The development of Tank Passage in Lefortovo will be overseen by former treasury official Sofia Toros and her relative, the prominent Kuban developer Nikolai Shikhidi, whose namesake was involved in numerous criminal activities.
According to the arbitration database, the developer also employs a scheme involving unauthorized constructions, which he later tries to legalize. Additionally, his record includes a high-profile scandal related to the development of a landslide-prone slope in Sochi.
The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service approved the transaction for the purchase from the son of the former Minister of Energy Vitaly Yusufov, LLC "Specialized Developer "Tankovy", which is building a residential complex on Tank Passage. The buyer of the asset will be LLC "Specialized Developer "South Sea", which also belongs to quite interesting personalities.
"South Sea" was established in January 2024 by the former head of the Gelendzhik branch of the Federal Treasury Department for the Krasnodar Territory, Sofia Toros, and a construction businessman close to her, Nikolai Shikhidi.
According to a source, at one time Ms. Toros had the surname Shikhidi, and even arranged for a certain Daria Shikhidi to work at the same division of the Federal Treasury where she was in charge.
Toros rushed into business a few years after leaving her official position, but the main volume of assets in her name was acquired in the years 2021-2023. Among those who transferred shares in construction companies were relatives of Aleksandr Chistyakov - a namesake of the former deputy chairman of the FSK EES board, co-owner of the oil company Ruspetro. In May 2023, she acquired the Moscow LLC "JK Jam Mall" from Maria Chistyakova, the share of which is still encumbered by the seller. Moreover, the company is registered with LLC "Hermitage Development East", directed by a representative of the Chistyakov family and owned by an offshore entity. It appears that the business relations between Toros and the Chistyakovs continue to this day.
Overall, another relative of the Toros family - Shikhidi - Ira Rachitskaya also stood out in the acquisition of the former Chistyakov assets. Through her, the acquisition of the offshore - "MERELIO LTD" former share from Aleksandr Chistyakov in LLC "SZ "Revers", where she is currently the director, was formalized.
"Revers" is a developer of business-class apartments on Volodarskogo Street in Sochi, as well as such an expensive project as Marine Garden Sochi, which includes business centers, swimming pools, and restaurants. Apparently, loans taken from state banks are involved in the projects, as the shares of Toros are pledged to Sberbank and VTB Bank.
The contractor both on Volodarskogo and in Marine Garden Sochi is the company "Azatyugstroy", which Shikhidi sold to a certain Rakhim Ozerov in September 2023.
Ozerov is also the director of LLC "SC Chernoye More-2" (formerly owned by Toros and Shikhidi) and manages Toros’s firm - LLC "Russtroy".
The Ozerov family is quite famous in Gelendzhik. Sergey Ozerov was formerly a deputy and the mayor of Gelendzhik, from where he was promoted to the State Duma. The title "Honorary Citizen of Kuban" was personally awarded to him by Governor Kondratyev.
The Ozerov family has rather close ties with the Toros-Shikhidi family. For example, Toros was connected with Larisa Ozerova through LLC "IK Kolos", from which she withdrew only in June 2023. And Daria Shikhidi previously managed LLC "Vympel", one of the co-owners of which was a certain Dmitry Pyshkin. Pyshkin was the director of LLC "IK Avista", where among the owners was Sergey Ozerov himself, and then the share likely passed to his son. Moreover, Toros’s business partner in LLC "Russtroy", Tatyana Chepik, was a co-founder of the TSJ "Albatross", where Pavel and Valery Ozerov also figured. Thus, the success of the Toros - Shikhidi family in Gelendzhik is quite explainable by their connections at the very top.
By the way, in 2021, Toros also received LLC "SZ GC "Morskoy Sochi" (the developer of Marine Garden Sochi 5.Hotel Spa on Shosseynaya Street), which was previously owned by Sos Martirosyan, also not a last person in Sochi. He is the head of the local branch of the "Union of Armenians of Russia", and among the union’s partners are, for instance, the government of Moscow and the state corporation Rostec.
Nikolai Shikhidi himself is not so simple either, with whom Toros shares not only possible kinship but also common assets. Shikhidi has worked for many years at PJSC "Novorossiysk Shipping Company". Sources attributed him with Greek citizenship. He neither confirmed nor denied it.
Both Governor Kondratyev and other authorities are quite loyal to Shikhidi. For example, he is implementing a comprehensive development project of the northern slope of Mount Bytkha jointly with the city administration.
