The investigation is going to prove personal involvement of former State Duma deputy Mikhail Glushchenko in a triple murder in Cyprus in the spring of 2004. «Rumafia’s» reporter has learnt that after the St. Petersburg investigation team of Investigation Committee at Prosecutor’s Office visited Cyprus recently. They say they found the witnesses whose testimony will form the basis of the prosecution case. They also say that Mikhail Glushchenko could be charged with other murders committed in Ukraine and in Greece. In any case, geography of Glushchenko’s interests is impressive.

THROUGH THE YEARS AND MILES

Mikhail Glushchenko is accused of killing a former State Duma deputy, a famous St. Petersburg businessman Vyacheslav Shevchenko, his lawyer and interpreter Victoria Tretyakova, and his business partner and friend Yuri Zorin, as well as extortion of $ 10 million from the brother of the late Sergey Shevchenko.

The triple murder occurred in a private house on the street Kantariaston in Peyia village near the town of Paphos in Cyprus at night of March 24, 2004. The Cypriot lawyer called the Greek police who found three bodies packed in plastic bags piled in the bathtub. The lawyer had an appointment with Vyacheslav Shevchenko at 10 am on March 24; then the deceased had not come to the meeting, the lawyer drove to his house and found Shevchenko’s car parked at the entrance to and the door locked; thus he called the police.

According to investigators, that terrible crime was committed by Mikhail Glushchenko because Vyacheslav Shevchenko refused to pay him for the "protection".

Investigators believe that the ex-deputy extorted 10 million dollars from his the brother of the late well-known Petersburg businessman Sergey Shevchenko. Ostensibly, Glushchenko believed that Shevchenko should it in any amount as compensation - because they stopped paying him for the "protection".

One of the mysteries of this story is the circumstances of its legalization. The criminal case of Cypriote murder committed in March 2004 was initiated in March 2009 - not in Paphos or Athens, but in St. Petersburg. It was not instituted against Glushchenko, but against some unidentified persons. Therefore, on June 12 last year, Mikhail Glushchenko almost freely crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border: he was detained, but immediately released – yet on June 12, Russian force structures had no official complaints against Mr. Glushchenko. The former deputy went to Moscow quietly and from there came to St. Petersburg; then, on June 16, confidently went to the territorial police department to obtain his passport. By that moment, his status in the Cyprus criminal case of 5-year killing was changed to "a suspect" - in connection with which he was arrested right in the passport office.

However, from the very beginning the charge of murder seemed to be slimpsy – as the Petersburg investigation could not take up the evidence base for a crime committed in Cyprus, as the Russian law enforcement agencies did not hold (and could not) any investigations.

Apparently, on this reason the next day after the arrest of Mikhail Glushchenko another criminal case was brought against Glushchenko under the statement on extortion of 10 million dollars written by the brother of the "principal" Cypriote dead man Sergey Shevchenko two weeks earlier. Upon presentation of the second charge against the ex-deputy it became clear that he was not going to get out the clutches of the Russian judicial system easily.

But a year has passed, and the Kuibyshev district court accepted the arguments of St. Petersburg investigation of the need to extend the term of Mikhail Glushchenko arrest. What can the St Petersburg investigation obtain to convince the court of the guilt of the former deputy of committing terrible crimes that occurred many years ago, several thousand kilometers from the Smolny? They say the answer to this question lies in the testimony, which Russian investigators gained in Greece from local residents with the help of the Cyprus Police.

TAXI DRIVER AND THE BRITISH NEIGHBORS

Naturally, we do not know who testified what - it is carefully concealed from the press. But we can assume, based on knowledge of some of the circumstances of this mysterious tragic story.

For example, there was an English family living in the neighborhood with Vyacheslav Shevchenko, on Kantariaston Street in Peyia at the time of the murder – so it may a subject of interest to the investigation. They say that in the night from 23 to 24 March 2004 the British heard loud cries in the house of Shevchenko, however, did not react to it. The next morning, they noticed two men and a woman doing something in the house and in the yard of the deceased. They say that the British had no doubt: Vyacheslav Shevchenko was not among those persons. The British might get up to recognize Mikhail Glushchenko in one of the strangers!

Moreover, they say, the staff of the Cyprus police managed to identify the strange woman; though we do not know how they used this information.

Another suggests that the Greek police seized biomaterials from the crime scene, which will be compared with relevant examples, probably taken from Mikhail Glushchenko.

