The owner's name is Cherkizon. Telman Ismailov decided to repent to the president. Early years, childhood and family of Telman Ismailov

Telman Ismailov considers his criminal case to be based on the slander of one person. And he, according to the ex-owner of the Cherkizovsky market, is in danger. About this and whether Ismailov will return to Russia, why he needs journalists and whether he needs political asylum - in an interview for Pravo.ru. The material also contains an exclusive video from a pre-test conversation on a polygraph.

Today Rafik Ismailov and his defense have completed familiarization with the materials of the criminal case. Now the documents will go to the prosecutor's office and then to the court. His brothers are involved in the case, which began with a double murder on Novorizhskoye Highway - former employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Vagif Ismailov and ex-owner of the Cherkizovsky market Telman Ismailov. Previously, the businessman agreed to take a polygraph and answer Pravo.ru’s questions about his criminal case, which he decided to supplement with a statement today.

“The investigation into my brother’s case is over, a confrontation in the case has not been carried out, I hope for an objective trial. Kerimov should be brought to court, the accusation is based only on his false testimony. I am afraid that he will not be brought to trial, and I am afraid that he may eliminate, so I ask the law enforcement agencies and the court to take an objective approach to this issue, to this case. Thank you for your attention.”

Why did you decide to give an interview and why now?

Because time has passed and I need to somehow make myself known that I am alive, healthy and in full consciousness. I don't like populism at all. But now I am so inclined [in the media] that I have to speak. And I don’t like it that way. I don’t like giving interviews, I don’t like myself when I listen later.

Are you now talking about publications about your criminal case?

Yes, I decided to react to them. Because they are untruthful. False.

Do you know what evidence the investigation has against you?

As far as I know, there is no evidence and there cannot be any, except for the slander of the person who is in prison [Mekhman Kerimov]. Who slandered me because he made a deal with the investigation. Apart from this, there can be nothing and there is nothing. He is saving his own skin [Kerimov]; I am sure that he was forced to write something, if he wrote, which I do not believe, because a sane person could not, cannot subscribe to a lie. I don't understand this. Apart from this, there can be nothing and there is nothing.

- Before publications in the media, did you know that a crime was being prepared against these persons?
- No.
- Did you discuss with Kerimov over the phone, on the Internet or in person the details of the murder of Savkin and Brilev?
- If I didn’t see or hear him, then how could I discuss with him*.

Have you studied the indictment?

Yes, and there are indications only of this reservation. They don't provide me with any more evidence.

Do you think this is a slander?

Of course there is a reservation. I am sure that this case will still be revealed and it will become known who is really guilty. Everyone will know who is to blame and who is not to blame. What worries me more is that my reputation was undermined by the media and especially television, and what nasty things were said about me.

- Do you think there are any circumstances for him to incriminate you, in particular, within the framework of this criminal case again?

- No, you know, I’ll say this. He slandered us, I don’t know yet whether he slandered us or was forced to do so. I think he was forced to mention my name there. And so, if there is a confrontation, I don’t think he can say that. Because he didn’t see me, I never spoke to him on the phone. How can a person say? What I'm most curious about is who made him do it? If an independent investigation is carried out on this case. It’s my fault - I’m ready to serve at least life in prison, and if not, then let these investigators get at least five years*.

Criminal case

2016: Businessmen Yuri Brylev and Vladimir Savkin were found murdered in the Moscow region. Telman Ismailov's brother, Rafik, was detained on suspicion of this murder. Together with him, Mehman Kerimov was arrested, who immediately admitted to the crime, and then spoke about the customers. He stated that the businessmen were shot because of a debt of $5 million, which the Ismailovs did not want to return to the dead.

Spring 2017: The media, citing sources in law enforcement agencies, report that Ismailov has become a defendant in an investigation into the activities of an organized crime group suspected of eight murders. Including businessman Savkin.

September - December 2017: The Investigative Committee conducted searches at 14 addresses of the Ismailov family. The ex-owner of the Cherkizovsky market is brought in as a defendant in the murder of Savkin and Brilev, arrested in absentia, put on the federal and then international wanted list. The Moscow City Court recognizes this decision as legal. The press service of the Investigative Committee clarifies that Ismailov is accused of murder and illegal trafficking in weapons (paragraphs “a”, “g”, “h”, part 2 of article 105, part 3 of article 222 of the Criminal Code).

Again, returning to the media, there was information that you were going to ask for asylum in exchange for compromising evidence, is that true? Do you really have such plans?

No, I'm not asking for asylum. And I’m not going to ask, what does it mean to ask for political asylum? I have neither the time nor the desire for this. I just want to be treated objectively. I can’t even say what’s my business, because there’s no business. You know, they do this on purpose, they deliberately drove me into a corner so that I would do this [ask for political asylum].

Who are they, who are you talking about now?

Investigative Committee, investigators. They drove me into a corner so that I could ask for asylum, they made a fuss. And so nothing happened, but they made such a fuss, you saw it on TV, in the media. But they won’t wait for this, I will defend myself as best I can. I hope that justice will prevail in the end.

I just don’t understand when they say that it’s all done from above. I'm sure they can't do this from above. They fabricated this themselves, maybe my competitors, I don’t know, I can’t say who it is [specifically].

What evidence of your innocence in this case are you willing to provide? Are you working with someone?

Yes, I work with international experts, and I am ready to work with Russia. I am ready to take a polygraph, whatever else there is, whatever else exists, to prove my innocence. I want to defend myself with the truth. Who slandered me, I want a confrontation. So they imprisoned my brother, they slandered him, they didn’t conduct confrontations, they didn’t conduct investigative experiments. That's why? Because the investigation reached an agreement and signed a contract.

At one time, you could be considered one of the most successful businessmen in Russia. How did it happen that your companies are in bankruptcy, and you are accused of a serious crime, do you think this is connected? Or are these different stories?

You can guess. Probably not without it. I was a successful businessman, I worked, I worked, I had no problems with the bank or with anything, but when all the companies are closed in one day and everything is taken away, but you have to service the loans.

Were you ready to serve them?

Certainly. We served, everything was fine, but then you see how it turned out. So someone is behind this. It just doesn't happen that way. This is pure raider takeover of a business with the participation of a bank.

Are you planning to return to Russia?

Certainly! When there will be objectivity, justice. I don’t need anyone to help me, they help those who have done something. I didn't do anything. I need to be looked at and examined objectively. I was forced to leave.

I would like to add: if I said that I am not interested in the opinions of readers, then this would not be true. Of course, I am interested in them knowing the truth, I want to convey the truth to them, let some public organization take on this, someone will take on this and investigate, some editorial office, there is a journalistic investigation. Let them conduct this case along with the investigation, and they will be convinced that there is nothing against me or my brothers.

***
So far, no request for Ismailov’s extradition has been received to any country. According to statistics from the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, in recent years about 40% of such requests have been satisfied. Most often, their colleagues from the former Soviet republics - Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine - come to meet Russian law enforcement officers halfway. You can count on one hand the cases when the United States or EU countries agreed to extradite to the Russian Federation persons suspected of committing crimes on the territory of our country. Over the past year, the situation on this issue has not changed significantly. If Russia manages to get its hands on a “fugitive” who has fled abroad, it is usually an attacker who has committed violent crimes.

Well-known Russian businessmen suspected of economic crimes who have fled abroad are in no hurry to return and prove their innocence. Major bankers: Andrey Borodin (Bank of Moscow), Georgy Bedzhamov (Vneshprombank), management of Trust Bank (Ilya Yurov, Nikolay Fetisov and Sergey Belyaev), Anatoly Motylev (Russian Credit), Boris Bulochnik (Master Bank) - are hiding from Russian justice in Europe. An isolated case was the detention in January in Monaco of the former chairman of the board of the Investment Trade Bank, Vladimir Gudkov. The issue of extradition is still pending. In his homeland, Gudkov is suspected of fraud (Article 159 of the Criminal Code).

Ismailov’s story: from the Forbes list to a criminal case

Telman Mardanovich Ismailov was born on October 26, 1956 in Baku into a family of Mountain Jews. In 1989, he created the AST business group to do business in Moscow. At various times, the group included more than 30 companies. In particular, the travel agency "AST-Tour", the hotel complex "AST-Gof" on Bolshaya Filevskaya Street, the restaurants "Prague" on Arbat and "Slavic Trapeza" on Leninsky Prospekt, the celebration house "Safisa", the development companies "KBF AST" and "AST-Kapstroy", "AST-Agroprom", "Moscow Printing House", security organization private security company "AST-Shield", "AST-Trans-Service" (transportation), "AST-Gold" (jewelry production), " AST Photovideo", "AST-music", "AST Dental Center", "AST-Cargo" (warehouses) and others.

But Ismailov’s main asset in the 1990-2000s was the Cherkizovsky clothing market. AST also owned the Mardan Palace hotel in Antalya and a shopping center in Las Vegas. The group's total turnover in 2007 reached $2-3 billion. The co-owners of the AST companies were Ismailov's sons Alekper and Sarkhan, as well as his nephew Zaur Murdanov.

In June 2009, law enforcement agencies discovered counterfeit goods worth more than $2 billion on the territory of the Cherkizovsky market. After this, the market was closed, and the AST group had major financial problems. At the peak of his success, Ismailov’s fortune was estimated at about $1 billion. In 2012, the businessman’s fortune was about $800 million, and he ranked 121st in Forbes rankings. After this, Ismailov tried to improve his situation by starting new projects. In the spring of 2010, he signed an agreement with the Olimpstroy corporation to build hotels in Sochi with 4,000 rooms worth $800 million. However, construction never began because the businessman could not find the money for it. Since 2013, Ismailov began to change the management system of his remaining assets: the businessman transfers shares in the companies AST-98, KBF AST and AST Kolkhoz Klinsky to his sons and top managers. And Ismailov will re-register the three largest objects in Moscow (the Prague restaurant, the Tropicano business center and the AST shopping center) as offshore companies from the British Virgin Islands. In 2014, the first large debts began to be demanded from Ismailov in court: the District Court of Nicosia (Cyprus), at the request of the Sezaria company (creditor), froze the businessman’s assets for $134 million.

