Furgal found himself in detention centre

According to the correspondent of The Moscow Post, Khabarovsk Governor Sergei Furgal was arrested on suspicion of organizing murders. Our publication has repeatedly written about the criminal connections of the official and passed the relevant materials to law enforcement agencies. And so, the Head of the region became a person involved in the criminal case of the organized criminal group that operated in 2004-2005.

The IC investigators along with the FSS officers took part in Furgal's arrest. In the near future, the Head of the region will be charged. He is charged with attempted crime, complicity in a crime and murder. If the court finds the Governor guilty, he faces a serious prison term - up to life in prison.

Back in the autumn of 2018, Furgal's arrival to power was accompanied by whispers on the sidelines that the background of the newly-appointed Governor, frankly speaking, raised questions. But, apparently, the Head of the region believed that a wave of "people's love" would protect him from all outrages.

However, a year later, the seat under the Governor was shaken. At first, problems broke out for the Furgal family's metallurgical business, Torex and Amurstal, which were mired in losses and could participate in illegal tax evasion schemes.

But the security forces did not stop there and went to the "criminal" origins of the official's business. The corresponding materials about the "affairs" of the Khabarovsk Governor were repeatedly sent to law enforcement agencies by the editorial Board of The Moscow Post.

Furgal's detention

"The Moscow Post is certainly glad that it was able to once again contribute to arresting of another "thief in power". Another fact is not clear: why the information that we passed to the competent authorities about the Khabarovsk Governor was decided to be used only now. I think the fact is that under some security forces (we will not point fingers), their chairs swayed. This was especially evident after the last vote on amendments to the Constitution. The timing is, of course, very good. While one office is arresting journalist Safronov, another is carrying out a cover-up operation in order to distract attention. Waiting for the next round. From the information that is available, it is inevitable", - said Aleksey Kozlov, editor-in-chief of The Moscow Post.

Powerful authority

At the time when the organized crime group, which was involved in the case of Furgal, was operating, he was still engaged in business. First, he headed an office that sold lumber, and then - a firm that collected scrap ferrous metals.

From 2004 to 2005, several murders of entrepreneurs occurred at once. All of them were connected in one way or another with the sphere of metal export, and after their death, part of the business structures passed to the Furgal family. In other words, he could have been the perpetrator of these massacres.

In fact, Furgal is a businessman who rose in the dashing 90s and "fat" 2000s, then went to the State Duma for parliamentary immunity. Along with him, his people, well-known in the "criminal world" of the region, came to power.

One of them is a long-time business partner and ex-Deputy of the Khabarovsk regional Duma, Nikolay Mistryukov, who was detained last year. According to Kommersant, he and three accomplices are also suspected of two murders and an attempt made about 15 years ago.

In 2004, the current Head of the region, allegedly, appealed to Mistryukov in connection with the indignation of the activities of Eugene Zorya, who sued the production building of the ZHBI-2 plant, where his enterprise for collecting scrap metal MYTH-Khabarovsk was based. The businessman was shot on October 29, 2004.

As evil tongues say, Zorya was offered to "solve the conflict" with Furgal by a local reputable entrepreneur Mikhail Timofeev. He refused, but Furgal did not. After Zorya's death, Timofeev's men began guarding Furgal's units.

A well-known businessman in the region named "Timoha" was the founder of the sports club "Moisey" of Mikhail Timofeev, and at the same time, one of the most intimidating persons in the criminal history of Khabarovsk. His group included about 300 fighters who were engaged in extortion, murder, and so on. This was written by Komsomolskaya Pravda.

By the way, Timofeev became Furgal's assistant when the latter sat in the chair of the state Duma Deputy. In 2011, Timofeev was detained. As a result, he could only be charged with extortion, for which the reputable businessman received 8 years in prison.

It was said that Sergey Furgal played a serious role in this case, and he did not leave his assistant. For this, according to evil tongues, he received the nickname "godfather" of the Timofeev group.

It is possible that thanks to the intercession of Sergey Furgal, Timofeev managed to get off with so little blood. What can not be said about those unwanted entrepreneurs who paid with their lives.

Another victim — Oleg Bulatov - was previously a police officer, and then worked in the management of MYTH-Khabarovsk. But in 2005, he apparently did something to displease Mr. Furgal. Bulatov was shot on January 31. Also in 2005, an attempt was made on the Amur merchant Alexey Smolsky.

Red-hot metallurgy

The real "battleground" during last year for the Governor was the story of the Torex metallurgical complex, where large-scale searches took place last year. The company was suspected of tax evasion and fraud with VAT refunds. And it is directly connected with the Governor of the Khabarovsk District - the main "Metallurgist" of the region from the 90s.

Furgal's wife - Larisa Starodubova is the founder of the asset, as well Mistryukov (now in detention centre) and Pavel Balsky, who has already hurried to inform that all matters relating to the plant, he always conducted only with Sergey Furgal.

GK Toreks owns the Amurstal company. REN TV called the plant a "time bomb" - allegedly, radioactive waste accumulated on the territory of the plant for years. The Governor allegedly replied to statements about toxic radionuclides, saying that there is nothing to worry about, it is waste of the fourth degree of danger. And this is despite the decree of the environmental Prosecutor's office, which says that 11 bunkers contain poisonous grate dust.

Now this only electric smelter in the Far Eastern Federal District is on the verge of bankruptcy. Furgal was not going to stay away and decided to put all efforts to save his business: the government of the Khabarovsk territory created a collateral Fund, which turned out to be regional property worth 130 billion rubles. However, the public and the FAS clearly did not like this initiative. The Agency sent a warning to the Governor.

From the official's chair, Furgal had previously defended his businesses and lobbied for his own interests. Let us take, for example, the metallurgical plant JSC Amurmetall. Back in 2013, it was reported that the asset was in bankruptcy, and debt obligations amounted to tens of billions of rubles. However, Deputy Furgal solemnly addressed the local residents, assuring them that he had been working on the problems of Amurmetall for more than a year and could say with confidence that the factory workers would not be left without work.

And two years ago, Furgal's lobbying capabilities achieved impressive results. As Kommersant wrote, the government restricted the export of scrap in the Far East. And this is despite the fact that, as experts said, the restriction contradicts the WTO rules and, in fact, gives Amurmetall the opportunity to export steel billets to the same South Korea.

What will happen to Furgal's metallurgical assets now? It seems that there are people in the region "on standby". For example, particularly observant people noticed that one of the shareholders of Amurstal - Balsky, along with the "liquidators", brought journalist Olga Shabalina to Amurstal. She is considered the "mouthpiece" of the former Head of the region - Vyacheslav Shport.

Previously, evil tongues were talking about a rather friendly relationship between the two governors. Before the 2018 election, Shport even offered Furgal to become his Deputy.

It seems that the initial arrival of Sergei Furgal to power caused discontent in certain circles of power and law enforcement agencies. After all, allowing a person with such a past to manage an entire region will hardly seem like a good idea to someone. The Moscow Post has repeatedly written about Furgal's merits in the chair, and the current detention of the "godfather" of the region looks like a logical consequence of his management.