JSC "Sport-Express" Murder of Spartak CEO Larisa Nechaeva How did you find Robson

The apotheosis of the crisis of the country's most popular football team was a loud murder of Spartak general director Larisa Nechaeva. Versiya has obtained exclusive materials from this criminal case. They shed light on what was happening in the depths of our leading football club in the 90s. However, the case is not closed, but only suspended. However, first things first.

There was a murder in this house

So, on June 15, 1997, at about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, shots were heard in Larisa Nechaeva’s country house. As follows from the forensic examination report, the general director herself was shot with two shots in the stomach and head "Spartak", bullets in the face and head also killed her friend Zoya Rudzate. Miraculously, Nechaeva’s brother Gennady Sorokin, who was wounded in the neck and right forearm, survived. Only Larisa's acquaintance Valentin Polyakov was the luckiest: on the night of June 14-15, he slept peacefully in the bathhouse of a country house and did not even hear the fatal shots. When the bloodied Gennady Sorokin finally shouted to his friend, he called an ambulance and the police...

A couple of days after the murder, the criminal was easily driving around the city

A company of four people went to Nechaeva’s dacha in the village of Taratino, Vladimir Region, the night before on June 14, immediately after the end of the match between Spartak and Nizhny Novgorod Lokomotiv. Relax, drink beer - all this is clear from the testimony of the same Sorokin and Polyakov. The next day, around noon, Larisa and Zoya went by car to get another portion of alcohol, on the way back they were already escorted home by an orange Moskvich, in which the killers were following.

A “warm” conversation began in Larisa’s house itself. The criminals told the victim that her murder had been ordered, and she could only pay off with a substantial sum of $100 thousand. Nechaeva promised to satisfy the demands of the raiders when she returned to Moscow; she, of course, did not have such a sum with her. This did not stop the bandits - shots followed. The shooter, according to the testimony of the surviving Sorokin, was a certain Alexey Zdor, previously unconvicted. The more experienced Vladimir Tenoshvili guided the hand of his comrade, who served prison terms twice. The criminals were only 26 years old, both natives of the town of Lytkarina near Moscow.

The search for the killers has so far yielded no results, although, judging by operational data, they were not particularly hiding. “Ambushes were organized by employees of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Vladimir Region and the Department of Internal Affairs of the city of Lytkarino,” Lavrukhin, head of the forensic department of the Vladimir Regional Prosecutor’s Office, reports to the General Prosecutor’s Office. - When working out connections, the following was established: from the testimony of Elizaveta Borisovna Chebusheva, who lives in the city of Lytkarino, Tenoshvili was last seen on June 17 driving a Mercedes. Before this, Tenoshvili and Chebusheva drove around the city of Lytkarin in a VAZ-2108 car.

In other words, literally a couple of days after the murder, one of the criminals was easily driving around a tiny city where everyone knows each other. Apparently, the police “ambushes” had no effect... And also, as recorded in the review report on the work to solve the murder of Nechaeva, the day after the execution, Tenoshvili was taken by his father to the hospital in the city of Lytkarina and placed for inpatient treatment with a diagnosis of allergies " But the next morning the allergy sufferer was no longer found in the hospital...

When investigators checked the suspect’s particularly close connections, it was established that Tenoshvili’s cohabitant Irina flew to Krasnodar on flight No. 1139 with a young man whose characteristics were very similar to the wanted man. Of course, neither the killer himself nor the aforementioned Karpenko were ever found. As well as his partner Alexei Zdor, whose traces were lost somewhere in Sochi. Then, according to eyewitnesses, both criminals were seen in Dagestan and Chechnya. Having covered their tracks so successfully, someone certainly helped a lot.

Most of the deals were carried out by Romantsev’s ubiquitous assistant, Esaulenko.

The role of the most eminent football specialist in modern Russian history in the collapse of the club, where he made a name for himself first as a player and later as a coach, can hardly be overestimated. After all, this Oleg Romantsev At one time he asked Yuri Shlyapin to resign from the post of Spartak president: otherwise, players would begin to leave the team en masse. However, it was during the reign of Romantsev himself that the “great exodus” of the best football players of the illustrious club began and continued.

At one time, “Version” reported in detail what caused the fundamental changes in the composition of Spartacists - this was mainly dictated by reasons of a purely mercantile nature. In addition, people of openly criminal type settled in the depths of Spartak. Romantsev invariably flaunted: he himself brought them into the glorious team. At the same time, the team was withering before our eyes: as a result, drained of personnel and finances, it slipped into the role of the middle peasant of the Russian championship, which it is gradually getting rid of only now.

From the protocol of interrogation of Oleg Romantsev in the criminal case of the murder of Larisa Nechaeva: “I completely trusted Nechaeva as a specialist and did not delve into her activities... I don’t see any reasons for the murder related to Larisa’s work. Checks of the team’s financial condition did not reveal any significant violations...”

They turned out to be so “insignificant” that in March 2003, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation opened, at the request of the then Federal Tax Police Service (FSNP), a criminal case against the management of FC Spartak - President Oleg Romantsev, his deputy Grigory Esaulenko, General Director Yuri Zavarzin and chief accountant Pavel Panasenko. The main claims are large-scale tax evasion. Spartacists, in the process of all kinds of financial fraud (Versia also wrote about them in detail), owed the treasury more than $1.5 million. True, the charge was brought against Grigory Esaulenko alone, Romantsev and Zavarzin served as witnesses. This matter, as usual, was not brought to its logical conclusion.

Romantsev, in his own words, being the president of the club, did not delve into financial issues. Most of the transactions were carried out by his ubiquitous assistant Grigory Esaulenko. Well, Spartak club money, earned by football players in various tournaments, was sent all over the world to mysterious accounts. It’s not at all disinterested for Messrs. Romantsev, Esaulenko, Zavarzin and others like them. “Spartak” received millions of dollars for regular performances in the most prestigious club tournament in Europe - the Champions League; sponsors also generously showered the “red-whites” with substantial bonuses. Cash injections flowed like a river, and this is where a zealous owner was needed, and the club got one. But...

