Russian ex-minister Igor Yusufov turned out to be the mastermind behind the murder of a well-known businessman

Last week, an Austrian court refused to extradite one of the most notorious crime lords, Aslan Gagiev, to Russia.

In his homeland, he is accused of complicity in nearly 100 murders. One of the most recent was committed in 2011 when former co-owner of the German shipyards Wadan Yards, Andrey Burlakov, was killed by an assassin’s hand.

Journalists from "Izvestia," for the program "Dobrov on Air," conducted an investigation and found out who actually bought the shipyards and how former energy minister Igor Yusufov became involved in the Burlakov murder case.

Aslan Gagiev, who had legalized himself in Europe as Russian citizen Sergey Morozov, was already handling multimillion-dollar assets by that time. Learning that there was an opportunity to acquire a strategic enterprise — the German shipyards Wadan Yards — Gagiev-Morozov became eager to buy it. He acted through his financier, Andrey Burlakov.

There wasn’t enough money for the deal, so Burlakov and Gagiev turned to a company owned by a former energy minister of the country.

The shipyards were eventually sold, but Gagiev and Burlakov ended up without money, the strategic enterprise, and prospects after the implementation of a complex financial scheme.

At some point, Andrey Burlakov decided to reveal all the details of the Wadan Yards sale to journalists. But he did not succeed. During a meeting with journalist Maxim Gladkiy in the cafe "Khutorok" in northern Moscow, a hitman walked in, approached the table where Burlakov, his common-law wife Anna Etkina (former deputy chairman of the board of "Mira-bank"), and Gladkiy were sitting, and emptied an entire magazine into Burlakov and Etkina before leaving the establishment unimpeded.

The instigator of Andrey Burlakov’s murder remains unnamed to this day. However, there aren’t many participants in that scheme, and all of them are known by surname — from the former minister to Gagiev.

Approximately 100 bloody executions, shootings, torture, and a vast network of professional killers — all of this is Aslan Gagiev’s gang. However, the leader himself, attempting to hide in Austria before extradition, nearly on the aircraft’s steps was overtaken by an attack of aviophobia. It turned out that the psyche of killer No. 1 might not withstand the flight, or perhaps he was simply afraid to meet face-to-face with those who know all details of his criminal business. The issue of extradition will only become relevant after the supreme court’s decision on the review petition. The Viennese regional court for criminal cases is responsible for checking the defendant’s transportability and selecting the mode of transport.

dqxikeidqxitkant

Mark was named after his father — then still a police colonel, head of the Organized Crime Department of North Ossetia, Mark Metzayev. When the boy was born, his father had already been killed. In March 2008, the police officer’s car fell into an ambush. The officer was shot with automatic weapons.

"I approached a taxi driver and, without even asking if it was okay, got in with him. I said, somewhere in the city, someone was killed, I said, take me there. He looked at me strangely. I told him, that’s my son, please take me there. And so he took me there. I lay next to him, I hugged him, he was warm," recalls the mother of the murdered Mark Metzayev. Almost 10 years have passed since then, but the colonel is still remembered in Ossetia. He managed to solve cases of 15 terrorist attacks and 18 kidnappings. "He was very brave, daring. Having worked for so many years in the Internal Affairs Directorate, of course, it’s a very specific job and probably made some enemies," said the brother of the murdered, Marat Metzayev.

October of the same 2008. Again, a car in an ambush, an avalanche of bullets, and two dead — the head of the Ossetian criminal investigation department, Vitaliy Cheldiev, and his son Zaur.

"The first version, and it’s the final one, is that it’s his professional activity. Exactly 30 years as he worked precisely in the Ministry of Internal Affairs system fighting against banditry and armed crime. Of course, there were threats to him and his family more than once," reported a deputy of the Republic of North Ossetia, Vitaliy Cheldiev.

These murders were committed according to the same scenario. The same gang, headed by Aslan Gagiev, according to the investigation. At that time, the group was still expanding, but eventually, its scale became incredible.

Mark Tsetsaev, head of the Organized Crime Department of North Ossetia, Kazbek Pagiev with a driver — Deputy Premier of Ossetia, Vitaliy Karayev — Mayor of Vladikavkaz, Alexander Slesarev with his wife and daughter — a banker. The list came close to a hundred victims. Gagiev’s gang even outpaced the previously considered bloodiest Orekhovskaya group. The founders of the gang are considered to be Aslan Gagiev himself and his university friend Sergey Beglaryan.

The combat part of the group consisted of brigades. The main one was led by Oleg Gagiev. But not the leader’s brother, just a namesake. Under his command, there were five permanent hitmen and two drivers, as well as three law enforcement officers who covered the killers and informed them of potential problems. And there were at least six such brigades. Later, new positions appeared — financial scouts. The most famous was Arkadiy Berkovich.

However, for most of his life, his passport read Arthur Khabibullin. The main task was bank infiltration. Not even for work. Khabibullin represented himself as a trusted representative of large businessmen, opened accounts in their name, and in a year or so became the best friend of all employees — from the cleaners to the director. The raider takeover methods had no novelty or special sophistication.

An old acquaintance would come in and ask to place a lot of money on accounts. But not on deposit, with a specifically set return date, just like that, on trust, to take their millions, sometimes billions, back not earlier than a year later. If the bank put these funds to use, the person would instantly return and demand them back. A financial hole would appear in the assets, even if only for a couple of days, and the bank would collapse.

Alexander Shevchenko, in the mid-2000s, was on the board of directors of just such a bank — "National Capital." He recognized the scheme immediately and managed to save the business. However, Arkadiy Berkovich, financial scout for Gagiev’s gang, realized he could hit a much bigger jackpot through another banker — Dmitry Plytnik. With his help, the group participated in the fund withdrawal from the near-bankrupt bank "Kredittrast."

