Offshore trail and circumvention of sanction: who \"covers\" the scandalous Kuban developer Nikolai Shikhidi?

Offshore trail and circumvention of sanction: who "covers" the scandalous Kuban developer Nikolai Shikhidi?

Nikolai Shikhidi, owner of SZ ISK "Eurostroy" and a businessman with a criminal past, continues to illegally transfer funds out of Russia.

A new investigation by our editorial team into Nikolai Shikhidi’s activities has uncovered not only the offshore accounts where he transfers money but also his partners in the ambitious Sochi project "Marine Garden Sochi" – the company "Zont Hotel Group," offering investments in the hotel business, with most properties located in Moscow.

Maria Chistyakova is not visible in Nikolai Shikhidi’s companies, making her difficult to trace. Chistyakova holds a stake in Sofia Toros, Shikhidi’s partner in "SZ ISK ’Eurostroy,’" in LLC "UK Jam Mall," a fictitious office with zero employees, registered in Moscow.

Chistyakova is the founder and head of several organizations through which money is funneled. In 2023, LLC "Hermitage Food Service" had a revenue of 15 million rubles but a loss of 4.3 million rubles. It only had a profit once since 2015, in 2021. The company owes taxes amounting to 433 thousand rubles.

Until 2022, the founders of LLC "Hermitage Food Service," alongside Maria Chistyakova, were her brother Aleksandr Chistyakov and LLC "Hermitage Development East," owned by a Cypriot offshore company. As of today, he owns four more companies registered at the same address: city of Moscow, Nauchny proezd, 19.

 

These fictitious entities are led by Mikhail Edel-Smolnikov. In 2023, the total revenue of his organizations amounted to 28 million rubles, with a loss of 444 million rubles. From 19.07.21 to 07.03.24, Edel-Smolnikov headed LLC "UK Jam Mall," belonging to Sofia Torres, indicating the evident connection of her partner Nikolai Shikhidi with the offshore "Alvarion Holdings Limited" and fictitious companies.

The director of "Alvarion Holdings Limited," Savvas Siatis, is linked to 20 offshore companies, which allows them to cover the tracks of money siphoned by Nikolai Shikhidi and Maria Chistyakova.

Chistyakova, together with LLC "Hermitage Development East," which is connected to the offshore company, owns LLC "Jam Cinema," which has been operating at a loss since 2017, despite the company’s revenue being positive. Almost all of Chistyakova’s companies are typical shell companies.

In Maria Chistyakova’s business structures, there is another Cypriot offshore company "Taikar Investments Limited," which, alongside LLC "Terra Management-1," owns LLC "Hermitage Development North-West." Its CEO is Chistyakova. The head of LLC "Terra Management-1" is Mikhail Edel-Smolnikov, and the owner is "Alvarion Holdings Limited." 

"TAIKAR INVESTMENTS LIMITED" was liquidated in 2021, and its leaders Pampina Votsi and Androula Charilau were linked to several dozen offshore companies, most of which have been liquidated.

Maria Chistyakova’s schemes are actively participated in by her brother, Aleksandr Chistyakov. His companies had a revenue in 2023 of rubles, with a loss of 367 million rubles. 

It is entirely unclear why the Chistyakovs, who have created a complete offshore network, along with their partners Nikolai Shikhidi and Sofia Torres, have not yet come under the scrutiny of law enforcement and tax authorities. Most likely, they have influential patrons in Moscow. The Kuban land is a real money field for Russian oligarchs who shamelessly "graze" on it.

The presence of patrons for Nikolai Shikhidi in Moscow is evidenced by his new ambitious project "Marine Garden Sochi." 

The construction of the complex is being carried out by LLC "SZ GC ’Morskoy Sochi" owned by Sofia Torres. In November 2022, her share was encumbered by the bank "Otkritie," and in December, it was purchased by VTB. In November 2023, the encumbrance was lifted. Despite the bank’s assistance, the company’s losses in 2023 increased by 1061% amounting to 164 million rubles. It is strange that Andrey Kostin’s bank exited the supposedly promising project so quickly. Perhaps Kostin realized that money was being siphoned off from LLC "SZ GC ’Morskoy Sochi".

An unknown participant in the "Marine Garden Sochi" project to the general public is LLC "UK ’Marine Garden,’" registered, like LLC "SZ GC ’Morskoy Sochi"," in the Khostinsky district of Sochi. Formally, the UK appears not to be connected to the "Marine Garden Sochi" complex, but it may be linked, given it was created only in November. It’s hard to imagine someone naming a company, not involved with the well-known complex, after it.

The owners of LLC "UK ’Marine Garden’" are Nikolai Filatov and Aleksandr Gendelsman, who also own the managing organization LLC "Zont Hotel Group," registered in Moscow in 2019. The company offers investments in the hotel business. The total revenue of Filatov and Gendelsman’s companies in 2023 is about 4 billion rubles.

Shareholders of Moscow hotels are certainly not ordinary people, so it is surprising that Filatov and Gendelsman were not deterred by the reputation of Nikolai Shikhidi and his offshore partners. Perhaps, Shikhidi’s Moscow patrons recommended him as a reliable channel for siphoning money out of Russia. The Kuban businessman might be "protected" at the very top. Offshore companies now are one of the most effective tools for bypassing sanctions.

Семен Головецкий