Nechaeva’s security was a day late

From the protocol of interrogation in the criminal case of Nechaeva, the general director of the private security company Skat, Alexander Voronov: “On June 6, 1997 (just nine days before the murder - Ed.), in the afternoon we received a call from a woman who introduced herself as the general director of the Spartak football club » Nechaeva Larisa Gennadievna. She said that she would like to talk about the issue of her personal security, friends recommended hiring professional security guards... We agreed that from June 16 (Nechaeva was shot in a country house the day before. - Ed.) she would have constant security, we concluded an official agreement , and that’s where we parted.”

Larisa Nechaeva was a very secretive person: she never said a word to anyone, not even her brother Gennady Sorokin, about the threats against her. At the same time, she apparently had fears for her life, because there was a need to turn to the employees of a private security company for help. Well, those who ordered the crime, it seems, were in a hurry to remove Nechaeva, since they somehow found out about her plans to hire security guards. In other words, it is clear that there could be no talk of any confidentiality in Spartak at that time: its then president turned out to be too indiscriminate in the selection of personnel.

After the tragic death of Nechaeva, Romantsev signed a document in which he trusted the same Esaulenko and the newly appointed general director Yuri Zavarzin to manage Spartak’s money. Later, at a sensational press conference dedicated to Romantsev’s resignation, the president of the “red-whites” Andrei Chervichenko told the people that all data on the financial activities of the famous club in the 90s was simply erased from the computers by its former owners...

The bosses of the “red and whites” did not notice the difference between the club cash register and personal accounts

However, let's return to the murder of Larisa Nechaeva. Although Oleg Romantsev denied a club motive for the massacre of her, this version seemed to the investigators the most logical. This can also be seen in the text of the interrogation of the then vice-president of the club, Grigory Esaulenko. “Although I was the vice-president of Spartak, I did not have the right to sign,” Esaulenko assures the investigator. - And therefore, all contracts for the purchase or sale of players were conducted by Nechaeva. Financial affairs were mainly handled by Nechaeva with the knowledge of Romantsev. I did not and do not have personal bank accounts. I don’t know the mechanism for transferring money for buying and selling players, since L.G. Nechaeva was involved in this matter. I would like to add that I don’t know exactly how Romantsev O.I. controlled the activities of L.G. Nechaeva. in the process of buying or selling football players.”

But for some reason Esaulenko’s signature is on almost all contracts of Spartak players of that time. Probably, Nechaeva was simply trying to intervene in this process, but, apparently, to no avail. Even earlier, Versiya published extensive and very interesting correspondence between Mr. Esaulenko and the manager of the Swiss bank Arzi bank AG, from which it becomes obvious how the nimble vice-president of the “red-whites” manipulated Spartak’s currency. “If there is not enough money in my account, transfer money from Spartak’s account to my account,” Esaulenko asks the bank manager. “But in any case, make the payment from there.” It seems that the then bosses of the “red and whites” simply did not notice the difference between the club cash register and their personal account.

The testimony of one of Nechaeva’s close friends, Dmitry Savotin, also sheds light on the relationship between the heads of Spartak: “Figuratively speaking, the vice-president of the club, Esaulenko G., tried to divide the monopoly of financial issues that Nechaeva dealt with. Larisa did not like Esaulenko at work and tried in every possible way to remove him from work at the club, that is, she was in favor of his leaving, dismissal...”

The murder was ordered by Esaulenko, and the organizer was the Chechen “roof”

One anonymous letter received on July 14, 1997 to the Investigative Committee of the FSB of the Russian Federation is also extremely interesting; we will give its text in full. “I know the situation around Spartak well,” says the anonymous author. - I personally know people in the club’s management. The following happened there. Until last year, the money coming to the club from the sale of football players, as well as sponsorship funds, went to the personal accounts of G.V. Esaulenko. And he was in charge of all financial transactions behind the scenes. Until some point, Oleg Romantsev believed that money was put into personal accounts supposedly in order to evade taxes, etc. Oleg Ivanovich is a good person, but an alcoholic. Therefore, it was not difficult for him to fool his head by organizing endless drinking parties with trips to the dacha. Some time ago, he began to suspect that something strange was going on with the money. Then Romantsev persuaded Nechaeva to come to work at the club. When she got to the bottom of what was happening, she sorted everything out accordingly, since she was an intelligent, meticulous woman. About six months ago, an internal scandal occurred in the club when Esaulenko G.V. Almost got kicked out of work. Nechaeva tried to deprive him of financial influence. Most likely, Esaulenko ordered the murder, and the organizer was his friend and “roof” Chechen Turpalo.”

The senior investigator of the prosecutor's office of the Vladimir region, Prokhorov, promptly responded to this message, instructing the employees of the special economic unit of the Vladimir region police department to check the information. In particular, do Esaulenko have personal accounts, what are their sources and directions for further movement of funds. But this check did not give any serious results.

But after receiving the letter, the circle of the most likely customers of the murder of Larisa Nechaeva was outlined. This is what the senior investigator of the GUUR of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, police lieutenant colonel Derkach, says in his report to the head of the same department, Lieutenant General Khrapov: “I report that during the activities to identify the likely customers of the murder of the general director of the Spartak football club, the following was established. Vice-president of the club Esaulenko G.V. after the death of Nechaeva L.G. Acts as director. While working as vice president, Esaulenko was involved in the acquisition and sale of football players. He appropriated part of the proceeds from the sale. Esaulenko was allocated funds to organize refereeing in custom matches. He did not report to anyone about spending money. With the arrival of Nechaeva, Esaulenko began to be removed from the above-mentioned duties. On this basis, they repeatedly had conflicts. Esaulenko also made attempts to remove Nechaeva from her position. Most of the club employees sided with Nechaeva.