The entrepreneur’s biggest problems began in 2015, when Ismailov lost his main assets (the Mardan Palace Hotel, the Prague restaurant, the Tropicano business club, the AST shopping center and others), which were pledged to his creditors. The businessman’s debt to his largest creditor (Bank of Moscow) reached $286 million.

How Ismailov was bankrupted

2015: Ismailov loses the main assets that were pledged to his creditors. The Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region declares Ismailov bankrupt at the request of his longtime acquaintance Boris Zubkov.

2016: Ismailov’s main creditor, the Bank of Moscow, is seeking the cancellation of the businessman’s bankruptcy decision in higher authorities. The court again declares Ismailov bankrupt. The debt to two of its creditors (Bank of Moscow and Vitaly Mashitsky) amounts to more than 20 billion rubles.

2017: Ismailov presented a plan to restructure his debt, but the court rejected it. The court begins the sale of Ismailov’s Russian assets (shopping complex on Izmailovskoye Shosse and others).

At the beginning of October 2015, the Bank of Moscow filed a request for Ismailov’s bankruptcy: the reason for the claim was the non-repayment of loans for which the businessman acted as a guarantor. However, the ASGM did not consider this application and, by its decision, transferred the case to the Russian Federation, citing the fact that the businessman is registered in the Moscow region (No. A40-186371/15).

While the Bank of Moscow document was wandering between courts, on November 19, 2015, Ismailov’s longtime acquaintance, businessman Boris Zubkov, filed an application with the Moscow Region Administrative Court to declare the entrepreneur bankrupt due to a debt of only 15 million rubles. (Case No. A41-94274/2015). As part of this case, Ismailov himself filed an application to enter into his insolvency proceedings, but the court left the document without movement, pointing out a violation of the legal requirements for such an appeal.

As a result, the Administrative Court of the Moscow Region considered Zubkov’s application, recognizing the businessman’s claims as justified, and Ismailov as bankrupt, and introduced a procedure for the sale of property for six months. The court decision noted that at the time of considering the validity of the creditor’s claim, Ismailov “does not have a permanent place of work or source of income.”

However, by his resolution dated March 18, 2016, he canceled the act of first instance and left Zubkov’s application without consideration, citing the following reasons: the solvency of the creditor was not confirmed, the original receipt was not submitted to the court, confusion in the dates of the agreement and the date of receipt of funds, there is no evidence of spending these funds funds.

He currently lives in a rented villa and was able to negotiate with local authorities not to extradite him to Russia.

The ex-owner of the Cherkizovsky market Telman Ismailov, accused of contract murder, is hiding in Montenegro. An informed source told The CrimeRussia about this. According to him, the fugitive oligarch agreed with the ruling circles of this country not to extradite him to the Russian authorities.

Let us remember that last year the Ismailov family lived in a mansion on the territory of the Mardan Palace hotel complex in Antalya. However, fearing extradition to the Russian authorities, they left Turkey, as local law enforcement agencies had questions for Telman Ismailov. According to Turkish investigators, he is involved in the murder of thief in law Rovshan Dzhaniev (Rovshan Lenkoransky). Then the oligarch’s family moved to France. But even there he did not feel safe, since he was put on the international wanted list through Interpol.

He currently lives in a rented villa in Montenegro. It was there that he recorded his recent video message, where he expressed fears that his brother Rafik Ismailov could be “eliminated” before trial. The investigation against him was completed and soon the charge of organizing the murder of two entrepreneurs (Part 2 of Article 105 and Article 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) should be approved by the prosecutor's office, after which the materials will be transferred to the court.

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“Telman Mardanovich is shocked by what happened and doesn’t want to talk to anyone,” a person from Telman Ismailov’s entourage responded to Vedomosti’s request for an interview after it became known that he was part of the group VTB Bank of Moscow filed a bankruptcy claim against a businessman. Things are getting worse: creditors are seeking to seize property all over the world. The businessman believes that a raider takeover of his assets is taking place, two of his acquaintances told Vedomosti. But it seems that the problem is that Ismailov did not moderate his ambitions after the loss of the Cherkizovsky market - there was simply not enough money for megaprojects.

From Baku to Cherkizon

A native of Baku, coming from a large family of Mountain Jews, Ismailov has been involved in business since childhood: first he helped his father, a Baku shop worker, then he managed the first commercial store in the city, then he went to study at the Plekhanov Institute in Moscow and remained in the capital. Here he met the first deputy chairman of the Moscow City Executive Committee and the chairman of the city commission on cooperative and individual labor activity, Yuri Luzhkov, and the secretary of the commission, Elena Baturina. In 1989, when Ismailov founded the AST group, he was already on friendly terms with Luzhkov.

In 2009, Ismailov was included for the first time in the Forbes ranking of the richest Russian businessmen with a fortune of $600 million. Despite the fact that the AST group was engaged in different types of business - construction, hotel, jewelry and security - the basis of its wealth was the Cherkizovsky market. The group controlled a significant part of a huge flea market, located on more than 200 hectares near the metro station of the same name.

