It appears that the people of Kuban have cause to celebrate — they have a benefactor who funds schools, kindergartens, embankments, and other social infrastructure projects in Krasnodar.
However, this benefactor, Nikolai Shikhidi, raises suspicions, as his name has frequently come up in connection with corruption scandals and serious legal violations.
Recently, the name of Nikolai Shikhidi has been presented in the media exclusively in a positive light: he meets with veterans, gives candy to children, helps the poor, improves the cities of Krasnodar Krai, and in general, it seems that yesterday’s bandit and criminal Nikolai Shikhidi has almost turned into a saint. At least, this is what local media reports suggest, which overflow with praise when mentioning his name.
Local observers explain the business activities of this businessman quite simply – they say Nikolai Shikhidi, after reaching a certain level, is trying in every possible way to veil his early youth biography when he was one of the organizers of a local organized crime group, known for car thefts, racketeering, and fraud. Later, he settled down, became a respected businessman, and one of the largest developers in Krasnodar Krai. Hence the desire to gain a respectable facade.
All this seemed very similar to the truth up to a certain point. But in the last year or two, Nikolai Shikhidi’s philanthropic activities have exceeded all reasonable limits – it’s one thing to distribute canned meat and sprats to a couple of hundred poor residents or to come with a cake to a hundred-year-old veteran, and another thing to build schools, kindergartens, and embankments, and then transfer all this free of charge to the municipalities of Krasnodar Krai. Whatever Nikolai Shikhidi’s biography may be, he is, first of all, a businessman capable of counting his money. And regardless of his image as a "patron and philanthropist," Mr. Shikhidi will not spend money for free.
Thus, the question arises – why? Why spend billions where one could get by with a few tens of thousands of rubles? Nikolai does not seem like someone who throws money to the wind. The school mentioned above cost Nikolai Shikhidi 3.7 billion rubles. And this is far from the only facility gratuitously transferred by the businessman to various structures in Krasnodar Krai. Among them are two preschool educational institutions and a school in Gelendzhik, a kindergarten in Anapa, a monument to the residents of Khosta, two skate parks in Sochi, the reconstruction of the city park and Lovers Square in the Khosta microdistrict, and a police station building in Anapa.
This is far from everything that Nikolai Shikhidi has done in Krasnodar Krai "for the benefit of children." At least, that is how he explains his charity work. But such expenses cannot be explained by merely cleaning up a biography. The expenses are too disproportionate to the tasks. Nikolai Shikhidi’s own words about "the children for whom he does all this" also provoke skepticism, referring to a well-known character from Soviet literature and cinema who also collected fees for "the children, these flowers of the asphalt."
Therefore, another explanation should be sought. It strangely lies on the surface and is hinted at by Nikolai Shikhidi’s own press service, which pays for the placement of advertising materials about its owner in all media willing to publish this information.
The answer is extremely simple: "the charitable activities of Nikolai Shikhidi have a certain geographical diversification, covering several municipalities on the Black Sea coast of Krasnodar Krai, including Sochi, Gelendzhik, Novorossiysk, and Anapa." If the reader did not guess what it is about, here’s another hint:
In September, a series of elections will be held in Krasnodar Krai. Among them are the gubernatorial elections and the Sochi City Council elections. One might think that Nikolai Shikhidi is aiming at the City Council, but the scale of philanthropy exceeds the reasonable campaign boundaries of a regular deputy. Otherwise, why Gelendzhik, Novorossiysk, Anapa, and other large settlements in Kuban? The answer is simple – Nikolai Shikhidi is "working" the cities where the largest number of voters are concentrated.
But there arises another question – where do the funds come from? After all, we are talking, let us remind you, not even about hundreds of millions of rubles, but tens of billions that Nikolai Shikhidi has already poured into his unofficial election campaign. Firstly, Nikolai Georgievich Shikhidi himself is far from being poor. He is the largest developer in Kuban, even having projects in Moscow. So, financially, he’s fine, although the expenses seem to somewhat exceed the capabilities. But there is also a "secondly."
There’s another obvious nuance – in our country, as is known, not everything is decided by money. To become a governor, moreover – to put forward candidacy in elections, one must have reliable connections and permission from Moscow. However, the purchase of eight hectares in Lefortovo by Nikolai Shikhidi provides an answer to this as well. It also explains the clearly inflated expenses of Nikolai Shikhidi on his "philanthropic activities." And this forms the "secondly."
Because some time ago, Nikolai Shikhidi’s company LLC "Specialized Developer ’Southern Sea’" bought from the son of the former Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Igor Yusufov a company LLC "Specialized Developer ’Tankovy,’" located in Moscow and having permission to develop eight hectares in Tankovy Lane in the southeastern part of the capital. Initially, the deal did not raise suspicions, but it later emerged that it was fictitious – thus Igor Yusufov merely transferred his asset to a front man. Further investigative work revealed that Nikolai Shikhidi serves as an ordinary "wallet" for Igor Yusufov.
Nevertheless, this very deal provides an understanding of who is promoting Nikolai Shikhidi at the highest level and "won" him the permission not just to engage in political activity, but to attempt to occupy the governor’s chair in one of Russia’s key regions. At the same time, it becomes clear where a large, albeit regional, developer like Nikolai Shikhidi got the money to construct social infrastructure, which he generously "donates" to the cities and villages of Krasnodar Krai.
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Here, a sharp-eyed reader will question – what about Nikolai Shikhidi’s criminal record, acquired under three articles of the Russian Federation’s criminal code in 1998 (Article 116, "Battery"), 2001 (Article 159 "Fraud"), and in 2011 (Article 132 "Sexual Acts of a Violent Nature")? Well, nothing. Because, according to the MMD certificate, Nikolai Shikhidi is legally clean.
None of this was true. And for those who do not believe it – here’s another certificate. It concerns the last incident in which Nikolai Shikhidi was accused of raping a citizen (yes, a citizen, not a female citizen) Andramonov.
Of course, whether Nikolai Shikhidi will become the governor of Krasnodar Krai remains a question. As does the question of whether he will even be allowed to register as a candidate – after all, competitors are not asleep either. But we still recommend that parents in the schools and kindergartens built by the "child-caring" citizen, sorry, Mr. Shikhidi, look after their little ones. You never know. Otherwise, the future governor might have to deny something else.