In addition, Esaulenko was repeatedly seen in the company of the Chechen brothers Atlangirievs - Turpul and Mavladi, the latter was in prison together with murder suspect Vladimir Tenoshvili. The Atlangiriev brothers are the founders of the Razgulay restaurant; Esaulenko has “his share” in the restaurant. Esaulenko maintains contacts with the leaders of the Lyubertsy organized crime group and uses the services of Chechens in his commercial activities. At the club, Esaulenko is closest to executive director Korotkov and coach-administrator Khadzhi. If any problems arise, Esaulenko tries to travel outside of Russia, mainly to Spain.” Here you have the main suspect - with motive and capabilities.

Almost the entire leadership of Spartak was associated with criminal groups

In general, Grigory Esaulenko is a unique personality. He managed to leave a legacy not only in Russia, but also in Europe. The story of the failed bribery of the chief Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson(Esaulenko tried to give him a bribe of 40 thousand pounds for the transfer of Andrei Kanchelskis) went around the entire sports world. At home, he was charged in a criminal case for evading taxes on a large scale by Spartak. Esaulenko’s participation in the murder of the former general director of Spartak is also traced. Finally, operatives established his connections with representatives of criminal structures. But Grigory Vasilyevich doesn’t care - they still can’t catch him.

The executive director of FC “Spartak” M.V. Korotkov, the police chief’s report further says (according to the police, another of the likely customers of the murder), “maintains relations with the leader of the organized crime group in the city of Lytkarin, Valery Silenok. Silenok is familiar with the wanted men Zdor and Tenoshvili, who shot Nechaeva. While working in his position, Korotkov opened several kiosks selling souvenirs on the club’s territory. Nechaeva took control of this trade, and Korotkov lost uncontrolled income.”

“The duties of the manager-administrator Hadji,” further reports police lieutenant colonel A. Derkach, “include the purchase of sports uniforms and other equipment. For these purposes, Haji received money, but he bought sports equipment of lower quality and appropriated the remaining funds. Nechaeva began purchasing equipment on her own, trying to conclude a contract with the Puma company. Khadzhi, Esaulenko and Korotkov oppose such a step. Hadji maintains contacts with the leaders of the Lyubertsy organized crime group, whom he brings to Spartak matches and provides them with the best seats in the stands. Nechaeva suspected Khadzhi of selling counterfeit tickets for Spartak matches and told him about it.

In order to establish the involvement of the above-mentioned persons in organizing the murder of Nechaeva, it is necessary to carry out a set of operational and technical measures, checking the financial and economic activities of Esaulenko, Khadzhi and Korotkov...”

All these activities, apparently, are still ongoing - so far no one has been punished for the death of Nechaeva. Only two direct perpetrators of the crime have been put on the wanted list, and law enforcement agencies are also unable to find them. In general, the murder of the general director of Spartak, no matter how cynical it sounds, fits organically into the financial chaos that was happening at the club under Oleg Romantsev. After all, according to investigators, almost the entire club elite at that time was associated with various criminal groups. By the way, some of the people mentioned in the case work in the “people’s” team to this day: until the killers are captured, it is impossible to charge them. Well, the people who shot Larisa Nechaeva 9 years ago may no longer exist. This means that the death of the only person who tried to resist Spartac’s lawlessness will, apparently, forever remain unpunished.

The small dacha of Larisa Nechaeva near Petushki is the site of a massacre

A little over 10 years ago, on June 15, 1997, a crime occurred throughout Russia, which became one of the most notorious in the history of domestic sports. Larisa Nechaeva, the general director of the legendary Spartak, was killed at her dacha, and, judging by all the signs, the massacre was clearly ordered in nature. The investigation began with extraordinary activity, and within a few days the perpetrators were identified: two drug addicts - Alexey Zdor and Vladimir Tenoshvili. However, they managed to hide from detectives in rebellious Chechnya, and the case immediately stalled. Attempts to identify those who ordered the murder were unsuccessful, and out of harm’s way they decided to classify the investigation. A year and a half ago, “Our Version” spoke in detail about the materials of the Nechaeva case, which came into the possession of the newspaper’s journalists. Today, immediately after the 10th anniversary of the tragedy, we decided to find out what has been happening to him lately. To do this, our correspondent talked with the relatives of Larisa Nechaeva and with representatives of the prosecutor's office of the Vladimir region, which is conducting the investigation.

“About a year and a half after the tragedy, at the end of 1998, they called me from Petrovka and offered... to pay for a possible operation to capture the perpetrators of the murder - this is how our interlocutor Andrei Lukin, the eldest son of the murdered woman, unexpectedly began his story. - They allegedly turned out to be in the hands of the Chechens, who could hand over the criminals for a certain bribe. That is, a ransom was required. Our family members, of course, simply did not have such an amount. After refusing to pay, the “benefactors” no longer appeared... Someone might condemn us for the fact that we decided to leave this case as it is. But if the investigation didn’t go right away, what can you do? And we have no connections in law enforcement agencies... True, there is still a faint hope: maybe someone “at the top” will give finally an impulse to investigate the murder of my mother? She looks very similar to the wife of our president, and her beliefs were the same as those of Vladimir Vladimirovich, who actively advocates for the development of physical education and sports in our country. Mom once ran for deputy in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and at meetings with voters she spoke about sports grounds at her place of residence, the construction of large arenas, and so on..."

In general, according to relatives, Larisa Gennadievna was a powerful, moderately proud, purposeful woman. And she did not accept the frequent advice to “go aside” and “keep your head down.” In addition, according to those around her, Nechaeva clearly had a taste for being a successful businesswoman, and was not going to quit her business even because of regular threats. According to her son, she almost didn’t let her loved ones know about her affairs so that they could sleep peacefully. However, in her terse phrases it was clear that she had gotten involved in a very difficult and unpleasant enterprise.