They repeatedly tried to close Cherkizovsky; since 2001, the prosecutor's office has repeatedly won cases in court to terminate land lease agreements, but the market continued to operate. Everything changed on June 1, 2009, when then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin criticized customs officers at the government presidium. “Several years ago I practically dispersed the entire customs management. And what? The [smuggling] channels have worked and are still working. There are goods worth more than $2 billion in one of the markets, [they] have not yet been destroyed and there are no owners,” Putin scolded the security forces (quotes from Interfax). It soon became clear which market he had in mind. At the end of June 2009, the Cherkizovsky market was temporarily closed due to violations of sanitary standards discovered by Rospotrebnadzor. Then the FMS found hundreds of illegal migrants on the market. Land lease agreements with the Russian State University of Physical Culture were terminated through an arbitration court, the buildings were demolished, and this was the end of the history of the largest clothing market in the CIS.

Business empire of Telman Ismailov

In fact, they didn’t want to close the market, Ismailov’s acquaintances and those who participated in its liquidation now assure. It’s just that various law enforcement agencies competed with customs officers for control over the cash flows passing through Cherkizovsky, collected folders with incriminating evidence and regularly reported their contents to the top. And so, just when the ground was prepared for an attack on customs, at the end of May 2009, Ismailov organized a grand celebration in Antalya, Turkey, to mark the opening of the Mardan Palace hotel, on the construction of which he spent almost all his available funds - more than $1 billion. Hollywood stars, including Sharon Stone and Monica Bellucci, were presented with precious gifts and fireworks roared. The fact that the co-owner of the Cherkizovsky market spent the money he earned here with such noise was the last straw that overflowed the patience of the authorities, recalls a former Moscow official. Ismailov chose to wait out the hype in Turkey, where an equally luxurious house was built for him next to the Mardan Palace. True, in Russia he had to sell to Suleiman Kerimov one of his most important assets in Moscow - the Voentorg shopping center, which was subject to reconstruction.

Life after the market

Unexpectedly, Ismailov found out that he had few friends in Russia, but many enemies. “Ismailov’s main problem is how he understands friendly relations,” says one of his former business partners. “When he needed someone or simply liked him, he brought this person closer to him, literally showering him with expensive gifts in the oriental style - diamonds, gold. Everyone around him got used to this, and squabbles quickly began within those close to him - so, this one was given more, I was given less. And the offended person very quickly reached the point of hatred towards Ismailov. So he made himself more than one enemy. And when the easy money ran out, so did the gifts, and it turned out that there were no close people around,” explains the interlocutor.

“Ismailov bought all his assets with money earned at the Cherkizovsky market; during his work there were no interruptions in cash. As soon as it became clear that this flow no longer existed and money was not earned very easily, Ismailov’s business went much worse,” says the former Moscow official. New assets - Voentorg, the Prague restaurant, the same Mardan Palace - did not bring comparable profits.

Therefore, immediately after the closure of the Cherkizovsky market, Ismailov tried to return to the market business he was familiar with, but outside Russia. According to Ukrainian media, Ismailov tried to become a co-owner of the large clothing market “Seventh Kilometer” near Odessa, but was unsuccessful: the company managing the market was acquired by the partners of the then President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych.

Ismailov tried to open a second market in Kazakhstan. In 2010, the AST wholesale clothing market was inaugurated on the site of the Zhibek Zholy automobile market near Almaty. According to the description on the portal nur.kz, it resembled the Moscow “Cherkizovsky” - the market housed a customs terminal, a hotel, exchange offices, a pharmacy, food stores and dentistry.

Ismailov’s partner in the Kazakh AST market was his old acquaintance, co-owner of the mining and metallurgy Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) and one of the richest people in Kazakhstan, Alexander Mashkevich (for more details, see the inset). Ismailov knew Mashkevich from the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, where the former was president until 2011, and the latter his deputy.

According to Kazakh media, AST has problems due to its distance from the city. In 2011, it turned out that the market owners did not even pay about $5 million to several reconstruction contractors, which is why they went bankrupt and their employees gathered to protest. Ismailov and Mashkevich had to hold a press conference and publicly promise to pay off their debts to the builders.

Now the AST market has returned its name – the international trade center “Zhibek Zholy”. It is managed by a European production company controlled by Mashkevich and his ERG partners. It is unknown whether Ismailov remained in the project. Neither he nor Mashkevich responded to Vedomosti’s requests.

Pass home

Ismailov tried to return to Russian business with the help of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. In a March interview with the Azerbaijani online publication Haqqin.az, Ismailov confirmed that Kadyrov asked Putin for him. “At one time, I was very close friends with Ramzan Kadyrov’s father, the late Akhmat Kadyrov. Yes, I have very good relations with Ramzan Kadyrov. Not only he asked, but also many other people in the highest elite of Russia,” said Ismailov.

At the beginning of 2010, Ismailov and his son Sarkhan flew to Grozny to meet with Kadyrov. As a result of the negotiations, Ismailov promised to “look” at investment projects in Chechnya and agreed to sponsor the Terek football club. Sarkhan Ismailov was appointed vice-president of Terek. The club was headed by Kadyrov himself.

But the businessman never came up with investment projects in Chechnya. Perhaps because by that time it became clear: the federal authorities needed investments in another region. Back at the end of 2009, Putin said on a direct line that he saw no crime in the construction of a hotel in Turkey, but that investment resources “would be nice to implement in the Russian Federation.”<...>For example, it would be possible to invest money in the construction of hotel complexes in Sochi for the 2014 Olympics - no one is prohibiting it.”

