the same time, he actually continued to control the market for the sale of land in the city, the construction of shopping and entertainment centers and housing. Because, after Sorokin took the mayor's chair, the management of the giant business passed to his wife Elade Upland. By the way, in addition to a bunch of beautiful positions in family business structures, she also received the title of Honorary Consul of Hungary in Nizhny Novgorod.
In 2013, the media reported that the mayor's wife owns two luxury villas on the French Riviera, as well as 7 land plots in Nizhny Novgorod. Expensive cars, a yacht, an airplane are supposedly also available, not to mention luxurious apartments and mansions. In 2015, the Russia-1 channel showed a documentary in which Sorokin was reminded of the demolition of historical buildings, rising housing prices, preferences for his construction business, etc. But then he got away with it all.
In November of this year, Sorokin celebrated his 50th birthday on a grand scale. Not only the entire city beau monde hurried to pay their respects - there were also capital stars. Former children's ombudsman, lawyer noted at the party Pavel Astakhov(he is the godfather of Sorokin's youngest daughter Lisa), TV presenters Dmitry Dibrov and Arina Sharapova, singers Nadezhda Babkina and Natalia Podolskaya, musician Vladimir Presnyakov. They say that the former governor of the region also looked at the holiday Valery Shantsev who "spoke sincere words" to the hero of the day.
Super!!! Elada Nagornaya, her husband Oleg Sorokin and Nadezhda Babkina. pic.twitter.com/bW9nLvmaav
— Petr Nikolaevich (@petrogurcov) December 21, 2016
4.5 million sq. m
What was wrong with such a sincere person, since he was detained on the night of December 19? According to his lawyer Sergei Lebedev- nothing. “Feeling guilty, Sorokin would not have returned from a recent trip to Cannes, but would have lived there and sent greetings to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Investigative Committee,” the defender believes. But during a search in Sorokin's house (on the territory - two saunas, a hammam, a gym, a cinema, a separate room for a dog) they found 1.5 billion rubles. in cash.
The plot of the case against the ex-mayor concerns the events of 2012-2013, when the Ingradstroy company, as the only participant in the auction, received 14 plots with a total area of 4.5 million square meters at the auction of the Ministry of Property. m. Now on these lands the residential complex "Novaya Kuznechikha" is being built and apartments are already being sold. To participate in the auction, Ingradstroy received loans from the company Stolitsa Nizhny (60% of the authorized capital belongs to Sorokin's wife). The results of the auction in the Federal Antimonopoly Service and arbitration courts were challenged by the Moscow ZAO Vektron. In 2013, Sorokin's friend, a businessman, was arrested Mansur Sadekov for the fact that he asked his relative to lay over 30 million rubles in a bank cell. to bribe the management of Vectron. When Sadekov ended up in Matrosskaya Tishina, he addressed an open letter to V. Putin, saying that he acted on behalf of Sorokin, and the contested land was sold at a price that was at least 10 times lower. In 2014, Sadekov was sentenced to a fine of 307 million rubles, but this story did not touch Sorokin himself at that time. Now the TFR has decided that the ex-mayor is still involved in it.
"Threatened with an axe"
By the way, Sorokin is already a defendant in another criminal case initiated in August 2017 - “abduction of a person by a group of persons by prior agreement” and “abuse of official powers with the use of violence”. Another noteworthy detail: in 2003, an attempt was made on his life. The result - three bullet wounds and several operations.
Another detective story that happened in 2004 may backfire on him. Alexandra Novosyolova unknown persons abducted him in the center of the city and took him to the forest, where he was severely beaten. During the execution, the man, whom the victim recognized as Sorokin, “asked to get an ax out of the trunk to cut off his leg.” Then he forced the victim to say the prepared text on camera. Allegedly, Novoselov knew that the then Deputy Speaker of the Regional Legislative Assembly Mikhail Dikin along with his brother militia lieutenant colonel Alexander Dikin organized an assassination attempt on Sorokin. Novoselov then turned to the prosecutor's office, but he was refused to initiate a case. The scene in the forest was called "an investigative experiment", and the man who threatened with an ax was called "an employee disguised as O. V. Sorokin."
Charges were built on Novoselov's testimony, and the Dikin brothers received 15 and 16 years in prison. In 2016, they were released on parole. And Novoselov appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, which confirmed that torture had taken place, and awarded him compensation from the state - 7.5 thousand euros. A case has been opened, in which two former policemen are accused so far. And during the last pre-investigation check, the FSB expert pointed out that on the video recorded in the forest by Novoselov's kidnappers, a voice belonging to Oleg Sorokin is heard.
By the way
Verdict in the case ex-governor of the Sakhalin region Alexandra Khoroshavina will be announced on January 22, 2018. According to the investigation, the former official, together with accomplices, received more than 522 million rubles in bribes over 6 years. He himself pleads not guilty. The prosecutor demanded for Khoroshavin 13 years in a strict regime colony with a fine of 500 million rubles.
And on December 19, the trial began former head of Komi Vyacheslav Gaiser. He is accused of leading a criminal community, whose members were current officials and representatives of the regional business elite. The damage from their activities is estimated at 1 billion rubles. In total, 467 volumes of the case have been collected, only the indictment occupies 21 volumes. Advocate Vyacheslav Leontiev believes that the court will deal with this complicated case for at least a year.