In addition, they say, there is an interesting character in the criminal case - a Cypriot taxi driver Misha (emigrant from Ukraine). For some time he was engaged in economic affairs of Vyacheslav Shevchenko in Cyprus (something like a manager of the house), then he was fired for petty theft, and later Misha was noticed in Cyprus, along with Mikhail Glushchenko - supposedly, they met in 2003, just when a conflict burst between Vyacheslav Shevchenko and Mikhail Glushchenko as the late attempted to stop paying for nonexistent "protection" services by Mr. Glushchenko . They say Glushchenko came to Cyprus in 2003 to have a talk with Shevchenko.

Acquaintances of Shevchenko family told that the taxi driver Misha and Glushchenko also quarreled, and then Glushchenko threatened Misha, and on this occasion Misha was worried very much. In addition, Mikhail Glushchenko can hardly know his way around in Cyprus, probably he does not speak Greek and could easily use Misha as a driver-guide at the time; thus, it should be assumed: Misha could be a very valuable witness for the investigators.

Furthermore, our reporter has learned that the Greek police found witnesses who saw the taxi driver Misha together with Mikhail Glushchenko and a certain Victor Krupitsa in Cyprus right before the assassination of Vyacheslav Shevchenko.

In addition to all, there is another curious circumstance. Those who knew the deceased Vyacheslav Shevchenko claim that his house in the village of Peyia is so complicatedly that even the locals can hardly find it, despite having the exact address. According to knowledgeable people, a visitor could never find this house. In this regard, the acquaintances of the late draw attention to one caveat: Mikhail Glushchenko knew the intricate location of the house, as he had been there and, in fact, once even stayed overnight.

Of course, investigators try to build a unified system of evidence based on all these facts, which apparently should lead to a sensational conclusion that Mikhail Glushchenko was personally involved in the triple murder in Cyprus.

In this connection, certain facts indicate the extent of the interests of Mikhail Glushchenko in different countries of the Eurasian continent.

JANIS ZAFIRIDIS, DED HASAN AND OTHERS

So, what is known about Mikhail Glushchenko in the context of international business space?

In 2002 he left Russia to Spain, where he settled in his house in a city of Malaga popular among notorious Russian businessmen. The time of his departure coincided with the revitalization of the Federal Security Service activities in order to disclose the opened criminal case on the killing of State Duma deputy Galina Starovoitova; and Glushchenko is one of the suspects.

According to our information, Glushchenko himself told that he had left Russia due to illness, and first went to Hungary in Budapest where he had a firm specializing in timber processing.

According to unofficial information received from the police sources, Glushchenko confronted the Spanish police rather quickly. In this regard, he had to move to Greece. Then an interesting point is reported testifying that Mikhail Glushchenko knows the informal business world in Spain: he moved to Greece with his passport, issued in the name of certain citizen Janis Zafiridis.

As far as our sources are informed, in Greece, Glushchenko was recorded to contact representatives of the Georgian thieves, allegedly from the clan of an odious Aslan Usoyana (Ded Hasan). According to sources, in early 2004, Gluschenko strongly recommended to Vyacheslav Shevchenko to visit him in Greece, but the deceased suspected an ambush and did not come.

They say, for some time Mikhail Glushchenko and his friend Victor Krupitsa lived in Greece in the apartment of Oleg Pozovnikov, head of security Business Empire of Shevchenko. In late 2003 Pozovnikov disappeared. The late Vyacheslav Shevchenko told his entourage that Glushchenko with Krupitsa killed his security specialist in Greek Woolley.

They say soon after that Mikhail Glushchenko was noticed in Georgia with the documents issued in the name of Sergey Daudovich Kinkladze.

Later on, the police sources say, the accused in the Cypriote murder moved to Ukraine, where he resided continuously from approximately 2004 to the moment of detention in the summer of 2009. Then Mikhail Glushchenko repeatedly left Ukraine to different European countries for business negotiations. They say that in Ukraine he used the passport with the name of Gklousenko Michail.

By the way, as far as we know, the name of Mikhail Glushchenko was mentioned in the criminal case opened on the killing of the legendary St. Petersburg businessman Ruslan Kolyak that took place in Yalta on August 8, 2003. They say that the relationship between Glushchenko and Kolyak became particularly acute due to the conflict with Vyacheslav Shevchenko: Kolyak had common interests with Shevchenko and called on Glushchenko to return a large debt. Moreover, there is an opinion that Kolyak did go to Yalta to meet with Glushchenko then.

In the period from 2004 to 2009 Mikhail Glushchenko repeatedly appeared in Italy, where he has a house in the town of Francavilla al Maar, according to Russian law enforcement agencies. Apparently, Interpol recorded visits of the accused in the Cypriote murder to conduct business negotiations in Germany, France and Turkey. He himself talked about traveling back in Jordan and Oman.

