Press release, 06.04.2017

Sergei Mitrokhin, head of Yabloko’s Anti-Corruption Centre, demanded to stop a shopping centre construction conducted by the company of Prosecutor General’s son Artyom Chaika in the territory of a protective zone of Losiny Ostrov National Park, Moscow. Yabloko’s anti-corruption experts claim that the construction works do not meet the environmental regulations and the lack of response from the supervisory authorities reveals corruption elements.

The construction in the protective zone of Losiny Ostrov National Park is conducted by OOO Georesource company. 27 per cent of the the company stocks belong to Artyom Chaika, General Prosecutor of the RF Yuri Chaika’s son. OOO Tashir Capital and OOO Maryina Roshcha Plaza, whose beneficial owners reside in the offshore zone of the British Virgin Islands and Cyprus, possess 25 per cent of the company stocks. The rest 23 per cent of the stocks are owned by a company residing in the Marshall Islands.

According to Russia’s federal law On the specially protected natural reservation, construction in national parks is prohibited according to the general principles. One needs a special permission from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation in order to conduct construction works in Losiny Ostrov. It is not clear whether the developers have such a permission and, if so, what were the grounds for giving it.

The Losiny Ostrov protective zone was established by the decree No 235-113 of the Moscow Government and the Moscow Region Administration dated 29.04.1992. The decree regulations were violated, including the ban on construction within 150 meters from the park border.

Sergei Mitrokhin appealed to the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resource Usage and Prosecutor General’s Office demanding to stop the construction of the shopping centre.