“This was in all her stories about Spartak,” recalls Andrei. “In particular, it was very difficult for her to communicate with the then vice-president of the club, Grigory Esaulenko. There was even a certain premonition of trouble - since March 1996, when the situation in Spartak “It became especially tense. I felt this when my mother and my uncle Gennady Sorokin (he was seriously wounded on June 15, 1997 and miraculously survived. - Ed.) began talking about professional bodyguards: they say, it’s time to get them, out of harm’s way. But somehow they kept putting it off - my mother, I saw, simply didn’t believe in such a close outcome..."

At the same time, according to Andrei Lukin, his mother always had a good relationship with the famous coach of the “red-whites” Oleg Romantsev, because it was he who invited her to work at the club. But at that moment in Spartak he already decided little, other people did it for him... At the same time, Nechaeva was a kind of think tank, she worked on all the operations of the club. Romantsev, who was nominally its president at that time, only signed the prepared documents.

“Romantsev was at one time an icon for me, the best coach in Russia,” says Andrei Lukin. “When I first found out that my mother was communicating with Oleg Ivanovich, I was in a state close to shock. But admiration gradually gave way to disappointment. Thanks to my mother, I joined the inner life of the team and would characterize the atmosphere in it as follows: total hypocrisy... Well, after my mother passed away, Oleg Ivanovich never even called us.

True, he paid for my studies at the Law Academy for three years in advance, for which I am very grateful to him. He and I agreed on this during my mother’s funeral - this was my last opportunity to communicate with Romantsev.”

According to Andrei himself and his loved ones, the severity of the loss of a loved one has somewhat dulled over the past 10 years. He never wanted to artificially cultivate a feeling of revenge in himself. And by and large, he does not believe in the miraculous capture of the killers who fired several bullets at his mother and uncle - too much time has been lost.

“The name and surname of the alleged customer were announced by both the investigator and my uncle.

It’s no secret,” says Andrey. - During my mother’s life, Grigory Esaulenko always avoided communicating with me. I did not attach any importance to this: I believed that people like Esaulenko, who own substantial capital, as a rule, are simply somewhat withdrawn. But later I began to evaluate the processes taking place in the team differently. Now many things seem ominous..."

Andrei, of course, maintains relations with his uncle, Gennady Sorokin.

Having received several severe gunshot wounds, he survived, but became disabled and after some time left the capital - went to his homeland, Alushta. “My uncle simply buried this story within himself: he was a closed person before, and even more so now,” our interlocutor explains. “By the way, he did not leave for security reasons. Gennady Gennadievich is a man without an education, he can only drive a car.” drive, so my mother made him a personal driver. He decided to live in a city with a good environment, calmly, without much hassle... But my relationship with my younger brother Maxim did not work out: he was always a spoiled child, he was not taught to respect his elders. Max showed interest in the process of dividing the property, and, having received his share of the inheritance, he completely lost interest in us. By the way, we sold the dacha where the tragedy occurred, and now we meet with my brother only at the cemetery to remember our mother.

By the way, no one from Spartak came to the 10th anniversary of her death. My brother and I sat for a while and went in different directions..."
The traces of the killers have disappeared in the south of Russia

The prosecutor of the Petushinsky district of the Vladimir region, where the tragedy occurred, Oleg Makarov, with whom the Our Version correspondent spoke, believes that the criminals most likely remained “forever” on the territory of one of the “hot” southern republics of Russia. “They could have died under circumstances unrelated to what they did 10 years ago in the village of Taratino,” says Oleg Vladimirovich. At the same time, he admitted that he had not removed this criminal case from the shelf for a long time; his secretary had difficulty unearthing the folder, dusty from time to time. “The case was suspended in November of the same year, 1997,” said the prosecutor. - But operational search activities are still being carried out. I can’t divulge which ones exactly - it’s a state secret. However, there is no objectively real prospect of resuming the case: everything that is possible has already been investigated. Yes, the customer, I think, is somehow connected with the professional activities of Larisa Nechaeva. But, alas, we do not have evidence incriminating him. In our practice, we usually reach the customer through performers. We've been looking for them for 10 years now..."

Ten years ago, on the evening of June 14, 1997, Larisa Nechaeva, her friend Zoya Rudzate, the already mentioned Gennady Sorokin and General of the Customs Committee Valentin Polyakov went to a dacha in the village of Taratino, Vladimir Region. Take a steam bath, drink beer. The next day, Larisa and Zoya went by car to get another portion of alcohol: that’s when the future killers got behind them in a car. So we arrived together literally to the threshold of Nechaeva’s house. The criminals told the victim that her murder had been ordered and that she could pay off with $100,000.

Larisa promised to satisfy the appetites of the bandits when she returned to Moscow - she, of course, did not have that kind of money with her. Shots rang out...
The killers seem to have been helped to escape

According to Sorokin’s testimony, Alexei Zdor fired the shot. And the more experienced Vladimir Tenoshvili, who had previously been convicted twice, helped his comrade. The search for the killers, as is clear from the above, has not yielded any results so far. Although, oddly enough, they weren’t really hiding. This is what Lavrukhin, the then head of the criminalistics department of the Vladimir regional prosecutor's office, reported to the Prosecutor General's Office: "Ambushes were organized by employees of the Vladimir Region Internal Affairs Directorate and the Lytkarino City Department of Internal Affairs... From the testimony of Elizaveta Borisovna Chebusheva, who lives in the city of Lytkarino, Tenoshvili was last seen on June 17 while driving." Mercedes." Before that, Tenoshvili and Chebusheva drove around the city of Lytkarino in a VAZ-2108 car. So literally a couple of days after the murder, one of the criminals easily drove around the city, where everyone knows each other. One can only wonder: what were “ambushes” organized by representatives of law enforcement agencies at the same time?

This fact also illustrates the work of police officers. The day after the crime, Tenoshvili was taken by his father to a hospital in the city of Lytkarino with a diagnosis of allergies. When the “patient” was missed, he, of course, was not in the hospital room: he ran away from there the next morning.
Personal security was one day late

In other words, the criminals were simply helped to leave: the traces of the killers were lost somewhere in Sochi, and they were later seen in Chechnya and Dagestan. They are still on the run, unless the flight, of course, ended in death. According to some information, they fought together with Chechen militants and were killed during the conflict that broke out due to banal jealousy.

The documents of the criminal case also contain a protocol of interrogation of the general director of the private security company Skat, Alexander Voronov. This is what he told the investigator: “On June 6, 1997 (just nine days before the murder. - Ed.) in the afternoon, we received a call from a woman who introduced herself as the general director of the Spartak football club. She said that she would like to talk about her personal security, friends recommended hiring professional security guards. We agreed that from June 16 she will have permanent security.

We made an agreement and parted ways."

So, due to a fatal set of circumstances, the security was only one day late.

Now one can only guess whether she would have helped Larisa Nechaeva or not.

Indeed, in the depths of Spartak itself, the meticulous general director interfered with a lot of people. After all, people in management needed to “master” the multimillion-dollar profits from the participation of the “red and whites” in the Champions League...

Soon after the murder of Nechaeva, Spartak almost went bankrupt. After the death of Larisa Nechaeva, Spartak president Oleg Romantsev entrusted the management of club funds to odious individuals - Grigory Esaulenko and Yuri Zavarzin. The result is well known: Spartak was on the verge of bankruptcy.

This was directly stated at a sensational press conference dedicated to Oleg Romantsev’s resignation from his post (his associates Esaulenko and Zavarzin fled from the team even earlier, having previously scattered Spartak’s millions into the accounts of various offshore companies). So, at that same press conference, the new president of the “red-whites” Andrei Chervichenko told the people that all data on the financial activities of the club in the 90s were simply erased from the computer memory by its former owners...

By the way, in the documents of the criminal case there is also a curious message from one anonymous person addressed to the Investigative Committee of the FSB of the Russian Federation. “I know well the situation around Spartak,” the anonymous author said in his message dated July 14, 1997 (literally a month after the murder. - Ed.). “I personally know people in the management of the club. The following happened there. Until last year money coming to the club from the sale of football players, as well as sponsorship funds, went to the personal accounts of G. V. Esaulenko. He was secretly in charge of all financial transactions. Until some point, Oleg Romantsev believed that money was put into personal accounts in order to get away from taxes, etc. Some time ago, he began to guess that something was wrong with the money. Then Romantsev persuaded Nechaeva to come to work at the club. When she got to the bottom of what was happening, she sorted it all out accordingly, since she was smart, meticulous a woman.About six months ago, an internal scandal occurred at the club when G.V. Esaulenko was almost kicked out of work.

Nechaeva tried to deprive him of financial influence. Most likely, Esaulenko ordered the murder, and the organizer was his friend and “roof” Chechen Turpalo.”

Many of the leaders of the “people’s” team were associated with crime. Law enforcement officials in the Vladimir region checked the commercial activities of the mentioned Esaulenko, but it did not produce significant results. However, during the activities to identify the likely masterminds of the murder of the general director of FC Spartak Nechaeva, it was established that “G.V. Esaulenko was involved in the acquisition and sale of football players.

He appropriated part of the proceeds from the sale. Esaulenko was allocated funds to organize refereeing in custom matches. He did not report to anyone about spending money. With the arrival of Nechaeva, they tried to remove Esaulenko from the above-mentioned duties. Esaulenko also made attempts to remove Nechaeva from her position..."

Further, the detectives state: “Esaulenko was repeatedly seen in the company of the Chechen brothers Atlangirievs - Mavladi and Turpalo, the first was in prison together with murder suspect Vladimir Tenoshvili. The Atlangiriev brothers are the founders of the Razgulay restaurant, Esaulenko has his share there. maintains contacts with the leaders of the Lyubertsy organized crime group and in his commercial activities enjoys the support of the Chechens... If any problems arise, Esaulenko tries to travel outside Russia, mainly to Spain.” However, all this is only indirect evidence: after the traces of the perpetrators of the murder disappeared in Chechnya, those who ordered the crime began to feel completely at ease.

And this despite the fact that the police established that almost the entire top of the “people’s” team, one way or another, was connected with representatives of criminals.

And in this regard, is it any wonder that the contract killing of Larisa Nechaeva matured precisely in the depths of Spartak itself, which became a kind of fiefdom for football-related crime.

Alexey Matveev
compromat.ru

Grigory Vasilievich ESAULENKO

Vice President of FC Spartak.

Graduated from the Institute of Foreign Languages ​​named after Maurice Thorez and the Moscow Regional Institute of Physical Education. Fluent in German and English. Since 1987 he has been engaged in commercial activities. In Spartak - since 1989. Since 1992 - vice-president of the club.

- When did you decide to run for president?

Last Thursday after a meeting attended by representatives of top division clubs and the leadership of the RFU, where the issue of implementing television and commercial rights was discussed. The topic of future elections for the post of head of the PFL was also touched upon. As you know, next year the Russian championship will be held not by the League, but by the RFU. However, the majority of club representatives were in favor of keeping the League. We must pay tribute to the current president Tolstoy. During the seven and a half years of his leadership, the PFL has done a lot of useful things for our football. And this was noted at the meeting.

- When did you apply?

- How do you assess your chances?

There are always chances. I have been working in football for a long time and am familiar with almost all club representatives. Many people know me too.

It is known that two candidates from Spartak are running for the post of president of the PFL - you and the general director of the club, Yuri Zavarzin. Let's imagine an abstract situation where you both get an equal number of votes. What then?

- If you are elected, what do you intend to do?

I would like all issues to be discussed at the PFL council, and for the clubs themselves to be more actively involved in decision-making. First of all, we need to re-work the PFL charter and make changes to the competition regulations.

- Which ones exactly?

We need to resolve the issue with duplicate squads. According to the majority of top division clubs, it is necessary to return to a separate championship among reserve teams - the tournament that existed in Soviet times. In addition, it is necessary to change the existing system of punishments when players miss matches after 4, 6, 8, etc. cards. It turns out that during the season, players too often do not play due to suspension. In my opinion, it is more expedient to fine players not after two matches, but after four.

