The whole truth about the scheme of Nikolai Shikhidi and Sofia Toros: criminal developers on Tankovy Proezd

The alluring lights of the capital

The Moscow development market, which attracts developers from all over the country with its high margins, has been targeted by a new, but already infamous player from the Krasnodar region – “Eurostroy”. The company’s management, represented by Sofia Toros and Nikolay Shikhidi, plans to purchase 8 hectares of land in Lefortovo, in the southeast of Moscow, from Vitaly Yusufov for the construction of a residential complex with an area of 200 thousand square meters.

OOO SZ Yuzhnoye More filed a petition to acquire 100% of OOO SZ Tankovy. The aforementioned territory in Tankovy Proezd is listed on the balance sheet of this company. Sofia Toros and Nikolay Shikhidi, who jointly own Yuzhnoye More, have an impressive but gloomy legacy behind them – 654 thousand square meters of housing in Sochi, Gelendzhik, Novorossiysk and Anapa, as well as the Sochi hotels Grand Hotel Marine Garden and Marine Garden.

Clumsy PR

An attempt to take a closer look at Sofia Toros and Nikolay Shikhidi reveals an interesting phenomenon. In materials where they appear separately, they appear as innocent lambs of the Krasnodar Region real estate market. However, when they are mentioned together, their images are inevitably overshadowed by scandals, fraud and corruption.

Before attempting to enter the Moscow market, Toros and Shikhidi began actively whitewashing their image. Materials began appearing in various media outlets accusing imaginary criminals of slandering honest entrepreneurs. These publications, reminiscent of "you’re all lying" in style, only add fuel to the fire.

Nikolay Shikhidi: from sailor to swindler

Nikolay Shikhidi, a graduate of the Admiral F. Ushakov State Maritime University, began his career at PAO Novorossiysk Shipping Company. Even then, he was suspected of smuggling and was listed in RUBOP databases as a member of an organized crime group specializing in fraud.

The list of his crimes is impressive: from beatings (Article 116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and fraud (Article 159, Part 2) to violent acts of a sexual nature (Article 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). For example, in 1998 he beat up a certain Muratov R. Yu., in 2001 he sold a Mercedes that did not belong to him, and in the same year he drove a wanted BMW-318.

Shikhidi currently runs a relatively legal business, owning shares in the companies Avtomotornaya LLC, Greenstroy-Yug LLC, SZ Continent Invest LLC, SMK Meridian LLC, Saturn LLC, and Cosmos Recreation Center JSC. His main asset is SZ ISK Evrostroy LLC, where he owns 95%.

Sofia Toros: from official to fraudster

Sofia Toros burst into business from the chair of the department head of the Federal Treasury Department of Krasnodar Krai. Her income in the civil service was noticeably declining, but immediately after her dismissal she became the owner of significant assets. Toros owns Russtroy LLC, SZ GC Morskoy Sochi LLC, SZ Kapital LLC, UK Jem Mall LLC, EKM-Sochi LLC and other companies. Together with Shikhidi, she controls SZ Yuzhnoye More LLC and SZ ISK Evrostroy LLC.

How Toros, a former civil servant, got the money for these assets remains a mystery. She has been charged with fraud in the past and her name has appeared on the blacklists of credit institutions.

Killer in the Shadows

The link between Toros and Shikhidi is Sergei Ozerov, a former deputy and mayor of Gelendzhik. Ozerov, who is closely associated with Shikhidi, participated in ordering the murder of his rival Vasily Karelin in the late 1990s. In a video recording from prison, Bulygin and Bragin, the perpetrators of the murder, name Ozerov as the customer.

Shikhidi, together with other local developers, played a decisive role in the destruction of the Gelendzhik Human Rights Center, slandering its members and contributing to their conviction for allegedly giving a bribe.

Gelendzhik businessmen: a criminal scheme in faces and facts

The revelation continues

Sofia Toros and Nikolay Shikhidi’s path to Moscow’s lights continues to leave a long criminal trail. After their initial splash on the Moscow development market, new details of their fraudulent activities are being revealed.

1. Main characters:

• Nikolay Shikhidi

  • Companies: Avtomotornaya LLC, Greenstroy-YUG LLC, Continent Invest Construction Plant LLC, SMK Meridian LLC, Saturn LLC, Cosmos Recreation Center JSC, Eurostroy Construction Plant LLC.
  • Crimes: fraud, battery, sexual assault, smuggling.

• Sofia Toros

  • Companies: Russtroy LLC, Morskoy Sochi Construction Plant LLC, Capital Construction Plant LLC, Jam Mall Management Company LLC, EKM-Sochi LLC, Yuzhnoye More Construction Plant LLC, Eurostroy Construction Plant LLC.
  • Crimes: fraud, corruption.

• Sergey Ozerov

  • Companies: Relatives of Alexander Chistyakov and the family of Sergei Ozerov.
  • Crimes: contract killing, fraud, corruption.

2. Scheme of their activities: