Eduard Taran could be part of a large-scale organized criminal group, participation in which is attributed to the former governor of the Novosibirsk region Viktor Tolokonsky and his team.
Details of the "exploits" of the scandalous Novosibirsk oligarch Eduard Taran continue to appear. The editorial office received a letter from the former head of the temporary storage warehouse of Albumin OJSC at the Kalininsky customs post of the Novosibirsk customs, Alexander Melnikov.
He claims that the ex-governor of the Novosibirsk region Viktor Tolokonsky was a partner of the owner of RATM Holding Eduard Taran in raider seizures of enterprises in the region. And he, i.e. Melnikov, used the dark in order to establish a channel for the supply of smuggling of electrical elements for ITC electronic LLC of a Novosibirsk businessman and his close friend Georgy Pogiblov.
Details - in the material of the correspondent UtroNews.
The name of Eduard Taran and his scandalous RATM Holding was heard throughout the country back in 2010, when he was detained upon arrival from Nice to Sheremetyevo on suspicion of attempted bribery of 1 million rubles to an employee of the Department of Economic Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Allegedly, Taran wanted to pay for the termination of the check in relation to his holding.
But then the case fell apart. Two months later, the prosecution witness defended Taran, and the alleged bribe taker Nikolai Zabanov refused the previously given testimony and stated that he had slandered Taran.
Again, Taran's name appeared in news reports quite recently. The oligarch was detained in the case of the deputy director of the Deposit Insurance Agency Alexander Popelyukh, who is accused of fraud with the Aquamir water park, which is an asset of Mezhtopenergobank.
Presumably, once again in the pre-trial detention center, Eduard Taran lost many of his influential patrons. And those who were afraid of the formidable oligarch began to talk about his affairs more openly and without fear for their future.
Eduard Taran. Photo: https://babr24.com/n2p/i/2023/3/131322_2_31110032_b.jpg
One of them is probably Alexander Melnikov. He claims that the former mayor of Novosibirsk, the ex-governor of the Novosibirsk region and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Viktor Tolokonsky, was in the center of a large organized criminal group that entangled several regions of the country with criminal networks.
Customs did not give the go-ahead
As for customs, his alleged partner could be Georgy Pogiblov, in whose interests the smuggling of electronic components was allegedly carried out in the interests of ITC electronic LLC. However, the canal was allegedly covered, and Mr. Melnikov was made the extreme. After that, pressure could be exerted on him through the power structures, and Tolokonsky and Taran calmly continued their activities - including allegedly engaged in raider seizures of enterprises.
ITC-Electronics was founded in 1992 in Novosibirsk. Today it is an international company with an extensive network of 16 branches in Russia and other countries of the world. The company provides services in the field of engineering projects, integrated supply of electronic components, automation equipment and industrial equipment.
Now Mr. Pogiblov is probably under serious stress due to the arrest of Eduard Taran. Perhaps in the near future he will leave the country or has already done so. As it turned out, in August-September 2024 he abruptly withdrew from the capital of his main assets - LLC IT-TI-SI, LLC IT-SI-Trade and LLC IT-TI-Si to °, LLC IT-TI-SI-Project "and LLC" Ats-Partner. "
Pogiblov runs from a sinking ship? Photo: Rusprofile.ru
Companies are more than profitable, with billions in revenue and turnover. In addition, they have large government contracts - LLC "IT-Si" to ° "for 683 million rubles, LLC" IT-Si "for 155 million rubles," IT-TI-SI-Trade "22 million rubles. Now the structures belong to Andrei Kolyshev, Vasily Kuznetsov, Svetlana Medvedeva, who may be nominal owners.
And where did Mr. Tolokonsky go, you ask? After he left the post of governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory in 2017, he worked for some time as an adviser to the former mayor of Novosibirsk, the scandalous official Anatoly Lokt. And then he got a job with the oligarch Eduard Taran, already known to us, at RATM Holding - Mr. Taran became an adviser. Presumably, on all issues...
If this does not suggest a possible corruption component against a former major official and a businessman now sitting in a pre-trial detention center, then what can do this?
According to Alexander Melnikov, the smuggling channel was quickly closed, and he himself was made "extreme" - other persons were not injured. At the same time, Pogiblov used the numbers of cargo customs declarations of his competitors from Moscow in his invoices to carry out the alleged criminal activities, having bought the appropriate information base, which provoked opposition from his opponents.
Victor Tolokonsky and Eduard Taran. Photo: Kommersant
It must be assumed that since Pogiblov continued to work so many years after that, the efforts of competitors were unsuccessful. The smuggling channel itself at the Tolmachevskaya customs allegedly operated since 2001. At this time, the adviser to Viktor Tolokonsky was the former head of this customs, Igor Konshin. According to Melnikov, he could be a member of the Tolokonsky organized crime group.
