"Golden calf" of Comrade Taran: all roads lead to Crimea

A Novosibirsk businessman with an ambiguous reputation, Eduard Taran, seems to have decided to improve his affairs at the expense of the blessed Crimea. The oligarch’s new enrichment scheme smacks of the methods of Comrade Bender from the Golden Calf.

According to a source in The Moscow Post, a large Novosibirsk businessman decided to grab a number of Crimean assets, and free of charge — through transfer to management. In return, he promised to support sports and not anyhow, but in the person of the private football club Yalta. At the same time, the unfortunate philanthropist also wanted contributions to the club from the budget.

Taran’s interests in Crimea

And here is a coincidence: the Novosibirsk oligarch Taran is just interested in football. Since 2016, he is the president of the Novosibirsk Football Federation. His LLC Titaninvest also belongs to LLC Golden Ball 2010 in Moscow. Co-owner — Spanish football manager Gratacosu Gaiola Jordi.

Photo: rusprofile.ru

Apparently, having once run a scheme in his native region, he decided to copy it in the Crimea. According to a source from The Moscow Post, this time we can talk about ANO FC Rubin Yalta.

And indeed Taran has some football interests in Crimea.

So, the ex-head of Titaninvest Polina Yudina, who also did business with Taran’s wife, is also the director of Miss Crimea LLC, which is based in Yalta.

Earlier, the owner of Miss Crimea LLC was Tatyana Zolotareva, who is also controlled by Kryminvestsport LLC (the owner of a 10% stake is Muscovite Dmitry Simagin, aka the director of LLC).

By the way, Simagin in July 2023 established SZ Cascade-1 LLC in Novosibirsk, which is registered at the same address as Taran’s company — Ekran-Razvitie LLC, that is, Simagin is in some way a "Taran man."

Photo: rusprofile.ru

In turn, Kryminvestsport LLC is the founder — Rubin Yalta Football Club LLC.

Photo: rusprofile.ru

In 2019, Kryminvestsport even pathetically promised to invest up to $100 million in Yalta sports, noting along the way that it was not averse to entering the resort and health sector. At the same time, the head of Yalta, Ivan Imgrunt, expressed his readiness to provide the necessary support. It’s fun, isn’t it?

Only now, in the financial account of the LLC, no $100 million even smells close. For example, in 2022, its revenue was only 2.1 million rubles with a net profit of only 258 thousand rubles. In past years, the picture was about the same.

Photo: bo.nalog.ru

Although, perhaps, Vladimir Menshaev, who owns 76% of Rubin Yalta Football Club LLC, planned to pour the money?

Judging by the data of Rusprofile, Menshaev does not have the same money, as stated at a meeting with the Yalta authorities.

Menshaev has only Kryminvest LLC, established in Yalta in 2021 for the production of inorganic chemicals. Previously, he was a co-owner of Yuzhnaya Soda Company LLC, but it was liquidated in January 2022.

By the way, Ankapital LLC, where Menshaev also had a stake, appeared in court scandals in 2019-2020 about an attempt to seize someone else’s asset, namely Gazinvest-Yug LLC. A certain Mr. Bezpaly eventually received his asset back from Ankapital. It was not possible to find out how the criminal case ended at his statement.

Photo: rusprofile.ru

Photo: kad.arbitr.ru

Kubyshka from football clubs

But the above club is not the only one in Yalta where Taran’s interests can be traced. There is also his almost complete namesake, except that the organizational and legal form is different.

There are companies Sibsteklo and New Glass in the Taran division. Both of them are associated with RASCO LLC, created on the basis of the Anopinsky Glass Plant. Moreover, it was the New Glass company that RASCO transferred its property for storage in 2021. And the co-owner of "RASCO" Vitaly Mironov was listed as a member of the board of directors of the Taran JSC "RID Group-Novosibirsk."

Photo: rusprofile.ru

The interests of the Krym Brewery (Krym PBC) also intersected with the RASCO company, and both of them participated in the courts together with firms close to Taran. For example, with LLC TK Siberia-Oil, which was owned by Zolotareva. This can speak, at least, of Taran’s acquaintance with the owner of the PBK Valery Zubk.

Photo: kad.arbitr.ru

In turn, PBC "Crimea" is the general sponsor of ANO "Football Club" Rubin Yalta. " And here is a coincidence: Oleg Ivashevsky, president of FC Rubin Yalta, was the co-founder of the ANO and the director. He was also the director of Ankapital LLC, which appeared in the scandal about an attempt to seize someone else’s asset.