Already in April 2010, Ismailov signed an agreement with the Olimpstroy corporation on the construction of hotels in Sochi with 4,000 rooms worth $800 million. “But the businessman could not find the money to start construction - he did not have his own, and the banks did not give loans, and , when it became clear to us that the deadlines were missed, we had to urgently look for a replacement investor - literally grabbing the jacket of the first oligarch that caught our eye. This didn’t add any points to Ismailov,” recalls one of the officials who oversaw preparations for the Olympics. The project was transferred to the structures of Viktor Vekselberg.

In 2013, Ismailov returned to Chechen football. At the beginning of the year, he organized a friendly match between Kadyrov’s Terek and the Israeli club Beitar (Jerusalem), owned by his friend Arkady Gaydamak. The match ended with the score 0:0. And the club owners agreed on the transfer of two Chechen football players to Beitar - Zaur Kadayev and Dzhabrail Kadiev. This caused the anger of Beitar fans who did not want to see Muslims among the club’s players.

Partly because of the protests of the fans, Gaydamak became convinced of his desire to sell the club. And he announced that he was selling Beitar to Ismailov and his partners: State Duma deputy and Kadyrov adviser Adam Delimkhanov and Kenes Rakishev, a Kazakh businessman and son-in-law of the Minister of Defense of Kazakhstan. But Beitar fans ruined this deal too. After this failure, Ismailov moved away from Chechen football: Rakishev’s structure became Terek’s sponsor instead.

Kadyrov’s press secretary Alvi Karimov declined to comment, and Rakishev’s press service did not answer Vedomosti’s questions.

Who did Telman Ismailov do business with?

Photo gallery

Competition of creditors

In 2013, Ismailov transferred his companies to his sons and top managers. For example, a share in key companies of the AST-98 group and “KBF AST” he distributed between his sons Alekper and Sarkhan. And AST Kolkhoz Klinsky, which owns 3,000 hectares of land in the Klinsky district of the Moscow region, was transferred to the Factoria company, founded shortly before this transaction by the general director of KBF AST, Igor Morozov.

At the beginning of 2014, Ismailov re-registered the three largest objects in Moscow - the Prague restaurant, the Tropicano business center and the AST shopping center in Izmailovo - to offshore companies from the British Virgin Islands - Tigerim Limited, Ergon Incorporated Ltd. and Thunderwide Holdings Limited, respectively. Representatives of AST then assured that they were all controlled by Ismailov.

But the business restructuring coincided with the appearance of claims from creditors. According to Vedomosti estimates, the debts of Ismailov and his former companies now exceed $586 million, which is comparable to Forbes magazine’s estimate of his wealth. It seems that his family has only one asset left that creditors do not claim: this is one of the largest distributors of premium alcohol - AST-International Environment with revenue of 10.4 billion rubles. in 2014. Who lays claim to the rest?

Claims against son

In January 2015, Sobinbank filed a lawsuit in the Dorogomilovsky District Court of Moscow against the son of Telman Ismailov, Alekper Ismailov, to collect a debt of 11.5 million rubles. on guarantee for the company "AST-Amaroli Impex", which produces children's and women's tights. In March, the proceedings in the case were terminated - the parties entered into a settlement agreement. It lasted only four months. In July, the Dorogomilovsky court issued a writ of execution to collect the debt from Alekper Ismailov. According to the FSSP, the debt has not yet been repaid. Sobinbank did not say whether it would demand personal bankruptcy for Alekper Ismailov.

Businessman Sergei Yanchukov was the first to demand that Ismailov repay the debt. Ismailov met him in 2010, when he was looking for a partner for joint projects, Kommersant wrote. It was with Yanchukov’s structures that Ismailov discussed the idea of ​​moving the Cherkizovsky market to Odessa, the former Moscow official assures. “Yanchukov was connected with influential people in Ukraine, but there was such a seething elite there that even his administrative resources were not enough,” says Vedomosti’s interlocutor. The main owner of the Mangazeya industrial group, Yanchukov, is originally from Odessa, but has been doing business in Russia since 2006. In 2011, he married the daughter of the former mayor of Kyiv Leonid Chernovetsky, Kristina.

In 2010–2011 The company Sezaria, controlled by Yanchukov, issued loans to Ismailov’s Tandum offshore for $100 million for a period until 2013. But Ismailov very quickly stopped servicing this loan, and at the request of Sezaria, the district court of Nicosia (Cyprus) in 2014 froze the businessman’s assets for $134 million. According to “ Kommersant", these assets included Mardan Palace in Turkey, Ismailov's estate in France, the Moscow house of celebrations "Safisa", the AST Gough hotel on Bolshaya Filevskaya Street, the Moscow Printing House (AST-MPD), etc. Yanchukov purposefully bought up Ismailov’s debts - at a large discount, one of their mutual acquaintances knows.

