Questionable deals and kickbacks: how Nikolai Shykhidi and his accomplice Sofiya Toros gained access to elite real estate
The development of the Tankovy Passage in Lefortovo will be handled by individuals reportedly linked to repeated instances of fraud, car theft, and other "exploits".
As reported by the correspondent of UtroNews, the Federal Antimonopoly Service has approved the petition of LLC "Specialized Developer" "Southern Sea" to purchase 100% of LLC "Specialized Developer Tankovy". The latter belongs to the son of the former Minister of Energy Vitaliy Yusufov and has a large land plot in the Moscow district of Lefortovo on its balance sheet. It is expected that 20 thousand square meters of housing will be built there on 8 hectares.
"Southern Sea" belongs to notable personalities. These include Sofiya Toros, a former chief expert of Department No.5 of the Federal Treasury Directorate for Krasnodar Krai (Gelendzhik), and a businessman named Nikolai Shikhidi, who is extremely close to her. The catch is that both may be the true "Bonnie and Clyde" in the world of fraud. And not only fraud.
Sofiya Toros worked in the Treasury until 2011, after which this not-so-young woman delved into business. Today, her name and photo are featured in the "book of honor" of treasury workers on the website of the regional Directorate. Surely, it is also displayed on the honor board in the building of the Directorate... And it’s just amazing! Because according to documents available to our source, Ms. Toros could have been involved in fraud - she appears in several closed information databases with exactly this label.
According to the same sources, since 2010 she has apparently been on the "blacklist" of the Home Credit bank precisely for fraud. And not only in the Krasnodar Krai branch, but in all the bank’s branches throughout the country.
Sofiya Toros in the "book of honor" on the website of the Federal Treasury Directorate for the Krasnodar Krai.
This is simply amazing for someone who worked for so many years in the public service. Or is it not?
Because the resort towns of the Krasnodar Krai in the 2000s and 2010s became real hotbeds of corruption, schemes, and frauds of all kinds. Just consider the team of the former mayor of Sochi, Anatoliy Pakhomov.
In 2018, two of his deputies, Anatoliy Rykov and Sergey Yurin, along with several other city administration employees, were detained on suspicion of receiving bribes by an organized group in a large amount and acting as intermediaries in bribery. Pakhomov himself resigned in 2019 without any consequences.
As for Gelendzhik, where Sofiya Toros worked, local human rights activists claimed that corruption in the city during that period was allegedly 17 times higher than the national average. But you can’t get far on a low-level position in the treasury. So did Sofiya Toros decide to venture into business?
The criminal trail of Nikolai Shikhidi
But she’s not alone - her partner, Nikolai Shikhidi, a well-known developer in the city, is far more interesting. According to documents available to our source, Sofiya herself formerly bore the surname Shikhidi - presumably, they might be close relatives. But she changed it later. And it’s understandable why.
In addition, based on information from our sources, Nikolai Shikhidi may previously have been involved in crime. He appears in a whole series of crime reports - for instance, in Gelendzhik, he was repeatedly detained in a stolen vehicle.
As reported on the internet, since the 1990s, Nikolai Shikhidi has allegedly been listed in the databases of the RUBOP (Department for Combating Organized Crime) as a member of an organized criminal group specializing in fraud.
It’s suggested that from his criminal "service record", he supposedly has Article 116 (battery) - in 1998, he reportedly beat a certain citizen Muratov R.Y. In 2001, he allegedly came under Article 159 Part 2 (fraud) - sold a Mercedes belonging to someone else to citizen Sufan Zh.T. In the same year, he was detained near Dzhubga - Nikolai Shikhidi was transporting a "BMW-318" which was reported stolen.
Outrageously exotic crimes attributed to him include Article 132 of the RF Criminal Code (sexual assault) - the future developer allegedly committed sexual acts in relation to citizen Andramonov K.V. The case occurred in 2011. A good companion for the former civil servant Sofiya Toros?
