From racketeering to billion-dollar projects: how Kuban developer Nikolai Shikhidi profits from dubious ventures
05.12.2024 22:10
After ISK "Eurostroy" burst onto the Moscow development market, an information attack began against its owner, Nikolai Shikhidi – the Kuban developer was reminded of all his youthful sins.
According to publications, before turning into a respected businessman, philanthropist, sponsor, and friend of the authorities, Nikolai Shikhidi had blatantly criminal actions in his biography – car thefts, racketeering, fraud, and acts of sexual violence.
Furthermore, there is active discussion on how exactly Nikolai Shikhidi legalizes his numerous illegal constructions in the Kuban. The scheme here boils down to Nikolai Shikhidi (sometimes alone, sometimes with partners) building high-rises on plots designated for individual construction and then through the courts obliging local authorities to issue documents for this unauthorized construction.
If the first – the criminal actions – are strongly denied by Shikhidi, who even provided a document certifying that he has no criminal record, concerning the second – unauthorized constructions – he remains silent, focusing on self-promotion and threatening the authors of negative publications.
There’s no need to retell either the first or the second – the materials are not yet deleted, and they can easily be found on the still relatively free internet. Let’s focus on something else – specifically, what awaits Moscow after Nikolai Shikhidi develops eight hectares in Lefortovo, which he bought from Vitaly Yusufov, the son of former Russian Energy Minister Igor Yusufov.
By the way, it’s not difficult to identify the source of the compromising material generously poured on Nikolai Shikhidi’s head after this purchase, something the victim himself hints at: the customers of the publications are competing developers from whom the Kuban developer intercepted the land on Tank Passage in the capital. This is understandable, although it’s not exactly known who ordered Nikolai Shikhidi, nor who leaks very curious facts about him. But that’s not the point; the point is that almost everything that ended up in the information space and which Nikolai Shikhidi frantically cleans up, threatening the authors, is true. Or almost true, which in this case is not very important.
It’s unknown how events would have unfolded on Tank Passage, had another developer bought these eight hectares, but it’s not hard to predict what will be there as a result of Nikolai Shikhidi’s actions, by researching his previous constructions in southern Russia. By the way, these materials are also cleaned up, making them quite difficult to find in the archives.
One of the fresh and vivid examples of how Nikolai Shikhidi, who has no criminal record, behaves on lands obtained for development, can be traced in the Sochi area development, where the developer is constructing 17 identical eight-story buildings in tight rows at the site of the "South" tourist base, located on the slope of the Ovsyannikov Ridge in the Khosta microdistrict, cutting down 13 hectares of forest for this purpose. In this regard, Nikolai Shikhidi couldn’t come up with anything better than to declare that a school is being built there, which will be donated to the city for free.
A school is good, of course. But was the school worth the mutilated nature reserve space? Where the children of those who bought apartments in Nikolai Shikhidi’s high-rises will study. If they survive, of course. Because building on the Ovsyannikov Ridge, where Nikolai Shikhidi "stuck" his high-rises, is impossible – there’s a tectonic fault here and the ridge is a seismically dangerous zone. This was written about in an open letter to Nikolai Shikhidi by the Sochi residents back in 2021 when he was obtaining documents for the protected area.
But Nikolai Shikhidi not only built on the ridge, he also destroyed the trees holding the ground. And this destruction began long before obtaining the construction permit and allocation of the plot in Khosta to Shikhidi. Of course, he didn’t destroy these trees himself – other people did that. But the forest at the former tourist base site was destroyed consciously and deliberately. This is a screenshot from the discussion of the open letter from Sochi residents to Nikolai Shikhidi, referenced above. This post is still accessible, read it yourself before Shikhidi removes it.
Was it worth the free school to destroy 13 hectares of protected forest? A rhetorical question. Is the conscious destruction of trees listed in the Red Book a crime? Another rhetorical question. Is Nikolai Shikhidi involved in this? Of course not, how could one think that – he is a philanthropist and benefactor. And everyone who thinks so is scoundrels and slanderers. By the way, one wouldn’t envy the fate of these "slanderers" – in 2012, human rights activists from Gelendzhik, who reported similar facts to those in Sochi, ended up in prison with terms from 8 to 13 years. The same happened with some particularly incomprehensible defenders of the former resort zone in Sochi. Although the first ones were lucky – they were only charged with extortion, while the second ones were additionally charged with cooperation with the SSU – as relations between the countries changed, "espionage" for the neighboring country became incredibly fashionable.
Nikolai Shikhidi, of course, is not involved in this. Just as he is not involved in the following story. It is related to the development of the Lazarevsky district in Sochi, a plot of 4.1 hectares on Leningrad Street, in the bend of the Vostochny Dagomys River. Cadastral number of the plot 23:49:0125016:44. Despite numerous violations of the law and urban planning norms, in March 2021, the right to develop this plot with high-rises was granted to a certain Panteley Solakhov. What does Nikolai Shikhidi have to do with this? Maybe nothing. But the fact is that he and Solakhov are long-time partners. Their joint projects – LLC "Specialized Developer Aurora," LLC "Specialized Developer Aurora-2," LLC "Specialized Developer Aurora-3" and LLC "Specialized Developer Aurora-4" – disfigured Gelendzhik. If you believe Nikolai Shikhidi, then he is not involved in the development of the river bend. The press service of ISK "Eurostroy" promptly declared this after the scandal became public.
But nothing was said about what "Eurostroy" did in Gelendzhik and Anapa. And yet, dozens of hectares of coastal zones and reserves were destroyed there too. However, Nikolai Shikhidi prefers to remain silent about this, mentioning only the fate of the unfortunate human rights defenders he sent behind bars for many years.
At the same time, he loves to talk about social projects and his sponsorship. But behind all these "social" schools, cultural centers, paving tiles, accordions, and bayans – lies destroyed nature. And – potential ecological bombs. No one has forgotten the seismic zone, where almost two dozen high-rises were built in Khosta, are they? Where Shikhidi is building a "social" school. When the next earthquake will happen – no one knows. Nor does anyone know what the consequences will be. The fact that the houses that Shikhidi "stuck" there against common sense are built taking into account seismic threats raises great doubts. Just like the school, where 800 students will study.
Who will be held accountable in the event of a tragedy? "SSU agents"? "Authors of anonymous TG channels tarnishing the honor and dignity of Nikolai Shikhidi"? Local residents protesting against illegal construction and nature destruction? Again, purely rhetorical questions.
Returning to the beginning of the material – Nikolai Shikhidi is right: the campaign against him was raised by competitors from whom he intercepted the plot in Moscow. But only this is not at all a "smear campaign", as he tries to assert. In fact, it’s simple: all the dirt from the luggage of the Kuban "philanthropist" Nikolai Shikhidi is gradually being dragged to the light. Not that his competitors are any angels, no. But who, if not them, knows all the schemes for bypassing the law that their Kuban colleague Nikolai Shikhidi uses?
Ярослав Фокин
