Scandal around new headquarters of Federal Court of Arbitration of Volga Federal District: who invented ‘Leroy Merlin scheme’?
The State Housing Fund had to buy up a territory for 25m rubles, but its former owner probably got it illegally and for a penny
As Realnoe Vremya found out, there was opened a criminal case for land fraud, the land the new building of the Federal Court of Arbitration of the Volga Federal District on Dekabristov/Krasnoselskoy Street near the Power Engineering University situated on. According to investigating bodies, the former owner of the land did not have foundations to make the land his own property. Moreover, as soon as the State Housing Fund (SHF) started the construction of the building, the cost of its land soared almost twenty-fivefold. What is more, indirect participants of a scandal with 'Leroy Merlin' on Chistopolskaya Street and participants in the difficult story of the construction of the IT-park of Kazan were implicated.
Big scandal around big construction
A big construction of a building on Dekabristov Street that the Presidential State Housing Stock erects for the Federal Court of Arbitration of the Volga Federal District can convert into a big scandal. As Realnoe Vremya knew, it can concern a possible land fraud where the building, a land, of 1,400 square metres under cadastral number 16:50:090703:24 is situated. The State Housing Fund purchased this and other parcels for the construction of the building.
Talgat Abdullin, the head of the SHF, confirmed the information about possible facts of land fraud in the talk with a correspondent of Realnoe Vremya.
'There are suspicions. The prosecutor is examining the issue. We bought this parcel and paid 25 million,' said Abdullin to Realnoe Vremya.
Land increased twenty-fivefold
According to the data of Rosreestr (Federal Service for State Registration, Cadaster and Cartography), a certain Lomov Aleksey got the right for this parcel in July 2011. And literally within 2 months after the registration of ownership, in September, the land was sold to Borisov Oleg.
The cost of the parcel is not present in the documents of Rosreestr, but a source of Realnoe Vremya in the investigating bodies informs that it is said about 950,000 rubles. And in four months the parcel changed its owner again. It was purchased by Nalyotov Anatoly for 980,000.
The SHF purchased this parcel from Nalyotov in October 2014. But this time the owner wanted to sell it for a price 25 times higher. And the State Housing Fund needed this land because by summer 2014 the construction not only began, but also the very building was erected. It probably explains the price that suddenly ramped up.
The very fact of a sudden rise in the price of the parcel, which is, in general, is a usual thing, is not so interesting as the availability of enough rights of the former owners. The thing is that Lomov, the first owner of the parcel, got it as his own property on the basis of a resolution of the head of Kirovsky district of Kazan No.2123 as for 17 December 1999. However, according to the information of the investigative bodies, the administration of Kirovsky district… didn't sign any resolution like that. It seems that this document is not present in the archive of the administration.
Abdullin as a prisoner of the situation?
But the result of this case is still unclear, but the consequences are inevitable in any case. If the registration of the title deed was backdated and was showed to the SHF in 2014, when the building had been erected, the fraud is obvious. If all the documentation of the former owners is in order, the another question arises: why did the State Housing Fund start the construction of the building in a strange land?
In this case, Talgat Abdullin could be a prisoner of the situation. The conditions of the execution of the construction should be noted as well. The information concerning the designation of the future building, its developer and client were held in secret. Realnoe Vremya wrote it was an administrative building and it was built by the SHF in March 2015. Later Talgat Abdullin said to our newspaper that the establishment could be a new headquarter of the Federal Court of Arbitration of the Volga Federal District. There rumours behind the scenes that the very idea of the construction appeared after federal representatives' insinuation about the necessity to renew the headquarter and follow the example of its 'little' brother – Court of Arbitration of the Republic of Tatarstan.
Heroes of construction of IT-park and Leroy Merlin
As for the participants of the deal, Contur-Focus knows only one Oleg Borisov in Tatarstan, he is the founder of the construction company called Nota Bene PLC, liquidized Vega Group PLC and Ul.Stolyarova, d.7 (7 Stolyarova Street) Homeowners Association. The coincidence of names is not excluded. Moreover, there is no information about Borisov.
The Nalyotovs family's story, who has a train of mysterious stories with properties of Kazan, is more interesting. Anatoly Nalyotov, according to the data of Contur-Focus system, was and is the founder of three companies: Dom Mebeli (Furniture House; furniture and home goods) PLC, Malkhim PLC (production of photo materials; it was closed on 21 July 2009) and Sintur Europe PLC. The latter officially specializes in 'leasing of own property' but in technical service and maintenance of co-generation plant in fact. Here Nalyotov holds 25% and Azat Khafizov, principal and the most prospective banker of Tatarstan in the past, owns 50%. The Khafizovs owned Idelbank. Now Azat Khafizov is the head of Paravitta International Non-Commerce Fund. Vadim Yefimov, the director general, holds a blocking share in 'Sintur Europe'.
