Father of Hellas on the Mountain. Face Mayors of United Russia: Cannes Villa La Croix des Gardes

Oleg Sorokin is a major domestic businessman who was involved in parliamentary activities. At one time he was the vice-chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod region, he led himself. He is currently in custody on charges of taking a bribe.

Biography of the politician

Oleg Sorokin was born in 1967. He was born in Nizhny Novgorod, the city was then called Gorky.

He received his higher education at a local commercial institute. He made a career in private entrepreneurship. In 2001, he headed the urban planning company Stolitsa Nizhny.

He was also deputy director for finance at the territorial road fund of the Nizhny Novgorod region.

Building bussiness

Sorokin Oleg Valentinovich specialized in the construction of residential buildings, as well as large business centers and shopping and entertainment complexes.

In 2003, through his efforts, a modern center European-level entertainment called "Floors". Over time, a business center arose, which was called “Capital Nizhny”.

In 2006, Oleg Sorokin began building the largest residential complex of multi-storey buildings at that time, “Seventh Heaven”. 18 houses were designed not far from the Volga embankment. The project was completed by 2012.

Since 2007, the Fantastica shopping complex was built, which was bought by the Auchan company in 2013.

After Oleg Sorokin became mayor, management of his business empire passed to his wife. She had already launched the construction of a residential complex, which received beautiful name"Flowers" in 2012, opened the "Seventh Heaven" shopping center, which opened near the residential complex of the same name.

Among the major projects recent years It is worth noting the beginning of the construction of the Aquamarine residential complex, the construction of a house on Freedom Square, and a restaurant on the Volzhskaya Embankment.

At the very beginning, Oleg Valentinovich Sorokin’s business career was risky. In 2003, he was almost killed during an assassination attempt. A businessman was shot at in a car. Sorokin received three bullet wounds and underwent several emergency surgeries.

A trial was held, which recognized that the organizers of the attack were police lieutenant colonel Alexander Dikin and his brother Mikhail, who at that time was the vice speaker of the regional parliament.

Mayor of Nizhny Novgorod

In 2010, Oleg Sorokin, whose photo is in this article, won the election for mayor of Nizhny Novgorod. He was supported by 28 out of 42 deputies. In this post, he replaced Vadim Bulavinov.

Sorokin's work as mayor was associated with numerous scandals. Stories about his activities were repeatedly broadcast on federal channels. In particular, the Rossiya 1 channel filmed a whole documentary the author of which was Arkady Mamontov. One of the stories was dedicated to the biography of Oleg Sorokin. It was alleged that after he became mayor, large-scale construction began in the city. Historical buildings were demolished for the sake of residential complexes built by the mayor's wife.

At the same time, numerous violations were committed during construction. For example, communications were laid not at the expense of the developer, but with money from the city budget. As a result, the treasury suffered serious damage. The same film featured hidden camera footage of Sorokin spending a weekend in Cannes.

Conflict with the governor

In 2015, at the end of his term, Sorokin came into conflict with Valery Shantsev, who held this post for ten years.

Shantsev planned to appoint Dmitry Svatkovsky, who was close to regional government. Sorokin openly opposed this candidacy and did everything to prevent it from passing.

As a result, Ivan Karnilin became new.

Personal life

Oleg Sorokin and his family have appeared on the pages of funds more than once mass media. His wife's name is Elada Lvovna Nagornaya. She is the daughter of the head of the city's Central Department Store. After her husband went into politics, she is the director of the construction department at the urban planning company Stolitsa Nizhny. He has many public positions. For example, Nagornaya is the honorary consul of Hungary in Nizhny Novgorod.

According to journalists, in 2013 she became the richest wife of a Russian official. Her annual income alone was estimated at one and a half billion rubles. Since 2015, co-owner of the limited liability company "Semyonovskaya Khokhloma Painting".

The hero of our article has three children. These are two sons, whose names are Danila and Nikita, and a daughter Elizaveta. Celebrities, including officials, often communicate with the Sorokin family federal level. For example, Godfather Elizabeth - who at that time was the Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights.

Currently, his son Nikita, who is 25 years old, most often appears in the public space. He is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. In 2016 he became a member of the regional parliament.

Sorokin's arrest

It came as a surprise to many when on December 18, 2017, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Sorokin. He was accused of causing significant property damage by deception. According to investigators, Sorokin received a bribe while he was mayor.

As a result, 14 land plots were intended for housing construction. During a search in his private home, investigators found one and a half billion rubles in cash. At that time, the hero of our article was the vice-speaker of the regional parliament.

On February 19, the Nizhny Novgorod district court decided to take Sorokin into custody pending trial. He will remain in the pre-trial detention center until at least February 17.

First money. Once, when I was still at school, I saw earrings in a store - gold, with cubic zirconia. They cost a lot of money - as much as a hundred rubles. I asked my grandmother to buy them for me, and she said: “And you earn money.” For a whole month I collected crops in the garden, took them to the market... But with what joy I then wore those gold earrings! I only got new ones a few years later - my future husband gave them to me.

My universities. From the age of seven, I was trusted with housework - cleaning, cooking, washing, because mom and dad were at work from morning to evening. They will give me three rubles, and I need to calculate them so that there is enough for everything. Sometimes it was even possible to save money, and then there was money left over for personal expenses: first for ice cream, soda, then for the first stockings and lipstick.