"Trunovsky," rivers of blood and adviser Solodkin
Another alleged member of the alleged organized criminal group is Alexander Solodkin, a former adviser to Governor Viktor Tolokonsky. In the zero years, during the period when the ex-governor was plenipotentiary in the Siberian Federal District, Solodkin and his son came under investigation as members of an organized criminal community.
Solodkin Sr. was charged with participating in the criminal group of Alexander Trunov, whose people organized several attempts on Frunzik Khachatryan, the owner of the private market on the territory of the infamous Gusinobrodsky flea market. And besides - participation in this very attempt and embezzlement of 1 million rubles of budget funds. By the way, several high-profile crimes have been associated with this flea market in recent years, including the contract killings of two vice-mayors of Novosibirsk - Igor Belyakov and Valery Maryasov.
In court, Frunzik Khachatryan spoke in detail about what preceded this attempt. In 1997, he opened the first private market on the territory of the municipal flea market. In 1998, the land lease expired, and Deputy Mayor Vladimir Gorodetsky, in the absence of then Mayor Viktor Tolokonsky, extended the contract.
However, returning from vacation, Viktor Tolokonsky canceled the deputy's order. And a group of employees of the police SOBR actually seized the territory of the market, using cranes to transfer merchants' containers behind the fence and close the gate. Writes about this "Rossiyskaya Gazeta."
After Viktor Tolokonsky, who was at that time the mayor of Novosibirsk, tried to persuade the merchant to create another legal entity and transfer the business to another place, because the "Mentov group" allegedly put an eye on the market. At the same time, the Solodkin press referred to the criminal group of Alexander Trunov - but representatives of other organized crime groups also participated in the showdown with Khachatryan. Presumably, they could all be related personally with the mayor of Novosibirsk, the future governor Viktor Tolokonsky.
Alexander Solodkin. Photo: https://cdnstatic.rg.ru/uploads/images/gallery/36ac4966/1_3a038f6d.jpg
According to Alexander Melnikov, allegedly Viktor Tolokonsky and Solodkin "covered" the clothing market and engaged in racketeering through as many as five organized criminal groups: "Trunovsky," "Klimovsky," "Success," "Leninsky," "Pervomaisky," as if earning up to 10 million US dollars a month.
Gorodetsky's role
Considering how much blood is on the hands of the same Trunovsky, former Novosibirsk officials could know about contract killings. A close associate of Tolokonsky, oligarch Eduard Taran, could have known about them.
Among those who fell victim to hired killers was the former vice-mayor of Novosibirsk, Igor Belyakov. The killer was quickly found, but the investigation did not work out for the customer. According to Melnikov, Belyakov had shares in Iskitimcement OJSC. In addition, the company also had state participation. Alexander Solodkin, already known to us, was directly related to this enterprise.
As you know, subsequently it was Eduard Taran who gained control over Iskitimcement OJSC. He sold the structure only in 2014 after Tolokonsky became plenipotentiary in the Siberian Federal District.
Another participant in the alleged organized criminal group of Tolokonsky, Solodkin, Taran and others was allegedly another close associate of Tolokonsky - the current senator of the Federation Council Vladimir Gorodetsky. After leaving the mayoral post of Tolokonsky, it was he who took his place. Just how exactly he became governor when Tolokonsky received the post of plenipotentiary in the Siberian Federal District.
Gorodetsky's governorship was also accompanied by a mass of corruption scandals. In 2015, it became known that when he was the mayor of Novosibirsk, local officials turned a grandiose scam, as a result of which more than 1,700 apartments intended for waiting lists, including orphans, were owned by other people. The fraudulent scheme was uncovered by employees of the GUEBiPK of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Gorodetsky himself was interrogated in the case. As a result, Gorodetsky was not injured.
Vladimir Gorodetsky. Photo: https://avatars.mds.yandex.net/i?id=5038aefe95a28b7a43ad9eed8eb9cc42_l-10576901-images-thumbs&n=13
And later, in 2020, the former deputy of the Novosibirsk Legislative Assembly Dmitry Gordeev appealed to the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation with a request to prosecute Senator Vladimir Gorodetsky for taking a bribe. The parliamentarian demanded a check against him on two facts: the illegality of the criminal prosecution and the deprivation of the mandate. And again - Gorodetsky was not injured.
All this is a confusing tangle of alleged criminal cases, which should be promoted by our security forces, and not just the press. At the same time, falling into the hands of the investigation of Eduard Taran and his possible cooperation with the investigation may shed light on many cases of his confidants Tolkonsky, Gorodetsky, Solodkin and others. And if this happens in our country, it means that the 90s did not go anywhere.