Other creditors claimed some of these assets. For example, the AST Gough hotel and the project of a hotel complex on Nikitsky Boulevard were transferred to the structures of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) for debts, Kommersant wrote with reference to representatives of Mangazeya Yanchukov. The head of the strategic development department of IBA-Moscow, Leonid Mileev, told Vedomosti that “the bank had no commercial relations with the AST group” and advised to contact the parent bank in Azerbaijan for comments. The IBA did not answer Vedomosti’s questions. However, the customer of the project on Nikitsky Boulevard in 2013 was the management company Fortrust Global, close to the IBA, as follows from documents submitted to the Moscow Architectural Council.

Ismailov owed more than $200 million to Turkish banks and builders of Mardan Palace. The largest creditors are Halk Bankası ($100 million and 50 million liras) and Garanti Bankası ($76 million and 40 million liras). The hotel owner also has multimillion-dollar debts on taxes, work insurance, and utility debts to the Antalya municipality. “There is a group of people in Turkey who are spreading misinformation about me. This is done intentionally. They want me out of this country. I completely refute this information. I repeat: I have no plans to sell this hotel,” Ismailov fumed in an interview with Haqqin.az in March 2015. The businessman assured that his debt to Turkish banks does not exceed $110 million.

Nevertheless, several creditors immediately initiated enforcement proceedings providing for the sale of the hotel. Thus, Garanti Bankası achieved the appointment of trading on November 2. The initial price of the hotel and villas is set at $244 million - this is almost 6 times less than the investment made, according to Ismailov, in Mardan Palace.

Mardan Palace will be closed for renovations from December 21 to March 1, the Tez Tour hotline operator told Vedomosti. The renovation of the hotel will be carried out by the new owner, assures one of the employees of this company. An employee of the hotel itself confirmed the closure for renovations, but noted that there was no information about a change in ownership.

The Bank of Moscow, which has become Ismailov’s largest creditor, is also interested in the Turkish hotel: judging by court materials, the debt of its structures to the bank reached $286 million by October 2015. An official notice from the Bank of Moscow was published in the Turkish press in October demanding the bankruptcy of two companies - AST Insaat Turizm, which owns Mardan Palace, and Olimpus Insaat Turizm Gida Otelicilik Nakliey, which manages the Ismailovs’ property in Antalya. The court will consider the Bank of Moscow's claim on December 2, 2015, a month after the proposed auction for the sale of Mardan Palace. It turns out that even if Ismailov manages to persuade Turkish creditors not to sell his hotel, he will only receive a delay of a month.

Angry creditors

Since July, the Bank of Moscow has been demanding in the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow to collect the debt from Ismailov’s structures Tropicano Finance B V and Rusline 2000 and from Ismailov himself, who guaranteed the loans. The court seized the businessman's personal assets: an apartment in the village. Zarechye, land plot in the village. Skolkovo, Odintsovo district, and two residential buildings in Aprelevka, Naro-Fominsk district (data from Kommersant).

“Behind the monumental façade of the dazzling palace with a beautiful view of the Medvedev project [Skolkovo innovation center] hides dazzling beauty, glitter of gold, breathtaking luxury. I have never seen anything like this in my life. And even in the cinema,” enthused a journalist from the Azerbaijani publication Haqqin.az in March 2015, after visiting Ismailov’s house in Skolkovo. However, judging by Rosreestr data, a plot of 1.7 hectares in Skolkovo and two residential buildings with an area of ​​2362 and 2372 square meters. m Ismailov do not belong. In the summer of 2014, they were transferred to the Settlement and Credit Bank. The bank belongs to businessman Batyr Agayev, whose father, Ramzan Kadyrov’s friend Vakha Agayev, and brother Bekhkan Agayev are State Duma deputies. It was not possible to contact the Agayevs: their phones in the State Duma were not answered.

And on October 1, the day the law on bankruptcy of individuals came into force, the Bank of Moscow filed a lawsuit to declare Ismailov bankrupt.

The creditor is trying to take away the pledged assets for next to nothing, according to a statement from Ismailov’s press service made after the filing of the lawsuit. The Bank of Moscow has three of Ismailov’s most valuable Moscow assets as collateral – the Prague restaurant, the Tropicano business center and the AST shopping center. After failed negotiations with the Bank of Moscow, Ismailov learned that “the loan from the AST companies was transferred to the debt service of VTB.” The loan is curated by Andrey Puchkov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of VTB. He offered to “take away” all the collateral assets for $33 million, although their market price is at least $250 million, it follows from the statement. The VTB press service refused to comment on the situation. But from SPARK data it is clear that in June 2015, all three companies that own pledged assets changed their CEO. Now they are managed by Vladimir Tsypin, who previously worked in VTB structures.

In a press release, Ismailov recalls that the AST group received its first loan from the Bank of Moscow back in 2006 and always paid its debts in good faith: over the entire period, Ismailov paid the bank $70 million in interest and returned $50 million. In 2014, when everyone borrowers of foreign currency loans had problems due to a jump in the dollar exchange rate, Ismailov agreed with the Bank of Moscow on the sale of two objects - Tropicano and the AST shopping center. There was even a buyer - the Progress company agreed to pay $148 million and paid a deposit of $14.8 million in July 2014. The bank did not complete the deal, and Progress was able to return the deposit only through the court.