First business. I opened my first independent business, a representative office of the Valentin Yudashkin Fashion House in Nizhny Novgorod, when I was only twenty-four years old. Later I asked Valentin how he was not afraid to entrust such a responsible job to a young girl. And he replied: “You were so confident in yourself that I didn’t even doubt that you could handle it.”

Woman in business. Every morning I transform from an ordinary woman into a businessman. When I leave the house, I’m still a woman, when I get into the car, I’m a woman, when I come to work, I’m a woman, but as soon as I cross the threshold of my office, I immediately become a businessman. And exactly the opposite happens in the evening. There is no other way: male colleagues will respect you only if they see you as a tough professional. And by the way, I noticed that women are much more better than men know how to say: “No.”

Hard temper. I feel how my character has changed: I have become tougher, more categorical, but this is a business requirement - you won’t get far on female charm alone. With experience you understand that success requires a strict management system. Unfortunately, when you want to be soft and flexible, the result immediately suffers. But, of course, it is not easy for a woman to be a stern leader, because if a man shows character, then he - a real man, and if it’s a woman, then she’s immediately a bitch.

Success rate. How successful a person is can only be judged over time. If something worked out a couple of times, this is not yet an indicator of success, because you need to constantly move forward. In one word, success for me is stability.

Family and business. I couldn't separate my business and personal life. Almost always, my husband and I ran a business together, and since we were sorely short of time at work, we had to resolve work issues at home. But, you know, it’s even more productive: why wait a week for a solution to the issue when everything can be discussed in the evening over dinner.

The shift is growing. My eldest son wanted to open his own business, he even drew up a business plan, calculated the efficiency... My husband and I were pleasantly surprised at how professionally he did it. But, as adults and experienced people, we understand that it is too early for him to sail independently. Therefore, Nikita is now working in our company, and he has already had positive results.

First lady. When my husband became the head of the city, the only thing that changed in my life was that now I have to take part in official events. This is quite difficult for me, because I am not a protocol person; it is more important for me to be in harmony with myself, and not with the protocol.

About friends. I easily let new people into my life, I like to communicate and make interesting acquaintances. But still, my main and closest friends are those who have been with me almost since childhood. We've been through so much together, I trust them one hundred percent.

Beautiful business. Now my business is related to fashion and beauty - we open and develop shopping centers, we promote the world's best fashion brands, organize charity events, publish a magazine and television program Bellissimo, support talented children, young Nizhny Novgorod designers and models... This is no coincidence. Firstly, unfortunately, there are not many similar projects in our city yet. And also, probably, this is nostalgia for my work with Valentin Yudashkin, because even then I realized that fashion is exactly what I want to do all my life.

To the world level. When I travel abroad, I am always upset that the name of our city is still little known to foreigners. But we have something to be proud of - traditions, culture, people! Now my candidacy has been nominated for the post of Honorary Consul of Hungary in Nizhny Novgorod. I hope that with my work I will be able to make our city even more open to the world.

Don't imitate anyone. I have no role models - neither in life nor in business. Even in the way I dress, I don’t want to be like anyone else. Certainly,
I look fashion magazines, but I will never copy the picture. Even if I buy a trendy item, I will still wear it in my own way.

This week an honorary consulate of Hungary opened in Nizhny Novgorod. Elada Nagornaya, a top manager of the Stolitsa Nizhny group of companies, and also the wife of the city mayor Oleg Sorokin, became the honorary consul.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Hungary to the Russian Federation Jstvan Idyarto, Governor Valery Shantsev, the mayor of the city Oleg Sorokin and the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Malov.

Upon arrival at the event, Valery Pavlinovich immediately presented Elada Lvovna with a luxurious bouquet of flowers and wished her success.

We will promote this direction because we want Nizhny Novgorod and the Nizhny Novgorod region to be known throughout the world. This will contribute to the development of business ties, as well as ties in the humanitarian sectors,” noted the governor, who was in excellent spirits.

By the way, a Swedish consulate will soon be opened in Nizhny Novgorod; this will be the ninth such institution in the city. According to the head of the region, a consular patent on the appointment has already been signed general director GAZ Group Bo Inge Andersson for the post of Honorary Consul of Sweden in Nizhny Novgorod.

Fashion houses

and visa-free regime

Ambassador of Hungary Jstvan Idyarto expressed his joy at the opening of the consulate.

My colleagues and I are very glad that Elada Nagornaya is helping us restore very important connections that have been missing for too long. Now it is very important to establish bilateral cultural relations, we really support this process. It is very important to establish tourist connections.

The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Sergei Malov, drew the public’s attention to the fact that Elada Lvovna is generally the only woman in such a responsible position.

Elada! “You will definitely become a consul of goodness and beauty,” said Sergei Geraldovich, addressing the hero of the occasion. After which he was happy for the Nizhny Novgorod fashionistas and fashionistas:

Now fashion houses with new European trends will appear in our city. Good luck with that.

At the end of his emotional speech, Mr. Malov confirmed that a direct flight Nizhny Novgorod - Budapest will soon appear.

In connection with the opening of the consulate, it will be easier to obtain a visa to this country, and in the future everything will come down to a visa-free regime.

Elada Lvovna Nagornaya greeted the guests
at the Honorary Consulate of Hungary at all times
popular among men as a Barbie doll

The rhinestones on the first lady's heels spoke
almost more about his mistress,
than official speeches of guests

“All so airy...”