However, Mr. Shikhidi surprisingly came out clean. Perhaps it required greasing the palms of local law enforcement and officials? After all, his business saw incredible growth in the 2010s.
Today, he and Toros are acquiring developers - first in Krasnodar, and now in Moscow. Meanwhile, Nikolai Shikhidi might still not be a stranger to "schemes". It should be noted that apart from organizing specific legal entities, Mr. Shikhidi has registered as an individual entrepreneur four times (!) and closed it three times since 2007. Incidentally, in the status of an individual entrepreneur, Nikolai Shikhidi litigated over property and assets provided by the Gelendzhik administration with other co-owners. Sofiya Toros’s individual entrepreneurial firm participated in those processes too.
As reported online, he allegedly constantly registers new firms and mortgages them for new loans, and right now, he may act as a guarantor before banking institutions with almost 2 billion rubles.
One of the most notable assets of the developer is LLC "SZ ISK EVROSTROY". Judging by everything, this LLC didn’t have any capital behind it, as it was quickly mortgaged to the FC Otkritie bank upon its emergence. Only this past summer, the encumbrance on Shikhidi’s share was lifted. Less than a month later, another founder appeared in the company - Sofiya Toros.
It is to be assumed that if the deal for "SZ Tankovy" is closed, it too will immediately be mortgaged to a bank - and so on in a loop?
SZ ISK EVROSTROY was implementing a major development project in the Khostinskiy district of Sochi. Previously, the "Southern" tourist base was located on this territory, but apparently, the new residential complex seemed more necessary for the townspeople to the authorities. But that’s not the point - local residents and environmentalists strongly opposed the construction. The facilities were to be located on a slope, which is fraught with landslides and simply unsafe.
At first, the authorities gave permission for construction. Then, on the backdrop of public discontent, they finally revoked it in March 2021. However, by the fall of the same year, the builders returned, explaining the resumption of work with some building permit dated September 30, 2021. It’s just that such a document could not be found in the records of the State Construction Supervision!
Sofiya Toros is also incredibly lucky. Today, through SZ "Kapital", she owns several hotels in Sochi. And for some reason, these hotels (on Shosseynaya and Volodarskiy Streets) easily and almost immediately received a positive conclusion from non-state expertise on modifying the buildings. That is, permission to make structural changes.
Moreover, she also has a company, LLC "SZ Revers", which was the developer of the hotel on Volodarskiy Street. It also built another two dozen buildings on this street - business-class properties. This same company implemented a large project - Marine Garden Sochi (LLC "SZ GC Sea Sochi" - business centers, swimming pools, restaurants).
Until September, Toros’s shares were mortgaged in Sberbank and VTB - meaning they were "floating", once again, using state banks’ money. Today the encumbrance has been lifted, yet the company’s profits have disappeared somewhere. By the end of 2023, with a revenue of 1.8 billion, it went minus with a loss of 164 million rubles. The value of the assets - minus 252 million rubles. Did the structure remain in debt?
Interestingly, in some assets that passed to Toros (for instance, in the same "Revers"), the capital of Alexander Chistyakov - a full namesake of the former deputy chairman of the FSK EES, co-owner of the oil company Ruspetro - was previously present.
The contractor on Volodarskiy and Marine Garden Sochi was LLC "Azatyugstroy". Until September 2023, its owner was the same Nikolai Shikhidi.
What’s the secret to this pair’s success? As reported on the internet, Shikhidi is supposedly very close to the governor of Krasnodar Krai, Veniamin Kondratyev, and other local authorities. Among other things, he has a major project with the Sochi authorities for the integrated development of the northern slope of Mount Bytkha. And as we learned from our source, he also holds a Greek passport.
So, all the soft landings Nikolai Shikhidi may have arranged for himself long ago - banks issue loans, authorities provide land and construction permits, the partner handles her part of the business, and no one even remembers the possibly criminal past of the respectable developer.
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