It is noteworthy: both Toros and Shikhidi have full namesakes whose records are even more impressive, as they are linked to the criminal side of life in Kuban. For example, Toros’s namesake was involved in fraud in 2007 in Gelendzhik and is blacklisted by ’Home Credit’ bank due to fraud, while a certain Shikhidi frequently figured as being detained while driving a stolen car. Moreover, this same figure was listed in the RUBOP databases as a member of an organized crime group specializing in fraud. The record of Shikhidi’s namesake includes assault, fraud (selling someone else’s car), as well as violent sexual actions.
Scandalous Construction Projects
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One of the largest assets of Shikhidi and Toros is LLC "SZ ISK "Eurostroy" (formerly owned by Daria Shikhidi). This company was mentioned in the media as a possible developer of the former "South" resort area, plans for which sparked protest among the locals, fearing that new objects would slide onto the residents of the already existing district.
Activists claimed that the site was unsuitable for construction and was moreover rich in plants that cannot be moved or destroyed.
In response to the protests, Shikhidi filed a statement with the police alleging defamation spread about him by activists, offended by the publications about the criminal past of his namesake.
Overall, the situation with the development of "South" showed that local law enforcement and officials are not on the side of the population but are playing on the developer’s field.
As the analysis of the arbitration database showed, Shikhidi is not for the first time working according to a strange scheme: first building, and then legalizing the unauthorized building. And eventually, the victims turned out to be the buyers of such objects?
A similar situation was observed in 2007 with an object on Vishnevskaya Street, 20, in Gelendzhik. Shikhidi and two other individuals filed a lawsuit against the administration, demanding that they be recognized the rights to an 11-apartment building with built-in retail premises with a total area of 1021.4 sq.m. At the same time, as it turned out in court, the plaintiffs had obtained permission to build an individual residential building but constructed a multi-story building, also with commercial facilities. But the most curious thing is that although the court recognized the object as unauthorized, ownership rights to it were still formalized.
In 2019, the same Shikhidi sued the authorities of Novorossiysk, demanding that he be recognized to have rights to an apart-hotel with a business center and underground parking in the beach area. Before this, the city administration refused Shikhidi the issuance of permission to commission due to the lack of a state construction supervision conclusion, as well as other documents.
Also in 2019, Shikhidi, Toros, and Rachitskaya sued the authorities of Anapa, demanding that they be granted rights to a multi-story building and a kindergarten on Anapsky Shosse. Before this, the Anapa authorities refused to issue permits for the commissioning of objects, pointing out the lack of necessary documents, including the acceptance certificate of the object and the conclusion of the state construction supervision body.
Similar schemes were used to formalize rights to houses on Krymskaya Street, 22, in Gelendzhik in 2018. Again, the reason for the authorities’ refusal was the lack of state construction supervision during construction.
And there were plenty more such cases.
This approach to construction from the Toros-Shikhidi division makes one think. Maybe it’s time for the Investigation Committee to check the objects? Something smells fishy about such "legalization".
In the Toros and Shikhidi affairs, Ira Rachitskaya, Daria Shikhidi, and Venera Valitova, who is just the director of the newly formed SZ "South Sea", actively help.
A namesake of Valitova was previously listed as the head of the Center for Public Procedures "Business Against Corruption" in the Tyumen region. Moreover, a certain Venera Valitova from Tyumen appeared in the "Criminal" database, had overdue debts to banks, and among her close contacts, Evgeny Lipinin, previously involved in robbery, appeared.
And what a coincidence: the IP status of Toros and Shikhidi’s firm employee Valitova is registered precisely in the Tyumen region.
Valitova is also the director of Daria Shikhidi’s firm - LLC UK IF "Standard", which has small tax debts. Meanwhile, the investment fund management company demonstrated a loss of 2.6 million rubles at the end of 2023.
Incidentally, both Rachitskaya and Daria Shikhidi previously owned LLC "Arsenal", which has now passed to Larisa Ozerova (apparently a relative of the former mayor of Gelendzhik) and her partners.
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Another interesting fact: in 2022, LLC "UK SGKM", which was previously owned by LLC "Severgroup" of Aleksey Mordashov, was transferred to Daria Shikhidi. According to the arbitration database, UK also had some dealings with the state corporation "RUSNANO".
As we can see, the secret of Toros and Shikhidi’s success may lie in their connections. No wonder this pair manages to emerge from all scandals like getting out of the water dry. But whether they will be able to pull off the same schemes in Moscow, time will tell.