Elada Lvovna herself, as befits socialite, was more silent, smiling charmingly at her guests. The guests certainly noticed how carefully the toilet of the first lady of Nizhny was thought out.

The pink dress I’m wearing right now is from the Valentino collection,” Elada Lvovna told reporters from “Cities and Citizens.” - Shoes with rhinestones on heels - from the Prada collection.

The look was complemented by beautiful accessories in the form of small diamond earrings and a watch that matched the color of her dress.

When the men's conversations became completely boring, Oleg Sorokin's wife barely
with noticeable sadness she looked at the expensive, but probably disgusting, gold jewelry

Bonuses and preferences

IN Lately The institution of honorary consulate is becoming more and more in demand. Moreover, just as the Russian Federation appoints its honorary consuls in foreign countries, it also hosts them. According to Chapter III According to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963, an honorary consul has a number of bonuses and preferences. Here are just a few of them:

Russia, as the receiving state, is obliged to provide the honorary consul with such protection as may be required in connection with his official position.

The Honorary Consul enjoys immunity from criminal, civil and administrative jurisdiction Russian Federation in relation to his official activities.

An honorary consul may not be detained or arrested except in the event of prosecution for committing felony or execution of a court verdict that has entered into legal force.

The Honorary Consul is exempt from all taxes, fees and duties on remuneration and wages which he receives from the sending state for the performance of consular functions.

Since the vehicle of the honorary consul, in accordance with international practice, is considered to be the territory of the consular post, the flag of the sending state can be installed on it, and the use of special registration numbers is also provided (red color, 900 series, special letter series).

Olga BECHTOLD,
Ilya MOROZOV

Nagornaya is the daughter of the director of the Central Department Store, according to official information. Her mother, Elena Nagornaya- CEO of a company that manages a shopping center"Floors". Elada Nagornayamarried Sorokin in 1990, immediately after graduating from school. In the same year, Nagornaya entered the economics department of the Moscow Commercial Institute. Now it is called the Russian Economic University. G. V. Plekhanov.

The website “Encyclopedia of Nizhny Novgorod” reports:that Nagornaya started labor activity in 1990 as an accountantInformation and computing center of the trade department of the Gorky executive committee. Thus, she combined her studies in Moscow with work in the region.

In 1996, according to official biography, Sorokin and Nagornaya created the commercial enterprise Broster. There is no data about such a company in the Spark Interfax service. In 1998, Sorokin became director of a large plant"Start". ABOUT n was listed on the board of directors at the time of inclusion as individual entrepreneur. The Mediazona publication writes that the future deputy chairman of the Legislative Assembly bought several stalls in Nizhny Novgorod, where he sold cigarettes. Before that, he worked in a cooperative, the name of which is not disclosed in Sorokin’s official biography.

From 1999 to 2001, Sorokin first held the position of deputy director for finance of the State Institution “Road Fund of the Nizhny Novgorod Region”, and then was promoted. According to The Moscow Post, Sorokin received the position of finance director after his boss Victor Erikov drowned while on vacation. In 2000, the first deputy director of the Dorfond died in a traffic accident Nikolay Kuznetsov, and then the head of the organization - Alexander Glazov. At that time, Nagornaya opened a representative office of the fashion house Valentina Yudashkina.

In 2003, Sorokin founded the largest construction company in the region, Stolitsa Nizhny. After the bankruptcy of Start, the Etazhi shopping center appeared on the territory of the plant. And in the workshops of the enterprise there were trading hangars for “Sportmaster” and “M-Video”. The developer of "Floors" is "Capital Nizhny".

Same year Sorokin's car was shot at by unknown assailants, the businessman was injured. The brothers were found guilty of organizing the assassination attempt Dikins - Mikhail And Alexandra. The first is a former deputy chairman of the Legislative Assembly, the second is a police lieutenant colonel.

According to Sorokin and the investigation, Mikhail Dikin decided to appropriate the share of the future deputy chairman of the Legislative Assembly in the assets of Start. The victim stated that Deakin became a co-owner of the assets through the board of directors of Ellipse Bank. Mikhail Gurevich. In 2006, Gurevich reported that he had never been the owner of Start, and therefore did not resell the assets to Dikin.

The Dikins' lawyers presented Start's charter. According to the data in them, in the event of Sorokin’s death, his share would pass to the heirs, regardless of the consent of the Start co-owners. Sorokin replied that he did not have a will at the time of the assassination attempt, so Dikin would have been appointed to manage the assets.

In 2004, the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of the Nizhny Novgorod Region opened a case of theft of funds from the Dorfon. After an inspection by the Ministry of Finance, overpricing during procurement was discovered. A case was opened against Sorokin “for theft budget funds in the amount of over 500 million rubles with subsequent legalization,” media reports. The results of the case are unknown.

Nagornaya and Sorokin have three children. The eldest son was elected as a deputy of the Nizhny Novgorod Legislative Assembly in 2016. Godfather youngest daughter Elizabeth became the former children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov.

In 2012, an honorary consulate of Hungary was opened in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Nagornaya became its representative. According to her, she had known representatives of the Hungarian embassy for a long time. At the time of her appointment, Nagornaya had ideas for developing cooperation with Hungary.

During the event, a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Nizhny Novgorod Sergey Malov said that Nagornaya was given an order to work on the issue of opening a direct flight from Nizhny to Budapest. After 5 years, the flight has not been launched.