Who was this failed buyer? According to SPARK, the founder of Progress is Oleg Veselov, who has more than 20 other companies where he was the general director or founder. And the general director of Progress turned out to be lawyer Yulia Dolinskaya, until recently a member of the board of directors of Sodrugestvo Bank. Dolinskaya told Vedomosti that the founders of Progress prohibited commenting on the situation with Ismailov. Last Friday, October 16, the Central Bank revoked the license of Sodrugestvo Bank due to unsatisfactory asset quality and the complete loss of its own funds.

Ismailov is confident that everything that is happening is a raider attack, says one of his acquaintances. He says that he asked for help in communicating with VTB from one of the influential businessmen. “Ismailov needs to sell assets, there is a buyer, but the bank does not give permission for the sale, they are harshly seeking the bankruptcy of the debtor,” another person who met with him reports Ismailov’s words. “As far as I know, two major creditors of Ismailov are Bank of Moscow and Yanchukov adhere to a common tough position towards the businessman, and it will not be easy for those who want to help,” says Vedomosti’s interlocutor.

Telman Mardanovich Ismailov is a Russian entrepreneur of Azerbaijani origin, who also has Turkish citizenship. He was the owner of the Cherkizovsky market in Moscow and is the founder of the famous AST group.

Telman Ismailov began his biography in 1956 in the city of Baku and became the tenth of twelve children in the family. His father was Azerbaijani by origin, and his mother, in addition, also had Jewish roots. Mardan Ismailov was engaged in trade, and he worked hard and with amazing diligence, which is why he constantly needed helpers. Already at the age of 14, Telman began not just to help, but to work full-time with his father, and soon became the director of the first and only commercial store in Baku at that time.

In 1973, Ismailov entered the Baku Institute of National Economy, but after compulsory military service he transferred to a similar educational institution - the Moscow Institute of National Economy named after Georgy Plekhanov. By assignment, the young man works as an economist at the Ministry of Trade, and later as an expert at Vostokintorg. Then he met, who at that time worked as the chairman of the commission of the Moscow City Executive Committee. And 20 years later, already being the mayor of Moscow, Luzhkov will personally congratulate Ismailov on his anniversary with the words: “Telmann! You are our brother! We walk with you through life!”.

When the enterprise was launched, businessman Telman Ismailov asked Turkey to give him a second citizenship, and this request was granted.

However, in November 2015, the public learned that ownership of the Mardan Palace hotel was transferred to the Turkish bank Halkbank through an auction sale, since the Russian entrepreneur had a lot of debts to Turkish companies. Today Telman Ismailov is not among the richest people in the country. In 2015, he was officially declared bankrupt by the Moscow Region Arbitration Court, and the shareholders of the AST group he founded are now his sons.

In March 2016, the court's decision on the businessman's bankruptcy was overturned. But already in August of the same year, the court again resumed the procedure for declaring the ex-owner of Cherkizon bankrupt. In January 2017, the amount of his debts reached 31 billion rubles. In February, the Arbitration Court included another 8.9 billion rubles in the register of creditors’ claims. In March 2017, he decided to start selling his property at auction.

Personal life

In the personal life of Telman Ismailov, everything is stable. He has been married for a long time and raised two sons, Sarkhan and Alekper, who succeeded him in business. Some of the entrepreneur’s many brothers are also known to the public. For example, Fazil Ismailov several years ago served as prefect of the Northern Administrative District of Moscow. And recently another brother, Rafik Ismailov, became infamous. He is suspected of organizing the murder of two businessmen - the founder of Lyublino Motors, Yuri Brilev, and the owner of a chain of shopping malls, Vladimir Savkin.

Soon Thälmann was also accused of this crime. The Basmanny Court of Moscow authorized the arrest of the businessman in absentia, since at that time he left Russia.

Telman Ismailov is a very generous person. Everyone around him was used to receiving gifts. Also, the man did not deprive his celebrity guests of similar attention. For example, he gave the singer a villa in Turkey, the actress a diamond necklace, TV presenter and psychologist Ilham Mirzayev a gold Koran, and the singer a platinum watch. In addition, among Ismailov’s acquaintances there are such celebrities as, and others.

More than once they became guests at his birthday. There were rumors that he provided his plane more than once; at that time she was still the wife of the President of the Russian Federation. But this at least looks illogical. In one of the interviews, he said that he knew each other, and their children became friends and even visited each other.

The main hobby of an entrepreneur from Azerbaijan is collecting wristwatches, of which there are over two thousand pairs in his collection. Thälmann also tried twice to become a co-founder of a football club. In 2010, he became vice-president of the Terek team from Grozny, but took over the club only three years later, organizing a friendly match with the Israeli Beitar from Jerusalem, during which two profitable transfers of football players were formalized. At the same time, Telman was going to acquire ownership of the Israeli team, but the fans ruined this deal, after which the businessman lost interest in football.

Telman Ismailov now

All the latest news about Telman Ismailov is related to the criminal case and the “sale” of his property.

In May 2018, a shopping center on Izmailovskoye Shosse, which also belonged to the AST holding, went under the hammer.

Also this year, Mehman Kerimov, a defendant in Ismailov’s criminal case, was sentenced to 13 years in prison. At the moment, according to the investigation, Telman is the organizer of this crime, while Kerimov was the perpetrator. The former owner of Cherkizon has been put on the international wanted list. And where he is today is unknown.