According to Contur-Focus, Natalia Nalyotova, Nalyotov's spouse, is the founder of Yaz PLC, EnergoTechnoPlus PLC, Dom Dekora PLC, Engineering PLC and earlier founded Abziy PLC and Kation PLC. Apart from Abziy and Dom Dekora, above-mentioned Vadim Yefimov was the director or co-founder of all these companies.
What is interesting is that some companies had legal proceedings with the Committee of Land and Property Regulations for parcels. At the end of 2013, the city seized a parcel of 1371 square metres from Yaz PLC on Korotchenko Street, Vakhitovsky district, Kazan. It was leased in 2012 for the construction of an office and retail building.
But the most curious fact is that the mass media kept an eye on Nalyotov several times. What is more, all stories, to put it mildly, remind a situation of the parcel of the SHF. This couple's footprints can be found at least in two loud constructions – IT-park of Kazan and the first Leroy Merlin on Amirkhana Street.
In 2008, Natalia Nalyotova became a participant of a scandal about the historic house of the complex of Osokin's cloth manufacture on Peterburgskaya Street. As the 'Vechernyaya Kazan' newspaper (Evening Kazan) informed, Nalyotova was the owner of this house, which was built in 1753, and, according to the preservation order, she was to restore it. But the building was completely demolished. As her spouse Anatoly commented, later Natalia was a victim because on the territory of the former building the construction of IT-park suddenly began. The newspaper also said that Natalia Nalyotova addressed a statement on the illegality of the construction to law enforcement agencies. It seems the story ended peacefully: now Natalia Nalyotova owns an area of 683 square metres for 17,22 million rubles of cadastral value on the territory of Idea technological park.
Executive committee of Kazan replied instead of Bastrykin
In 2013, Natalia Nalyotova's name flashed in the scandal of Leroy Merlin. At the beginning of 2012, in a session of the Municipal Duma of Kazan deputies approved the transfer of the parcel of 68,321 square metres under the number 16:50:110511:41 on Amirkhana Street from a special-purpose service zone of the population. Intellect and Pravo PLC was the initiator of the transfer that, in turn, got the parcel in 2011 for 49 years. As Contur-focus states, it is interesting that Nalyotova was among founders (40% of share) of Intellect and Pravo PLC. The company was also controlled by Aisylu Bubnova (40%) and Sarvar Sabirov, the director of the company, (20%). Then Nalyotova became a 100% owner.
In October Leroy Merlin became the owner (100%) of Intellect and Pravo PLC, and on the territory of the company the erection of a high-profile construction hypermarket began. According to Rosreestr, the executing committee of Kazan owns this land. Then a scandal with the participation of Ildar Kurmanov, ex-Minister of Justice of Tatarstan Midkhat Kurmanov's son, broke. Realnoe Vremya found out that Midkhat Kurmanov himself said about that strange deal. In his statement, which he sent to Aleksandr Bastrykin, the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, (Realnoe Vremya has a copy) he wrote how the French purchased 6,8 ha for 10,000 rubles, that is to say, for €250 and asked to examine the deal for corruption element.
'Writing to Bastrykin, I asked to examine how this transfer of this parcel from the special-purpose zone to the service zone of the population was carried out within 3 days by the decision of the Municipal Duma of Kazan and whether the city had any income from this deal,' said Midkhat Kurmanov.
According to the applicant, his statement was not properly estimated: the Investigative Committee addressed to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, and then it reached the prosecutors of Tatarstan, Kazan and Novo-Savinosky district. 'Overall, the prosecutors re-sent it to the executive committee, and they said that it was legal,' Kurmanov stated.
Is prosecutor against?
The stories of IT-park and Leroy Merlin ended without criminal cases. The fate of the story regarding the land under the SHF is still unclear.
It is known that the principal investigative agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan launched a criminal case on 8 December. On 10 December the prosecutor of Tatarstan denounced the resolution on the opening of the criminal case. But it was not possible to find out details and the further development of the case.
The press centre of prosecutors of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tatarstan neither confirmed nor refuted the information about the case on the parcel on Dekabristov Street, which was opened and then closed. But Realnoe Vremya knew that this story is known in the Kremlin as well.