- But there are also isolated cases, such as with Vladikavkaz resident Kutarba, who spat at the judge.

Such things need to be sorted out separately. By the way, Kutarba was treated leniently, giving him 10 games and a conditional disqualification. If my memory serves me correctly, he repeatedly committed openly hooligan offenses, for which he deserves a more severe punishment.

Alexey MATVEEV

Grigory Esaulenko and Oleg Romantsev.

– Well, as a “participant” - we won eight Russian championships, three Cups, three European semi-finals. This was all with my participation.

Did you not give an interview or were you not contacted?

– At that time they turned more to Oleg Ivanovich. The press wasn't that interested in me.

Where did you work after Spartak?

– “Sportmedia” is a Swiss company that sells rights to television broadcasts. Builds relationships between television and clubs. In 2009, I received an offer to become the sports director of Terek.

Now you are the sports director of Khimki. For you, is this a step back after the rich Terek?

– Now you can’t tell where is a step forward and where is a step back. This is my job. I came to Terek as: I had Grozny in Spartak as an assistant to Oleg Ivanovich. We have developed a good relationship with him. He called me to Terek: “Can you help me?” I, of course, agreed. There is Vice President Alkhanov, the Minister of Sports of the Republic. A very wonderful person. It happens that people think alike! That's how it was with us. We look at the football player. I say: “Wow, look what it is!” And at that very second he: “Wow, look what it is!”

Best of the day

What is your main success in the Terek selection?

– I think we successfully captured the Bulgarian.

Thank Georgiev?

- Yes. Mauricio was also acquired from Fluminense. Not for very big money.

Why did you leave there?

– We started the season with Anatoly Baidachny – by the way, I recommended appointing him. But in June, family circumstances arose that did not allow me to continue working.

Did you walk around without weapons in Grozny?

– Always without weapons! There's no need there. Everything is completely calm. When you are not an aggressive person, you have nothing to fear. We went to a cafe, sat there until eleven-thirty in the evening, and returned to the hotel without incident. The hotel, the stadium - everything is guarded. If the match is on Saturday, we arrive on Thursday. The President of the Republic always wanted the team to come to Grozny early before matches so that they could communicate with both the management and the fans. “Terek” is the child of the republic.

You worked in Russian football when you did some shooting.

– When you behave decently with your partners, no one will shoot. I worked at Spartak - I had no security. And Romantsev too. Now look at people - they have five or six bodyguards.

Have they written a lot of lies about you in the newspapers?

- So many. I just know not to mess with the press.

Well, what exactly?

- Yes, everything that was written about Spartak, about Romantsev, about how bad it was for us. Nobody remembers how the national team played under Romantsev. How we won championships. And then – who played three European semi-finals? Yes, Gazzaev won the UEFA Cup. But this is a different time, different money. We did not have the same financial opportunities as CSKA or Lokomotiv now have. Our budget was tiny - $8 million. With these 8 million we played in the Champions League. For some reason no one writes about this. If I had the same financial capabilities as the leading teams now, we wouldn’t let go of first place at all.

But in those days you were still the richest in Russia.

- No. Lokomotiv had much better, Dynamo, CSKA, Rotor had money. And everyone shouted: “Oh, Spartak is the people’s team, how good everything is there.”

But in reality, how did it all happen?

– But in fact, the only one who helped us was Rim Sultanovich Suleymanov, director of Urengoygazprom. All! Nobody gave us any more money. Nobody helped. We made our own money. Naturally, one person had to be sold to Europe per year. Romantsev prepared a person for this in advance. We sold a lot to Spain and Germany. There was a time when Spanish teams were very interested in Spartak players.

Now there seem to be no problems with sponsors.

- But it doesn’t matter. We have so many rich people who - you read the press - spend money on unknown things. Although, it would seem, there is a team here - invest money in it, have fun. And they will buy it in Italy, or somewhere else. Get yourself a toy here.

For what? Everything is opaque, you don’t understand where the money goes.

– Yes, if you think about it, then everything is simple: players’ salaries, staff salaries, transfer budget. Another thing is that now football has been corrupted. Players' salaries are unclear. This one has a million, this one has two million. Hair stands on end. And in our time, leaders received 5-10 thousand dollars. These are players of the class of Tsymbalar, Onopko, Nikiforov. The largest bonus is 3 thousand. Plus there were bonuses from the Champions League - I told the players: “Here is your money. Play, earn money." We played on equal terms with Real, with Bayern, with Inter. The only thing was that the refereeing got in the way.

What's the point in interfering?

– In our country, television was not developed at the proper level. Therefore, we were not needed there, we pulled in those who could bring more income from broadcasts.

Why did you leave Spartak in 2000?

“There were people who wanted to sponsor the club. Naturally, they wanted to come with their headquarters. Chervichenko appeared, Shikunov appeared. So I left. There was no resentment. And it was painful. We had a very warm relationship with Nikolai Petrovich Starostin. Two or three days before his death, Romantsev and I arrived at his home. Starostin took me by the hand and said: “Just don’t give up Spartak.” Don't leave Spartak. Because if you leave, Spartak will die.” And what happened later with Spartak after my departure, after Romantsev’s departure... That’s how great Nikolai Petrovich was, a brilliant man: he foresaw all this.

Today's salaries seem to surprise you.

– Why pay a player two million now? They say: “They don’t want to come to us, we can only lure you with money.” Well, why have them then? It’s the same thing when I hear about salaries of 15-20 thousand a month in the first league. I don't understand why this is being done. Well, give them this money as a bonus, let them earn money.

What is the strangest request from a football player that you have ever encountered?