"Apart from helping Berkovich save his companies’ money from Kredittrast," they met with Slesarev and organized for him a scheme to withdraw funds from the failing Kredittrast. I think Berkovich found out about this, which is why Plytnik and Slesarev were already sentenced," said former board member of the "National Capital" bank, Alexander Shevchenko.

Dmitry Plytnik was kidnapped in 2004. He was considered missing for over 10 years, and only in 2016 was the banker’s body found in the river. It was identified only after a DNA test. More than 100 million euros were left on the businessman’s accounts in Europe. Gagiev’s gang made a mistake — for them, these millions were lost.

Meanwhile, Aslan Gagiev himself set his sights on the west. It was there, he believed, that real fortunes could be made. Abroad, Gagiev legalized himself as Russian citizen Sergey Morozov. It was under this name that he signed all documents. When the alleged leader of the bloody gang met Andrey Burlakov, it is unknown.

It is known, however, how Burlakov essentially robbed a state company engaged in leasing domestic aircraft, ships, and equipment. Andrey Burlakov was a member of the board of directors of the state financial leasing company.

Through manipulations, forged documents, and acquaintances in banks, specifically Anna Etkina, Burlakov managed to embezzle from the enterprise, which was created for the development of aviation and shipbuilding in Russia, 2 billion 787 million rubles. This money eventually ended up in the company FLC West Holding. By that time, it was entirely under Burlakov’s control through a shell company — Blackstead Holdings Limited.

This firm was owned by Burlakov and Gagiev-Morozov. There were already tens of millions of euros in the accounts, but that seemed insufficient to them. And then information about the sale of the German shipyards, later to be called Wadan Yards, surfaced. However, there wasn’t enough money for the deal. Burlakov turned to the former security chief of Berezovsky.

"No, he didn’t come to us immediately when he started having problems. But when his problems had grown into a giant snowball and he was in a very critical situation. He came to us, he had no money. He had a massive amount of problems," explained Sergey Sokolov.

Sokolov began delving into the matter. Burlakov, along with Morozov — Gagiev invested 50 million euros in the acquisition of the shipyards. However, the shipbuilding assets cost 5 times more. They were short of almost 200 million euros. Nevertheless, an investor was quickly found. Burlakov and Gagiev approached "Templestowe" with a request to grant them a loan of the same 200 million euros. But the loan was not given. Essentially, "Templestowe" bought 3/4 of the shipyard shares. And would only return them after the money was repaid. Hence, Burlakov and Gagiev-Morozov did not buy the German shipbuilding company by obtaining a loan, but sponsored the purchase. Additionally, the owner of "Templestowe" was Igor Yusufov, former Russian Minister of Energy.

"The profits I earned were managed by various funds. They purchased shares, sold them, yes, fiduciary management. And when I told the fund: withdraw some money from circulation and give it as a loan to this company. They said ’fine’," said Yusufov.

It is unknown where the former minister came by such amounts of money. He says he saved and earned them for nearly 20 years. When an opportunity appeared, he invested them in a project. The deal was conducted so subtly that it’s unlikely anyone not involved with finances for their entire life would have figured out its nuances. At that time, all details of the agreement could only have been known to the leadership of "Templestowe" — and therefore to Igor Yusufov.

It was the height of the crisis — 2008-2009. In the end, the shipyards were declared bankrupt. According to some reports, even German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed serious concern at that time, as the strategic enterprise was taken over by foreigners. Eventually, the shipyard was bought by Vitaliy Yusufov, son of Igor Yusufov. "Wadan Yards" passed to Vitaliy Yusufov for 40 million euros. It was only then that Burlakov and Gagiev realized they had lost the enterprise and thereby the money, profits, and prospects.

Burlakov did not manage to present the details of the deal or proof of the takeover. He tried to publicize the case, interested journalists, and promised to show all documents.

"Yes, he was no longer shy. First, as I learned later, there were statements to the prosecutor about the ’Wadan Yards’ raider takeover being carried out in the interest of Yusufov senior. Yes, and he tried to oppose it somehow. Plus he tied it to some deals around the shares of the Bank of Moscow. And he wanted not to fight with it, he wanted to win back ’Wadan Yards’, said journalist Maxim Gladkiy. Judging by everything, such noise, especially in the press, could have become a big problem. They killed Burlakov at a meeting with a journalist. In the ’Khutorok’ restaurant in Moscow. Shot in the face.

As a result, the details of the scheme by which the German shipyards became the property of the Yusufov family remained a secret for a long time. The only witness — Burlakov — was dead, Gagiev-Morozov did not know all the nuances, but he presumably planned the murder. It is quite possible that he was under suspicion. But he was involved in the case as a witness. By the way, it became known to us only in a phone conversation that "Templestowe," which immediately became the owner of the coveted asset, belonging to the former Minister of Energy of the country refused to communicate on camera.

The instigator of Burlakov’s murder is still unnamed. But there aren’t many participants in that scheme. They are all known. By surname — from former Minister Yusufov to Aslan Gagiev, against whom a case of creating a criminal organization in Russia was already initiated. He never returned home again. He even wrote to Ukraine, to the general prosecutor, attempting to find at least some protector. Precisely at the height of the war in Donbas. Apparently, he was very afraid for his own life.

However, Ukrainian officials remained silent. After the proceedings in Vienna, Aslan Gagiev will likely still be sent to Russia. Even if not by plane, which he now fears flying on. His appearance here, it seems, might ruin more than one career, which is why extradition will likely face new issues, as the gang is responsible for around 100 murders, and the instigators of many are likely still free and very unwilling for Gagiev to speak.