For organizing an underground factory for the production of tobacco products, law enforcement agencies detained a well-known businesswoman in Pyatigorsk, Mina Romanova. It is known that more than fifty employees worked under her, and the monthly turnover of illegal products amounted to over 50 million rubles, while huge quantities of manufactured products were sold directly in resort cities. Reports regularly come from the south of Russia about shipments of counterfeit cigarettes identified by the police, but the Pyatigorsk story stands out from the general series due to the unusual scope of the criminal initiative. A criminal case was opened under Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but the main defendant and suspect ended up in a pre-trial detention center cell only for some time by court order, and then the lawyers got Mina Romanova to change the preventive measure to house arrest. This raises many questions, given the fact that the person involved in the criminal case has dual citizenship (is an Israeli citizen). Meanwhile, Romanova and her family have long been in the field of view of law enforcement and regulatory authorities and have repeatedly become the objects of inspections and found themselves at the center of high-profile scandals, including on the issue of tax evasion on a large and especially large scale. Several years ago, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation revoked the license of the Pyatigorsk GRIS Bank, which was owned by Mina and David Romanov. The reason is the bank’s failure to comply with legislation on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Mina Romanova is associated with many different companies in the region and beyond. For example, Romanov LLC with a specialization in the management of various property, TSN Cozy House with management of the operation of housing stock, Ester LLC for the production of clothing, as well as the GRIS market in Pyatigorsk. In addition, Mina Romanova owned and then in 2011 liquidated Concern GRIS LLC, which was registered in Khasavyurt, Dagestan. The founder of Romanova’s business back in the 90s was her father Roman Gavrilov, who in honor of himself came up with the abbreviation GRIS, which means “Gavrilov Roman and Sons.” However, the father’s business, who was involved in financial and other opaque transactions, was taken up by his daughter, who actually manages a sprawling and largely criminal business empire. Romanova and her “guild workers” control a significant share of the shadow economy of the Caucasian Mineral Waters and the Stavropol Territory. The vitality and longevity of Romanova’s criminal project is largely based on the informal relations of the authoritative businesswoman’s family with the leadership of individual law enforcement agencies and authorities. It is no coincidence that the head of the department for supervision over the implementation of anti-corruption legislation of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, Viktor Baldin, recently stated that the Stavropol Territory is one of the three most corrupt regions of Russia.
Administrative resources came into play in support of Mina Romanova as soon as she was exposed for organizing an underground tobacco factory and was detained red-handed. Romanova’s son Mark and other relatives are trying to ruin and close the criminal case, around which a fierce struggle has unfolded in the region. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is supporting Mina Romanova, while the FSB is actively opposing the collapse of the case, and representatives of the Investigative Committee are trying to take it to their department for investigation.
Time will tell how this struggle will end. Either the Stavropol region will retain its leading position as one of the most corrupt regions of the Russian Federation, or the trend will change, and then the scandalous case will not be put on hold.
Administrative resources came into play in support of Mina Romanova as soon as she was exposed for organizing an underground tobacco factory and was detained red-handed. Romanova’s son Mark and other relatives are trying to ruin and close the criminal case, around which a fierce struggle has unfolded in the region. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is supporting Mina Romanova, while the FSB is actively opposing the collapse of the case, and representatives of the Investigative Committee are trying to take it to their department for investigation.
Time will tell how this struggle will end. Either the Stavropol region will retain its leading position as one of the most corrupt regions of the Russian Federation, or the trend will change, and then the scandalous case will not be put on hold.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