– At one time, I took the left back Shchegolev from Fakel. This was the only person who came and said: “Will you give me lifting tickets?” I tell Shchegolev: “Listen, we are providing you with a three-room apartment in Moscow, we are buying it for you. Here is your salary, here are your bonuses. Just play." And he: “No, how can that be, where are the lifts?” And he was so unfortunate that Oleg Ivanovich came in just at that moment. “Well,” he smiles, “Sash, how are you?” - “Well, we can’t agree on lifting fees with Grigory Vasilyevich.” Romantsev immediately has a grimace on his face. “Take,” he says, “your purse and close the door on the other side.” And then he says to me: “What kind of lifts can we talk about for people who come to us? If they don’t want to play with us, they go for lifting money.” We have never paid a lift, I don’t know what it is. Why give them? Let them go into the workshop where people melt steel, and there they will think about lifting.

Have you ever encountered the fact that certain groups of people have the rights to a football player you are interested in?

They wrote that you negotiated with the bandits in order to get Nigmatullin,

- Yes, this is pure stupidity. Where do they get what from, well. There was Chetverik, the coach and president of KamAZ. We talked with him, with Nigmatullin. There were no bandits. Not only in the case of Nigmatullin - in general. We paid pennies to Odessa for Tsymbalar and Nikiforov: their contracts were running out. Vitya Onopko came to us almost free of charge from Shakhtar. Khlestov is our student. I picked up Pyatnitsky and Kechinov from Pakhtakor. I met with the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, discussed it, we transferred money to them and took the guys. There were no problems anywhere

Did you argue with Romantsev over candidates?

– For 11 years – not a single case. If he told me that he was interested in a certain player, I took that player. Kanishchev, for example, was taken from Alania. Although Benfica invited him at that time.

Who couldn't be caught?

- But there were no such people. Well, they thought about inviting Rolan Gusev, but he left for Dynamo. Oleg Ivanovich also wanted to take Kobelev.

Which player were you wrong about then?

- Not in anyone.

There cannot be 100% selection.

– We had one hundred percent selection. Look, we went through the season with 13 people. Romantsev’s genius is that he didn’t tamper with the lineup.

How did the brilliant Romantsev turn into a coach whose Spartak was crushed in the Champions League and moved from first place in Russia?

– We need to look at who they took into the squad. No one can make any claims against Oleg Ivanovich at all. He always made the most of it.

But it wasn’t Chervichenko who said that Granovsky was running over Roberto Carlos.

– What did Chervichenko play before, did anyone ask him? Play chess? Checkers?

No, you did not understand. The fact of the matter is that it was Romantsev who spoke, not Chervichenko.

– I don’t know, I can’t say. Perhaps I was mistaken. I'll tell you a story. I once looked for a right-back from Partizan for Spartak - his name is Dulyai. I told Romantsev about this: “He’s a gorgeous guy.” - "Let's watch". And Partizan and I played qualifying for the Champions League. We beat them - 3:1. But Romantsev liked Dulyai: “Let’s try to take it.” After some time, Dulyai and I were sitting in a restaurant, I told him about Spartak’s interest. And he refused.

Why?

“I,” he says, “will not go to Spartak. You play like a computer. I will never be able to play like that." I told him: “They will teach you, don’t worry.” But the transfer price for him was too high. A few years later he was hired by Shakhtar.

So much has been written about you on kompromat.ru.

- A disaster, yes.

Why are there such fascinating stories about you?

- Yes, unconfirmed stories.

Well, Alex Ferguson wrote about you in a book.

“I don’t even understand why Alex wrote all this.”

But was it?

- Did not have.

You didn't give him £40,000 in a box?

- Nobody gave anything to anyone. Well, how could you even think about giving any bribes at the level of the Manchester United coach? And then - for what? Kanchelskis played superbly.

Didn't you call Ferguson after that?

– We met in Monaco. And somehow they didn’t even touch on this topic. We had a simple lunch.

They could have told him: “Why are you writing this, Alex?”

- And, you know, I somehow feel about all this... As they say, the dog barks, but the caravan moves on.

So you say, Ferguson is making it up. Who to believe now?

– Let’s finish about Ferguson and remember something else.

How did you find Robson?

– There is some company that, in my opinion, is not involved in sports matters. But the people there are Spartak fans. We met and started talking. “Come on,” he says, “I’ll bring you a Brazilian.” - “Well, bring it.” He brought it, Romantsev looked at it, and liked the Brazilian.

And you?

- And I liked it. Firstly, Robson was very fast. Plus Brazilian technology. Secondly, in terms of human qualities he is good. Now you read in the press: there is a problem with the Brazilian, there. And Robson was a balanced, cultured Brazilian. They rented him a three-room apartment in Sokolniki. He was never late and played perfectly. The only foreign player who was with me at Spartak.

Why, by the way, is it the only one?

– Not every foreign player could yet fit into Spartak football. Now no one has such a game. People were fascinated! Who will now collect 82 thousand in the fall - in the snow and rain?

When Yegor Titov was asked why he did not go abroad, he answered: “Ask Esaulenko.” We ask.

- In ninety... What year did we play Leeds? This is ninety-six, I think.

Ninety ninth.

– We had the match moved to Bulgaria, we won 2:1. Then Shirko went head-to-head four more times. At that moment, Leeds made a real offer for Titov - 20 million pounds.

Why didn't you sell it?

– There was no candidate for a replacement. When I told Oleg Ivanovich about this, he replied: “Who will we play? There is no replacement for Titov yet. We’ll find it and then we’ll talk about this topic.” That's all. This was the only proposal regarding Titov.

Bayern and $22 million - no?

“Nobody offered anything else.” This is all fiction. The case with Titov is the only time Romantsev kept a player from transferring. At that time we could not give the best players what they could earn in Europe. So they let us go calmly.

Have you ever detained anyone?

- Not once. Romantsev had this theory: “If a football player doesn’t want to play for me, I won’t work with him.”

Is Romantsev a despot?

“He could be tough, but he didn’t insult.” I haven’t heard a single rude word from him addressed to a player – in 11 years! The only case was that we played with Krylia Sovetov, where Tarkhanov was the coach. First half – 0:0. Romantsev entered the locker room: “You are crawling across this field like well-fed lice.” In the second half, the Wings scored five.