But the seven-star Mardan Palace hotel will soon be operational again. Despite the fact that news constantly appeared in the media that the hotel was being plundered, the general director of the hotel said that they were negotiating with travel agencies, discussing the prospects for the 2018 summer season. He also noted that 200 people continue to work in the state. And the main event of the upcoming season will be an Indian wedding with a budget of $10-15 million.

Condition assessment

In 2006, the Cherkizovsky market was the largest center of small wholesale trade in terms of financial turnover. Telman Ismailov himself was 76 on the Forbes list in 2007. His fortune totaled $260 million.

In 2015, he was included among the 200 richest businessmen in Russia according to Forbes with a fortune of $600 million.

Telman Ismailov

23.10.2018 - The ex-owner of the Cherkizovsky market claims that he became a victim of former business partners.

Telman Ismailov wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In it, he claims that he became a victim of former business partners and accuses them of corruption. According to interlocutors, such a message may be due to the fact that the Investigative Committee plans to bring charges against Ismailov for organizing a criminal community.

As a source in law enforcement agencies said, the former owner of the Cherkizovsky market Telman Ismailov handed over a letter addressed to the head of state to the administration of the President of the Russian Federation. This information was confirmed to the agency by several interlocutors familiar with the situation. The message takes up 12 pages, its essence was told by a source who has read the document. According to him, Ismailov describes the balance of forces behind the smuggling channel through which goods were supplied to Cherkizon. After the closure of the market, according to the entrepreneur, he found himself in the most unfair situation: his “junior” partners were allocated other large areas to continue the business, but he himself received nothing. Moreover, according to Ismailov, his former partners, with the help of their connections, launched an attack on him and undermined his financial position. And then they began to pursue him through law enforcement. As a result, the businessman left the country and was later put on the wanted list on charges of organizing two murders. In his letter, Ismailov describes connections and possible crimes allegedly committed by his former partners. And at the same time he declares that he himself is not involved in the acts accused of him.

A source in law enforcement believes that Ismailov’s arguments do not stand up to criticism, and connects the message with the events currently taking place in the criminal case. “The investigation has collected enough evidence to charge Ismailov in absentia with organizing a criminal community - this could happen in the next few days,” the agency’s interlocutor opined. “Also, active work is now underway against Ismailov’s inner circle. We have many questions for the businessman’s brother, former deputy prefect of the Northern Administrative Okrug Fazil Izmailov, but he is not available for questioning. Also, one of the former senior officers of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Northern Administrative District has already been interrogated. He is suspected of having close ties with the Ismailov clan.” According to the source, Telman Ismailov and his brothers Fazil and Vagif (who are wanted) travel between France and Montenegro. At one time, Telman Ismailov lived in Turkey, but, according to the agency’s interlocutor, he was forced to leave this country: supposedly local police had questions for him in connection with the execution of thief in law Rovshan Dzhaniev (Rovshan Lyankoransky).

According to the agency’s source, now the “Ismailov case” already includes seven murders and attempts, which are related to the businessman’s conflict with the “Koptev” and “Lyubertsy” groups. The reason for the conflict with the Koptevskaya organized crime group lies in the struggle for the right to control a number of wholesale markets in the capital. In the late 1990s, the Ismailov family set its sights on profitable properties in the Northern Administrative District (NAD), in particular the Lianozovsky market, the market in Western Degunino, and several shopping centers.

However, most of the objects that interested the Ismailovs were related to representatives of the “Koptev” group, who did not want to share the profits at all. A conflict arose between the then leader of the Koptevskys, Andrei Lobanov (Loban), and the family of the owner of Cherkizon, which ended in the murder of the “authority”.

After this, according to operatives, the Ismailovs began to “fight” with Loban’s successors - also members of the Koptevskaya organized crime group. Over the course of five years, at least seven “authorities” were killed. The main chord of this war was the arson of the Lianozovsky market in October 2005, which, according to investigators, was committed on the orders of the Ismailov family. The Koptevskys and businessmen associated with them had to agree with the Ismailovs’ claims and create partnerships with the family.

At some point, the Ismailovs sold all the properties and, according to the terms of the agreement, had to give part of the profits to their partners. For example, businessman Vladimir Savkin’s share from the sale of the Stroymarket No. 1 shopping center was $5.5 million. However, he was simply thrown out. Savkin began to remind the family about the debt, mainly his complaints were addressed to Rafik Ismailov. When he became too persistent, the businessman was invited to a meeting to discuss the details of paying off the debt. During it, in May 2016, Savkin, along with his acquaintance Yuri Brilev, was shot. A case was initiated, within the framework of which all the details of the activities of the Ismailov family “came to light.”

As already reported, Rafik’s “right hand” Harry Belotserkovsky is actively cooperating with the investigation. According to Belotserkovsky’s testimony, in 2000 he and Rafik came to the Prague restaurant, where he witnessed a conversation with Telman Ismailov. During the meeting, according to Belotserkovsky, the brothers discussed the need to eliminate the “authority” of the “Koptev” organized crime group of Andrei Lobanov, as well as the details of the crime.