As for business, as far as we could find it, Mikhail Glushchenko said during interrogation that there are two companies within the territory of Cyprus registered in his name, through those companies’ bank accounts he was sent about 50 000 dollars per month by Vyacheslav Shevchenko as revenue from his share of their mutual business. Today investigators consider the money as payment for the "protection" services; after Shevchenko rejected them, he was harassed by Glushchenko.

In general, given the vast geographical scope of the interests of the accused in the murder of Cyprus, one should expect any surprises in this case, and, those may appear almost anywhere in the world.

For example, Mikhail Glushchenko might be prosecuted for the murder of Ruslan Kolyak in Ukraine or Oleg Pozovnikov in Greece.

SERGEY VINOGRADOV, NATALIA KOLOSOVA

RUMAFIA.COM

HAILING FROM TAMBOV

The story of the largest in Russia Tambov criminal group is inextricably linked with St. Petersburg and the leader of this group born in the Tambov region, Vladimir Sergeyevich Barsukov (during the formation of the group he bore the name of Kumarin). After military service, which took place in the Zabaykalsky military district, he arrived in Leningrad and entered the Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics (LIFMO). As far as Barsukov actively engaged in sport (boxing, soccer) back to school days, being a student, he had no problems getting a position of "bouncer" and "stood at the gate" in the popular in those days St. Petersburg clubs "Roza vetrov", "Tallinn". This kind of "moonlighting" took a lot of time, so that after several years Barsukov was expelled from the institute for systematic absenteeism.

In 1980, he was transferred from bouncers to the bartenders, at the time it was a serious career growth. Then, in Leningrad, plenty of new cafes and restaurants were opened and young people of "sport type” went for work there. The relations among them were close and subsequently developed into the criminal-business relationships.

In 1985, Vladimir Barsukov was sentenced to three years of work “on construction projects of the national economy"(he was charged for disorderly conduct, possession of ammunition and false identification document). Two years later, he went through parole and returned to Leningrad. Being authority in the local criminally circles; he managed to build a small team of "associates" in a fairly short time that was formed on the principles of the national groups. And although not all of Barsukov’s "colleagues" had Tambov roots, the name of their group was given by the place of birth of its main leaders (Ledovskikh, Drokov, Rybkin).

Like the majority of gangs, the Tambovskayagang began with shell games and "protection racket", but thugs got quickly climbed up the hill. They say that happened with the help of Nikolay Gavrilenkov (Stepanych), a former bartender from the Hotel Sovetskaya. For a time they worked in tandem with Barsukov, and Gavrilenkov increasingly gravitated to the business - mostly to the trade business, where he had very broad connections. People say that Stepanych persuaded the"Tambovskie" gangsters in making a legal business, and in many respects thanks to him they were among the first to open their own firms, legalizing proceeds of dubious origin.

By the end of 80’s the number of the group members reached several hundred people. There interests began to cross with other teams’ interests and in 1989 in the clothing market in Devyatkino the first serious fight with automatic weapons occurred, which many called later "historical". This was a landmark event on several reasons. First, since then the criminal world began to distinct the cities more or less clearly as being controlled by the Tambovskayaand "Malyshevskaya" groups. Secondly, the fight reached the end of the St. Petersburg police’s tether, which started working on the Tambovskaya group specifically. As a result, in 1990, 72 active gang members were involved in criminal proceedings, including Barsukov himself; he received four years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.

Police operation seriously weakened the Tambovskayagang, changing the balance of power in favor of competing factions. In 1992-1993, a series of bloody shootouts continued in the city; those were associated with the desire to the Tambovskaya group members to retain their previous status. Meanwhile, in May 1992 Barsukov was transferred to a corrective labor colony in Obukhovo, and already in 1993, he was released. It was a time when the city began the second phase of privatization. And if the earlier interest of the Tambovskaya group members was distributed mainly on the co-operators and owners of small shops, that time they had wished to obtain the big ("serious") business. At the time the leaders of the Tambovskaya gang first staked out a place in the field of energy trade.

Another severe blow to the group was made in 1994: June 1, Andrey Basalaev and Vladimir Shepelev were shot and killed on the Lensoviet Street, but several hours later, near the Turku Street Mercedes of Vladimir Barsukov was shot. Bodyguard Vladimir Golman saved his chief’s life by coverig Barsukov with his own body. Barsukov fell into a coma for about a month; his arm was amputated, and transferred for further treatment in Germany.

In Petersburg, he returned only in early 1996. Barsukov quickly extinguished the internecine conflicts and stood at the helm of the Tambovskayamembers, focusing on investing in the legitimate economy. His main strategic interest lied in the energy carrier trade. For a few years, the Tambovskaya gangsters managed to establish control over the majority of subsidiaries of Surgutneftegaz in the North-West region and to legalize it through purchasing. The main "gem" in the "business-crown" of Barsukov became "St. Petersburg Fuel Company (“PTK”). In 1998, he even officially took the post of vice-president of the company, but later resigned it, avoiding publicity and preferring to remain in the shades.