“The work of an honorary consul is, in essence, public diplomacy. Its results are difficult to express in numbers. Moreover, we do not have specific tasks to increase, for example, trade turnover or tourist flow between the two countries,” Nagornaya said in an interview with MK in Nizhny Novgorod.

Nagornaya chose intercultural cooperation as the main area of ​​her work. So in 2015, near the shopping center “Seventh Heaven” and the residential complex of the same name, the sculpture “Breakthrough” appeared. Its author is a Hungarian artist Erwin Hervé-Laurent. Hungary made an expensive gift to Nizhny Novgorod.

The huge sculpture depicts a man crawling out of the ground. Some saw in her similarities with the ex-governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region Valery Shantsev, Sorokin's opponent. Shantsev did not come to the opening of the monument. “For the first time in many years, a work of art has become the subject of general discussion in Nizhny Novgorod, and this is wonderful, it shows that our city is a living, active and intellectual space,” Nagornaya commented on the Hungarian gift. The sculpture was discussed not only by regional, but also by federal media - including because it recalls the conflict between Shantsev and Sorokin. People dubbed the Hungarian gift the “Nizhny Novgorod troll.”

In 2014, a stainless steel sculpture of a deer was created with funds from the honorary consulate. Its author is a Hungarian sculptor Gabor Joke. Nizhny Novgorod residents took such a gift for granted, because at the end of 2013, Nagornaya was recognized as the richest among wives Russian officials. Her income amounted to 1.7 billion rubles.

Federal media and activists became interested in the activities of Nagornaya and Sorokin. In 2013, politician Dmitry Gudkov I found out that Nagornaya has two villas in Cannes.

In 2011, Sorokin sold his stake in the development company and his other companies to Nagornaya. This happened after Sorokin was appointed mayor of Nizhny Novgorod. According to the anonymous list of “110 companies by Oleg Sorokin,” Nagornaya is associated with a third of the companies. The remaining shares belong to the current general director of Stolitsa Nizhny Oleg Golovko, family Akatovs, Andrey Taig and other entrepreneurs.

Now, according to the Spark Interfax service, Nagornaya is affiliated with 29 Nizhny Novgorod companies. In November 2014, the regional Investigative Committee organized an investigation into Sorokin’s illegal participation in entrepreneurial activity. According to the department, in 2011-2012, the Nizhny Novgorod administration held auctions for the development of territory in the Nizhny Novgorod region and the lease of 14 plots. Then contracts were concluded with RegionInvest52 and Ingradstroy LLC.

In March 2013, a criminal case was initiated under Article 165 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Causing damage by deception or abuse of trust.” At the same time, searches were carried out at the companies “Stolitsa Nizhny” and “Start-Stroy”. In February 2014, the case was closed for lack of evidence of a crime.

In 2010, the developer Zhilstroy-NN won a competition to develop a site in the Sovetsky district. After this, Start-Stroy contacted the Nizhny Novgorod OFAS. Antimonopoly officers found violations during the competition. The Zhilstroy site went to Start-Stroy. The infrastructure at the site was built at the expense of the city budget. Experts estimated the damage to the city at 1.6 billion rubles.

Two years later, Ingradstroy received 453 hectares for development in the Sovetsky district on a lease basis. The results of the competition were challenged by the OFAS by two Moscow companies - ZhBK-Stroy LLC and Vektron CJSC. A businessman came to Vektron with an offer of a 30 million bribe for withdrawing an appeal. Mansur Sadekov. When he was arrested, Sadekov publicly stated: for a crime under Art. 204 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation followed Sorokin’s orders. He was interrogated as a witness, and Sadekov went to prison. The site remained with the Ingradstroy company.

Initially, this territory was provided for the development of an IT park. But the Ankudinovka technology park turned from a major federal project into a regional scandal involving the Nagornaya company. As a result, Ankudinovka was left with only a business incubator.

Nagornaya companies were also spotted in the development historical territories cities. This, for example, happened with the triangle bounded by Gorky, Novaya and Ilyinskaya streets. It was built up with ancient merchant estates. A writer lived in one of the houses in 1879 Maksim Gorky. Initially, the entire block came under protection, but gradually the protection zone was reduced to one house. The government of the Nizhny Novgorod region spent 370 million rubles on the resettlement of residential buildings and the demolition of dilapidated housing in this triangle. Then officials sold the cleared area to Regioninvest52 LLC for 84.3 million rubles. In 2012, the prosecutor's office conducted an inspection, but no criminal or administrative cases were opened.

In the summer of 2017, it became known that 25-story buildings would be built within Krasnoselskaya, Barminskaya, Maxim Gorky and Malaya Yamskaya streets (this area is historical). The developer is Stroyinvest-52. In the area of ​​these streets there is a restriction on the number of storeys of houses. It was established by the “Land Use and Development Rules in Nizhny Novgorod” and approved by a resolution of the City Duma. However, the Nizhny Novgorod administration made an exception for the Stroyinvest-52 company.

On December 22, 2016, information appeared that Nagornaya and the deputy of the Legislative Assembly Felix Verkhovodov The Shatford restaurant will be built in the Alexander Garden. In January, 18 linden trees were cut down there. Nizhny Novgorod residents were outraged by what was happening. “The construction of a restaurant in the Alexander Garden will not harm anyone,” Sorokin told NewsNN then.