What did you say after the match?

– And Romantsev didn’t even watch the game. About ten minutes before the end I left. Pyatnitsky came running: “Ivanovich called us lice! Where is he, where is he? “Andryush,” I say, “he left. You’ll ask tomorrow.”

Funny.

- Another story about tomorrow. There was a moment - Rotor lost 0:1. Mamedov sat crying in the locker room. And Ledyakhov, who once played in Volgograd, and a number of other people stood combing their hair: “Oh, let’s go partying around Volgograd now.” The next day we flew to Moscow and Doctor Vasilkov asked: “Oleg Ivanovich, what time tomorrow?” - “Not tomorrow, but now. We go to the base and prepare for the next game. And I’ll ask someone differently.”

What would you like to achieve with Khimki?

– I would like to get into the big leagues. Money doesn't play football. But at the moment it’s stalled. We're looking for reasons. We have, if you look at it, a gaming company. (Esaulenko lists the players for a long time and explains why they are good - Sports.ru). Danishevsky is in the attack. It has a number of advantages that must be used, and a number of disadvantages that must be eradicated. This needs to be done. It may be necessary to build combinations for it. It must be used in combination with the third player - then he will come out one on one twenty times during the match. Because you don’t see many people in the major leagues with the kind of speed he has. In general, we will try to get out. There is no panic yet.

You are not buying anyone.

- Yes, in Khimki we don’t yet have the opportunity to even buy someone simply. If we hire anyone, it’s free.

Well, who would you buy?

– Last year I brought a right-hander, Arsi, from the Bolivian national team to Terek. Baydachny was delighted with him. We rented it for 120 thousand euros for a year - with the right to buy! Now there is a colossal crisis in Latin America - in Uruguay, Peru, and Chile. People there have no money at all; you can take great football players.

Where is Arcee in the end?

- I went home. Terek did not buy him back.

Do you currently have a VIP pass to Spartak matches?

- Of course I have. There are no problems with this. I am in touch with both Popov and Karpin. We saw Fedun at meetings when I was working at Terek, but I can’t say whether he knows me. I know him, of course.

On the eve of the liquidation, the Federal Tax Police Service brought charges against the former vice-president of the Spartak football club, Grigory Esaulenko. The investigation considers him the main creator of the scheme to evade the club from paying taxes and concealing the proceeds from the sale of players abroad. It is possible that charges will be brought against Oleg Romantsev in the near future - the decision will be made by the Prosecutor General's Office, where the Spartak case has been transferred. Representatives of the Federal Tax Police Service (FSNP) promised to bring the Spartak criminal case to its logical conclusion despite the liquidation of the service as a separate federal department. The police kept their word - the investigator charged the former vice-president of the football club Grigory Esaulenko with tax evasion (Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), failure to return foreign currency from abroad (Article 193 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and transferred the criminal case of Spartak to the General Directorate prosecutor's office The criminal case in which Esaulenko was charged was based on operational information about $7 million received by Spartak from the sale of Spartak player Dmitry Alenichev to Italian Roma in 1996 and hidden in two Swiss banks. These data were obtained within the framework of the agreement on the exchange of financial information between Russia and Switzerland. During the investigation, as representatives of the FSNP stated, investigators and operatives managed to obtain documents indicating the direct involvement of Spartak management in the concealment of currency, including a power of attorney for managing accounts issued personally by Oleg Romantsev. However, as a source in the newly formed Federal Service for Combating Economic and Tax Crimes of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (FSENP) told Izvestia, the investigation suggests that Grigory Esaulenko was the ideologist and main character in the Spartak scheme to hide currency. The rest, including the then president of Spartak Oleg Romantsev, former general director Yuri Zavarzin and chief accountant Pavel Panasenko, also took an active part, but played a less significant role. So far, these people are witnesses in the criminal case, but, according to Izvestia’s source, in the near future they may be reclassified as accused. Cooperative "Razgulay" and a nesting doll with 40,000 pounds Esaulenko Grigory Vasilievich. Born on June 16, 1952, he studied at the Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages. Maurice Thorez and the Moscow Regional Institute of Physical Education. In 1986, together with Yuri Bruskov and Yuri Zavarzin (later general director of Spartak, now general director of the Dynamo football club), he organized the Razgulay cooperative and opened a private restaurant with the same name. Since 1989, he worked at Spartak (“Khidiyatullin introduced me to Romantsev in 1989, after some friendly match, in his own company. And immediately after this game we went to dinner at our restaurant. ...In at that moment he really needed business people. In addition, he is a physiognomist. He immediately sees the essence of the interlocutor. We shook hands, and he said: “I think we’ll get along!” - from an interview that Esaulenko gave in March 2000- th), from 1992 to 2000, he was the first vice-president of Spartak. He became scandalously famous after the publication of the autobiography of the coach of the English club Manchester United, Alex Ferguson, “Guiding his own destiny.” It describes how in 1995- m Esaulenko tried to hand the English coach a nesting doll with 40 thousand pounds inside for the fact that he would not interfere with the departure of Andrei Kanchelskis from Manchester, whose agent Esaulenko represented himself. In 1999, he participated in the corporatization of Spartak. According to the Federal Securities Commission, the shares of JSC “Spartak Moscow” was then distributed as follows: 30% went to Oleg Romantsev, 30% to his son Vadim, 20% to Yuri Zavarzin, 20% to Esaulenko. In March 2001, the next corporatization of Spartak took place, after which the controlling stake passed into the hands of new owners, and the Romantsevs, Zavarzin and Esaulenko, as the founders of Spartak-Holding CJSC, became minority shareholders. In recent years, the Mostransgaz club has tried to gather promising young football players for subsequent resale. According to Izvestia, Esaulenko is now searching for players for Dynamo Minsk, where he has already brought former Lokomotiv forward Baba Adama.