By the time the Tambovskayaorganization had reached a qualitatively new level. Its representatives occupied key positions in the city and in some regions, in such sectors as fuel and energy complex, food processing, machinery, credit and finance, real estate. Then they were able to solve not only the informal power issues, but also gained a real impact on economic and even political spheres. From about this time the media started talking about them as "of the Tambovskaya business group" instead of the “Tambovskaya criminal association".

In 1999-2000, a serious conflict between Barsukov and another Petersburg authority Konstantin Yakovlev (Mogila) was delineated in the city. During it both parties suffered large losses (human and financial), but in June 2000, as a result of a personal meeting the foights had been stopped, after which the two leaders further strengthened their image of legitimate businessmen. (However, Yakovlev did that for a short time - in May 2003, he was shot in Moscow).

At the beginning of 2007, Petersburg raiders’ case thundered the entire country. 16 January, Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika announced that in the Northern Capital the Tambovskayacriminal association, having seized 13 enterprises, had been disclosed. According to the Attorney General, their overall plan was to seize 40 other objects. In a relatively short time the number of the "Tambovskaya group" member was decreased through numerous detentions and arrests.

On November 12, 2009 Vladimir Barsukov was found guilty of two takeover attacks, and the legalization of criminal proceeds. He was sentenced to 14 years in penal colony and a million rubles fine. The court also handed down sentences to other leaders of the Tambov criminal group: Vyacheslav Drokov - 15 years and also a million fine, Alexander Baskakov - 7 years.

In May 2010, another patriarch of the Tambovskaya criminal group, Andrey Rybkin was detained - former member of the Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad region. He was also accused of involvement in the capture of a Petersburg enterprise. At the same time law enforcement agencies held formal claims of a raid to another leader of the Tambovskaya group - Vasily Vladykovsky (Vasya Bryansky).

Then there were almost none of the leaders of this group left in St. Petersburg.

Sources: "Fontanka.Ru" from 23.08.2007, 30.03.2010, 11.05.2010

ASSASSINATIONS OF THE TAMBOVSKAYA CRIMINAL GROUP LEADERS

On March 16, 1993 Oleg Gunyashin, an active member of the Tambovskayagang was killed.

On October 20, 1993 in the restaurant’s "Ocean" lobby a leader of the Tambovskayagroup Sergey Beyneshev was shot, at that time he headed the largest fuel company in St. Petersburg.

On April 6, 1994 Sergey Lobov was injured by pistol “TT” shot by unknown criminals. According to operational data, Lobov had the nearest relation to Vladimir Kumarin.

On June 1, 1994 in broad daylight some unknown criminals shot the car "Mercedes", in which Vladimir Kumarin was. As a result, Kumarin’s a driver-bodyguard died, and the leader of the Tambovskayagroup got about twenty gunshot wounds and was hospitalized in critical condition.

On June 30, 1995 on Moskovsky Avenue one of the leaders of the Tambov criminal group Nikolay Gavrilenkov (Stepanych) was killed in a shootout.

On October 5, 1995 Mikhail Bravve, one of the leaders of the Tambov criminal group, and his guardian were shot and wounded from the machine by unknown criminals. Both died in hospital.

On October 20, 1999 deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg Viktor Novoselov was killed. He was decapitated by the improvised explosive device. Novoselov was considered a person close to the leaders of the Tambovskaya criminal group.

On December 28, 1999 Mikhail Yakovlevich Romanov-Hermansson, 45-year-old deputy director general of the Novgorod woodworking factory and one of the leaders and founders of ZAO "Uni-Land" was killed from a sniper's rifle. This man was considered one of the patriarchs of the Tambovskaya criminal group, he was previously best known for the old name Dahya.

On April 27, 2000 George Pozdnyakov, a former bodyguard and a friend of Vladimir Kumarin was shot and killed.

On June 14, 2000 Yan Gurevsky, one of the leaders of the Tambovskaya criminal group was shot and killed.

On August 8, 2003 in Yalta, a lawyer and businessman Ruslan Kolyak was killed. He was in the entourage of the top officials of the Tambov criminal group from the early 90's.

On March 24, 2004 in Cyprus, ex-deputy of the State Duma Vyacheslav Shevchenko, his business partner Yuri Zorin and enterpreter Victoria Tretyakova were killed. They were found in the bathroom, packed in plastic bags.

On July 30, 2005 in the Novodevyatkino village, Vsevolozhsk district of the Leningrad Oblast Igor Sbitnev was shot; he was considered the leader of one of the brigades of the Tambovskaya criminal group.