Then the regional prosecutor's office opened an administrative case due to the construction of Shatford. The developer was accused of non-compliance with the legislation on objects cultural heritage. Department employees discovered that land leveling work was being carried out on the site using construction equipment. In addition, the developer did not pre-agreed on the sections project documentation for the preservation of cultural heritage sites “Cultural layer of Nizhny Novgorod” and “Nizhny Novgorod slope”. The prosecutor's office made a representation to the developer.

Thanks to Nagornaya, the market on Sovetskaya Square was closed in 2013 due to the construction of a shopping center. By decision of the investment council under Shantsev, back in 2009 land plot with an area of ​​8.45 hectares, including the market area, was provided for construction by a company affiliated with Nagornaya.

Another market that may be closed due to its construction is Karpovsky. The private sector “Karpovka” located next to it in the Leninsky district of Nizhny Novgorod can also be demolished. They plan to build a block of 17-story buildings and a shopping and entertainment complex on this site. The Global Estate company, affiliated with Nagornaya, is planning to develop 33 hectares of land.

Sorokin's wife is trying to increase production at one of the leading enterprises of folk arts and crafts in the region - JSC Khokhloma painting" In April 2015, Nagornaya acquired a controlling stake in this enterprise. Now “Khokhloma Painting” is closed joint stock company. At the end of 2015, the company's net profit decreased from 11.081 million rubles to 1.114 million rubles.

Residential buildings built by Nagornaya companies, according to Nizhny Novgorod residents, do not correspond to the declared indicators. We are especially dissatisfied with the quality of the houses in the Tsvety and Seventh Heaven residential complexes. The Arbitration Court of the Nizhny Novgorod Region is considering the case of the developer of the Tsvety residential complex - Start-Stroy. The shareholders are demanding a penalty from the company for the delay in transferring the apartment. While the clients asked to correct the builders' mistakes, they had to live in a rented apartment.

In addition, in “Flowers” ​​the flights of stairs were destroyed, tiles on the rings were falling off, and metal fences were rusting. After several letters from residents to the developer, these defects were partially eliminated.

Residents of this residential complex also complain about cracks in the walls and problems with elevators. In April 2017, a woman living in house No. 12 on Volzhskaya Naberezhnaya Street said that she flew down two floors in an elevator with a 3-month-old child.

A 6-lane asphalt road was built to the Seventh Heaven microdistrict (Start-Stroy LLC built 150 thousand square meters of housing and a shopping center there) at the expense of the federal budget. Each kilometer cost the budget 136 million rubles.

“You can only judge how successful a person is over time. If something worked out a couple of times, this is not yet an indicator of success, because you need to constantly move forward. In one word, success for me is stability,” Nagornaya explained in an interview with her own magazine Bellissimo.

In 2014 wife of the mayor of Nizhny Novgorod Elada Nagornaya presented the city with a five-meter sculpture of a steel deer. Citizens were skeptical about the donated animal, accusing the lady of pettiness, since it was officially known that in 2013 alone Nagornaya earned 1.7 billion rubles, winning the title of “the richest wife of a Russian official.”

Of course, compared to some of the wives of other mayors of the past, Elada Lvovna nervously smokes on the sidelines. She herself understands this, which is why she shows incredible modesty: the townspeople learned about the wealth of their mayor’s family from the blog of State Duma deputy Dmitry Gudkov, who published the “certificate of income” submitted by the couple to the local parliament.

The townspeople did not like this restraint. At the beginning of this year they began collecting signatures for resignation Mayor Oleg Sorokin. Now the petition addressed to Vladimir Putin has more than 2.7 thousand signatures. City residents suspect the mayor of allegedly being affiliated with him construction companies destroying the city center with almost 800 years of history. And somehow it turns out that not only monuments are destroyed, but also the fates of those who try to resist them.

The figure of Sorokin appeared on the political field in the early 2000s, when Nizhny became the center of the Volga Federal District. “To transfer the city to the metropolitan level, the authorities were interested in very serious participation, as they said in the embassy, ​​of “businesses,” recalls political scientist Viktor Lysov. “On this wave, Stolitsa Nizhny has become one of the partners in various capital projects, and developer Oleg Sorokin has become a potentially significant player in the political and economic market of the city.”

New times of “old Nizhny”

“Old Nizhny” - the historical center with streets lined with merchant estates running away from the Kremlin - has become the front line in the war between citizens and developers. And most of the construction companies that act on the townspeople like a red rag on a bull are controlled by the mayor, or rather his wife: Nagornaya in trust management five years ago all my husband’s assets were transferred.

There is debate about their number. For a year now, a list of “Oleg Sorokin’s 110 companies,” posted by anonymous users, has been wandering around the Internet, which, naturally, should be treated with skepticism, but it doesn’t hurt to check. Nagornaya, according to this unconfirmed information, owns a third, the rest are supposedly the assets of business partners of the mayor and his wife. At least 300 names are mentioned: relatives, local parliamentarians and officials, but bosom partners - businessmen Maxim and Pavel Akatov - are immediately visible. Each is listed as a “co-founder” of these assets at least a dozen times. Another partner, Oleg Golovko (became the general director of Stolitsa Nizhny LLC after Sorokin) is a co-owner of at least a dozen companies.

An idea of ​​what “benefits” a possible business buddy has is given by the income statement of the Sorokin family, which Dmitry Gudkov published online at the end of last year.