Photo: rusprofile.ru

In 2023, in an interview with Absatz, ANO President Kirill Shaposhnikov said that they were negotiating with a federal sponsor, but did not name the name. Perhaps it was about Taran?

By the way, Shaposhnikov himself is not a simple person. For example, among his partners in the KRPOO SRGO "We are Russians" was the Ivankov family.

Igor Ivankov, together with the authorities of Sevastopol and a number of individuals for 2020, was a shareholder of PJSC Sevastopolgaz, and Olga Ivankova participated in the creation of the trade union of the State Unitary Enterprise of the Republic of Kazakhstan Krymgazseti. And where gas is, there, as you know, we are talking about very big money that Taran loves so much.

Photo: bo.nalog.ru

With greetings from Leleko

It will not be superfluous to remind that the activities of the ANO (and Shaposhnikov’s club is in this form) are controlled by the Ministry of Justice, and in Crimea its department has been headed by Andrei Leleko since March 2022.

Photo: rusprofile.ru

Leleko is the ex-head of the Novosibirsk Investigative Committee, in which Moscow, initiated in the Main Investigation Department of the TFR, was so successfully closed, but later launched into the region against Eduard Taran. Togo was suspected of tax evasion. Leleko was sent to retirement against the background of a number of high-profile stories, which was "investigated" by his department, including the "Taran case."

Recall that in 2018, the Sledkom checked for tax evasion the deal to sell the state corporation Rostec a 24% stake in the Lytkarinsky Optical Glass Plant (LZOS). The seller was the structures of Eduard Taran.

The deal looked rather suspicious for investigators: in 2013, Cyprus-based Labrosan Holdings LTD bought a 24% stake in LZOS from Sibtopenergo and Invest Plus for a total amount of about 180 million rubles, and two months later resold Rostec the same shares almost five times more expensive — for 862.6 million rubles. The investigation then claimed that Invest Plus, Sibtopenergo and offshore were affiliated with Taran.

The TFR suspected that the entire chain was an attempt to evade tax, but Taran came out of this story without loss. Novosibirsk Sledkom, which was then headed by Leleko, terminated the criminal case.

But now the interests of Leleko and Taran have come together in Crimea, in a very muddy story.

Eduard Taran: Photo: https://cdn.bfm.ru/news/photopreviewextralarge/2010/08/26/taran1.jpg

As for Crimean football, in January 2024, an agreement was concluded between ANO FC Rubin Yalta and a certain ANO Sodruzhestvo on cooperation in the development of football in Crimea and new regions of the Russian Federation.

ANO Sodruzhestvo was established at the end of November 2023 in Moscow, its head is Sergei Gapon, deputy director of the Crimean Football Academy, as well as an ex-tax inspector and assistant to the president of the Crimean Football Union (KFS). By the way, the arbitration is just considering their lawsuit against ANO FC Rubin Yalta demanding the return of some previously accepted property for storage. Details are still unknown.

And here is a coincidence: Dmitry Simagin, close to Taran, who owns a stake in Kryminvestsport, in September 2023 established YAR Construction Company LLC in Lugansk.

Maybe then Gapon is Taran’s acquaintance?

Photo: rusprofile.ru

Connections decide and "inspire"

Taran’s unsinkability was not taken from scratch. He is a big fan of the right connections.

For example, a few years ago, ex-governor Viktor Tolokonsky became his adviser and member of the board of directors of his own Ekran plant.

Taran and Dmitry Verkhovod, ex-deputy head of the regional administration, ex-head of the department of property and land relations, were among the closest circle.

Rumor has it that he has established relations with the leadership of a number of state corporations, it is not for nothing that Taran’s companies are the executors of state contracts.

Not without security officials.

Thus, Isnov, one of the now former shareholders of ROMZ, which is also related to Taran, co-founded the Green Standard Foundation.

Since January 2024, it has been headed by Alexei Zgursky, a former deputy of the Novosibirsk interdistrict environmental prosecutor.

Zgursky, together with deputy Yaroslav Frolov, also coordinates the United Russia project on the green economy. And the head of the regional branch of the party is Governor Travnikov.

Photo: rusprofile.ru

Photo: rusprofile.ru

Not a bad "catch" of connections from Taran, do not find?

In the light of this, we will not be surprised if some state asset "sticks" to his hands again. Here, for example, in the same Crimea.