Secret Declaration

At the end of 2013, Oleg Sorokin’s income amounted to “only” 168 million rubles. But Elada Nagornaya brought 1 billion 734 million 441 thousand rubles to the family. 1.5 billion of this impressive amount is income from business activities. Judging by the declaration, Nagornaya is a co-founder of 21 companies. These data confirm the SPARK data.

Nagornaya owns a residential building, three apartments, seven garages, 15 land plots, 43 non-residential premises(shops, shopping malls). In the “transport” section there are 5 “passenger cars” ( on the roads of Nizhny the mayor's wife probably travels in Porsche CayenneS and BMW 750Li, and in its vicinity - on a snowmobile and swamp vehicle). But the most worthy vehicles— Bentley Continental GT 2012 and Smart Fortwo — registered not in the traffic police of the Nizhny Novgorod region, but in the city of Cannes, in France. Two of Sorokin’s seven “cars” have the same “home port” - the 2006 PorscheCayenne and Mercedes-Benz E 250 CGI.

The Sorokins have two villas in Nice - 262 and 400 square meters each. meters, about which it is modestly said that they are only for use by the mayor. Just like his wife. One could agree with this one hundred percent if, according to extracts from the French real estate register (available to the editors), the owner of the villas was not the 23-year-old son of the Sorokins, Nikita.

There is confirmation of our guesses in open sources. Here, for example, is information about the “manager” of VILLA LA CROIX DES GARDES (Сannes, Boulevard Des Pins, 1) and HEUREUX EPIDAURE (Сannes, Boulevard Bel Horizon, 266).

V larger size

in a larger size

Translation: The company was founded on January 20, 2012, is listed in the real estate register under the number SIREN 539 357 871. The company specializes in leasing land plots and other real estate. The General Director of HEUREUX EPIDAURE is Elada Nagornaya, born in 1973.

Registering real estate in the name of a son is a completely logical scheme, given that the law does not oblige officials to declare the income and property of adult children. However, the Sorokin family is not hidden in France. The name of the Nizhny Novgorod mayor appears on the gate of VillalaCroixdesGardes.

House of the Sorokins. Photos provided by employees of the Anti-Corruption Foundation

"We, ordinary residents Nizhny Novgorod, we can probably be proud that we have the most rich wife official, such a “golden woman,” notes Aleksey Yakimov, a member of the NRO council of the A Just Russia party. - But it doesn’t work. The declarations confirm: the welfare of the Sorokin family is growing at the same time as the budget is becoming poor.”

Declaration of non-accountability

Since 2010, the mayor of Nizhny Novgorod has been elected from among the City Duma deputies - he becomes “candidate No. 1” from “ United Russia" According to federal law, parliamentarians are not required to report their income at all, but Sorokin’s regional norm still obliges them to do so. As for the spouse of the first person, her declaration can be presented to the public only with her consent. Elada Nagornaya did not give such consent.

Last year, Nizhny Novgorod prosecutor Vladimir Nikonov spoke out against such “freedom”; through his efforts, a bill on the publication of declarations was submitted to the City Duma. The confrontation ended with legal management the Duma concluded: Nikonov’s initiative does not comply federal legislation. The prosecutor's office lost the trials, and soon the fighter for “openness” lost his post.

Unlimited checks

Attempts to get an answer regarding material well-being from Oleg Sorokin himself three times ended in nothing. In 2004, his work as financial director of the Nizhny Novgorod Road Fund was checked by the Ministry of Finance. This story might have been worth forgetting if it had not surfaced in 2015 (but more on that later). In 2013, transactions with the city of companies that were suspected of being affiliated with the mayor’s family were checked by the prosecutor’s office of the Nizhny Novgorod region.

On November 14, a representative announced the next inspection Investigative Committee Russian Federation Vladimir Markin. In the department of the Investigative Committee for the Nizhny Novgorod region, Colonel of Justice Yulia Sklyarova confirmed this information to Novaya, noting that “the timing of the inspection has not been established.” The reason was two land deals “concluded in 2011-2012 by the city administration with the companies Regioninvest52 and "Ingradstroy", affiliated with close relatives of Sorokin,” said General Markin. For several months now, investigators have been studying “the circumstances of the actual participation of the city mayor in the management of commercial organizations" The prosecutor of the Nizhny Novgorod region asked to check the circumstances under which these companies received the plots back in August 2012.

In March 2013, they even opened a case under Article 165 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Causing damage by deception or breach of trust.” At the same time, searches were carried out in the companies “Stolitsa Nizhny” and “Start-Stroy”, owned by members of the mayor’s family. It all ended in a bad way: first, prosecutor Kozhevnikov was relieved of his post and transferred to Lipetsk, and in February 2014 the case was closed for lack of corpus delicti.

People in Nizhny are accustomed to checks against the mayor. “Yes, at first people were excited - especially when Markin made a statement. But I have a feeling that the investigative authorities have records of everyone and everything in this country,” suggests political scientist Valentina Buzmakova. “They take them out from time to time, and when the situation changes, they put them back.”

No competitors

In addition to prosecutors, businessmen also got burned by the Sorokin family. Several sad stories taught them not to get into trouble.

In 2010, Zhilstroy-NN won the competition for the development of the site, promising the city 14% of the completed apartments. Nagornaya's company "Start-Stroy" contacts the local OFAS. Antimonopoly officers find violations during the competition - Zhilstroy-NN flies out of the project. The site goes to Start-Stroy, which is building four multi-storey buildings. For some reason, the city did not receive apartments: at least in the public space, nothing to the contrary is known.

Two years later, Ingradstroy (the RF Investigative Committee calls this company close to the mayor’s family - Ed.) receives 453 hectares for development in the Sovetsky district of the city on a lease basis. The results of the competition were disputed by the OFAS by two Moscow companies - ZhBK-Stroy LLC and Vektron CJSC. Entrepreneur Mansur Sadekov comes to the last company with an offer of a 30 million bribe for withdrawing the appeal. They catch him red-handed - Sadekov publicly declares: for a crime under Art. 204 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (commercial bribery) followed Sorokin’s orders. As a result, the mayor was interrogated as a witness, and Sadekov was sent to "Sailor's Silence", releasing only in October 2014 - after paying a fine of 307.2 million rubles. The ill-fated site remained with the Ingradstroy company, whose owners reached the Higher arbitration court, which overturned the decision of the Federal Antimonopoly Service.

The last example is the story of the general director of MFK-Invest LLC, Alexander Bekusov, who entered the construction market with the intention of investing more than 2.5 billion in the economy of the Nizhny Novgorod region, but ended up losing 700 million and serving in a pre-trial detention center for six months.

According to Bekusov, the problems began when MFK-Invest began building housing “at a price half as much as that of its competitors.” In 2011, the entrepreneur was saddled with debts from a company for which he had not worked for two years at that time. Under this pretext, searches were carried out at MFK-Invest LLC: all accounts were arrested and cash was seized. Construction has stopped.

Over the course of six months, the pre-trial detention center opened 125 cases against Bekusov based on statements from shareholders and contractors, who, according to the entrepreneur, “were called to the police to file statements.” The economic amnesty announced in July 2013 saved the day. Her condition is compensation for losses to the victims: Bekusov paid 140 million. The criminal cases were dropped, and upon release, the entrepreneur paid off his debts.

“In Nizhny there is a monopoly of large developers, so the emergence of new companies is not preferable,” concludes Bekusov.

Without “old Nizhny”

Unlike business, city defenders don’t give up so easily. But they have to resist both the authorities and developers. “Since 2010, the destruction of the historical center has proceeded exponentially,” notes Aleksey Yakimov, a member of the NRO council of the A Just Russia party. “In 2013, city defenders fell under a bulldozer almost every day - first on one street, then on another.” A striking example such resistance is the struggle for the block bounded by Gorky, Novaya and Ilyinskaya streets.

The city’s investment council decided in 2006 to build residential buildings on the territory of a triangle built up with ancient merchant estates. The location is unique - in house number 74 on the street. Gorky, for example, in 1879 there lived Alexey Peshkov. Initially, the entire block came under protection, but gradually the protection zone “shrank” to one house.

The project was implemented within the framework of the national program “Affordable and comfortable housing for Russian citizens”. The scheme turned out to be anecdotal: first, the government of the Nizhny Novgorod region spent 370 million budgetary funds on resettling residential buildings and demolishing dilapidated housing, and then officials auctioned off the cleared site to Regioninvest52 LLC for only 84.3 million rubles.

In 2012, the “national program” aroused the sincere interest of the prosecutor’s office: “supervisors” not only pointed out that such a “price” “does not correlate” with the 370 million budget costs, but also directly stated: the cost of a site located in the very historical center, calculated “based on the average market cost of new economy-class buildings at the zero stage of construction.” True, this check also bypassed the participants in the scheme - no cases were opened against the officials.

Currently, the “triangle” is being cleared of historical buildings. In January, a bulldozer destroyed the L.A. House. Davydova-Pecherkina.

Belvedere vs bulldozer

A small house with a carved belvedere on Novaya Street, 46a - desperately does not resemble a symbol of struggle. The estate of the Burmistrovy merchants, built in 1890, is notable for its hexagonal turret behind the carved pediment and its extraordinary fate. He owes it to his last owner, pensioner Lidia Aleksandrovna Davydova-Pecherkina, who in the 1970s exchanged a comfortable one-room apartment for two rooms in the same estate with an attic.

Having become the owner of the entire house in the 1990s, Lidia Alexandrovna turned the dilapidated housing into a city landmark. In 2000, the house was given the status of a newly identified cultural heritage site, which, however, was taken away four years later. The house outlived its protector by a year and a half: Lydia Alexandrovna passed away on August 11, 2013, the estate with the carved belvedere died on January 12, 2015. After the death of the pensioner, her distant relatives sold the building to Regioninvest52 LLC, and the developer demolished it.

Moreover, on the very day when activists of the organization “ Green World» handed over to officials from the state security department an application to enter the house into the “security register”. Officials did exactly the same thing with the house at 126 Ilyinskaya Street. On March 21, the results of the examination were sent to the department, and the next day it was demolished by the same Regioninvest52.

One address, one name, one offshore

The Investigative Committee names Regioninvest52 LLC as a company affiliated with the mayor. The first person of the city denies these connections, although there are good reasons for such a conclusion.

The legal address of "Regioninvest52" is st. Maxim Gorky, 117. According to SPARK data, at least three companies of Elada Nagornaya are registered at this address: Indor-NN LLC (60% share), Stroyindustriya LLC (60% share), Stroyinvest-52 LLC (share 60%).

There are also connections at the personal level. According to SPARK, the post of director of Regioninvest52 LLC is occupied by Ilya Aleksandrovich Balmusov. And here’s an interesting coincidence: in 2008, it was he who was the director of the Horeca-NN LLC company, at a time when its co-owners included Oleg Sorokin, Elada Nagornaya, Oleg Golovko and Pavel Akatov (remember these names?). By the way, Balmusov’s predecessor in the post of manager of Horeca-NN LLC was Nagornaya herself - she was the director of the office in 2006.

It is also interesting that Horeca-NN LLC, which connects the director of Regioninvest52 LLC, the mayor, his wife and their main business partners, is registered at the address typical for companies from the “110 list”: st. Belinskogo, 61. Together with Horeka-NN, six active Nagornaya companies are “registered” here: Plaza-Holding LLC (100%), STN-REKLAMA LLC, Bereg LLC (50%), “ Investproject (60%), Sorenta LLC (75%) and Sistema LLC (75%).

Another fairly noticeable connection can be found in the resolution to initiate a criminal case, dated March 26, 2013 (available to the editors). The document states: “ Cash, contributed as a deposit, Regioninvest52 LLC received on December 7, 2011 from Start-Stroy LLC, with which a loan agreement for 84.5 million rubles was concluded under the personal guarantee of one of the founders of Start-Stroy - O.V. Golovko ."

The cycle of connections ends if you find out who owns Regioninvest52 LLC. According to SPARK, the owner of the company is the Cypriot offshore company WAMILINVESTMENTSLIMITED. Traces from WAMIL lead back to those distant times when the future mayor of Nizhny was responsible for the finances of the regional Dorfond. Through those who now manage WAMIL (and, accordingly, Regioninvest52 LLC), budget millions went abroad.

The control and audit department of the Ministry of Finance came to this conclusion in 2004 - based on the results of an inspection of the Far Eastern Federal District, a criminal case was opened against the future mayor “for the theft of budget funds in the amount of over 500 million rubles and subsequent legalization.” The Far Eastern Federal District made purchases of fuel and materials through dozens of “fly-by-night companies”; as a result, the “total turnover of dubious financial transactions” exceeded 5 billion rubles. Money was “laundered” through Cypriot offshore companies that were directly related to the Cypriot owners of Regioninvest52 LLC.

The Cyprus real estate register states: the director of the company WAMILINVESTMENTSLIMITED is a certain NFNB MRLBYVBU, translated from Greek into Russian - Dina Blaivas. Similar name appears in a letter that Nizhny Novgorod prosecutor Kozhevnikov addressed to Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the Volga Federal District Alexei Sukhov in August 2012 (available to the editors):

“The documents for registration were submitted to the Federal Tax Service of Russia by the director of WAMILINVESTMENTSLIMITEDBlavais D.A. (one can assume that the last name is obviously indicated incorrectly. - Ed . ), the location of which was not established during the consideration of the appeal.”

The whereabouts of “Novaya,” a native of Nizhny Novgorod born in 1959, was helped to determine the WAMIL director’s Facebook account. This is Cyprus, its capital is Nicosia. According to the official biography, Doctor of Medicine, director of the Speleotherapy Center in Nicosia, graduated from Gorky medical school and worked in Nizhny Novgorod as a cardiologist. In 1992 she moved to Cyprus.

Photos of the Blaivas spouses from open sources

Dina and her husband Mikhail Blaivas are managers of a number of offshore companies that appear in the criminal case regarding theft from the Road Fund.

In 2013, the Nizhny Novgorod publication Pravda PFO indicated, citing a source in law enforcement agencies: in 2003, during searches, documents were discovered proving that Dina Blaivas “registered a number of companies for Sorokin and Golovko through her office in Nicosia.”

WAMILINVESTMENTSLIMITED shares its legal address with several other companies. Neighbors - SOMONAENTERPRISESLIMITED and CRISANTOHOLDINGLIMITED. The secretary of all three companies is listed as ΜΑΡΙΝΑ ΦΩΤΙΟΥ. And among the “friends” in Facebook networks Dina Blaivas is found to have a certain Marina Fotiou. The Muscovite lives in Cyprus and has been working as an administrator in the law firm Elena Constantinou & Co since April 2010. The office of the company, which since 1994 has been engaged in “registration and maintenance international companies", is located at the same address as WAMIL, SOMONA and CRISANTO.

In a criminal case from 2002, there were a dozen offshore companies through which funds from the Far Eastern Federal District were flowing. Among them are Cypriot residents CHIBO WORLDWIDE LIMITED, RISKRUT ENTERPRISES LIMITED and LECON NOMINEES LIMITED. The director of the first is Nina Blaivas, the secretary is Elena Konstantinova. In the second and third, Konstantinova is again listed as secretary. The offshore ALOA - VERA LIMITED, whose directors are Nina and Mikhail Blaivas, closes the circle.

Strategic loans, general managers, one address and offshore acquaintances - there is reason to think, you will agree. However, the Sorokin family still claims: there is no connection here.

But “Greece has everything.” Or - in Cannes.

P. S. Elada Nagornaya did not respond to Novaya Gazeta’s request, and the press service of Nizhny Novgorod Mayor Oleg Sorokin said: “The head of the city has repeatedly stated that he does not comment on the activities of law enforcement, because everyone has to do their job.” However, we didn’t ask him about this, but about the “family” business.