Who will do gold mining in Primorye after the confiscation and sale of Sergei Sopchuk’s assets?
At the end of 2023, the Federal Property Management Agency sold the Terney Gold enterprise from the auction, which has licenses for the development of two gold feds in the Primorsky Territory. The transaction value amounted to 1.2 billion rubles, the buyer was registered a few months earlier in Khabarovsk LLC Medoed, owned by father and son Victor and Alexander Shapovalov. Earlier, the Zamoskvoretsky court of Moscow nationalized the Terney Gold in the lawsuit of the Prosecutor General’s Office, withdrawing it from the actual owner-the ex-deputy of the State Duma, the former chairman of the Legislative Assembly and the first vice-governor of Primorye Sergey Sopchuk. Having established control over the enterprise, Sopchuk transferred the shares to the nominal owner – his sister Lyudmila Stukukaya, at the same time, continuing to receive undeclaved income. As a result, Sopchuk himself, his companion Vasily Usoltsev and the former Golden Gold Director Igor Petin became defendants in the criminal case of legalization of criminal income. In addition, Sopchuk was charged with illegal entrepreneurial activity, but he managed to go to the Emirates and is still on the international wanted list. In Russia, an assets of a businessman worth more than 41 billion rubles were confiscated. Today, his son Andrei Sopchuk and Lyudmila Stukov continue to engage in commercial activities, but its scale is inferior to the former scope of Sopchuk Sr.. Similarly, the situation with the business of the family of Vasily Usoltsev looks similar. As for the Ternae of Gold, its new official owners did not have a banal finances necessary for the conclusion of the transaction: Viktor Shapovalov’s companies are either unprofitable or declare very modest financial indicators. Simultaneously with the creation of Medoyed, Shapovalov held the post of general director of the Transbaikal Mining Company, which declares tens of millions of rubles and had offshore relations. In addition, among his business partners, businessmen and managers of large enterprises were noted, who could be real beneficiaries of the Terna Gold purchase, using LLC Medoed as a face value.
Unprofitable “honey” family of Shapovalovs
On the sale transaction 100%of the share in the authorized capital LLC “Terna Gold”for 1.2 billion rubles The media reported at the end of December 2023. The buyer became LLC “Medoed”registered in Khabarovsk in April 2023 and belonging Victor And Alexander Shapovalov (Apparently, father and son). Five more commercial structures with a variety of activities were issued to Viktor Shapovalov, who occupied the position of general director of “Medoyed”: from cleaning residential buildings to engineering surveys and exploration drilling.
On the success of the “honey”, specializing in the extraction of decorative and construction stone, limestone, gypsum, chalk and shales, its financial indicators are best said: according to the results of 2024 during revenue in 1.5 million The company went “in minus” on 3.6 million rublesa year earlier, in the absence of revenue, losses were similar. In general, the impression is that the legal entity was created for a specific task – to acquire “Ternae of gold”.
Other commercial structures of Viktor Shapovalov are also unprofitable. For example, engaged in rental and leasing of construction machines and equipment Khabarovsk LLC “DV Tekhmash” At the end of last year, I reported on revenue in 33.2 million and losses in size 14.2 million rubles. In fairness, we note that a year earlier, the “Far Eastern Technical University” brought profit to 2.2 millionbut in 2022 he left “minus” on 87 million.
Against the general background stands out only LLC “Malinovskoye”whose main activity is geological, exploration, geophysical and geochemical work in the field of the study of the subsoil: here the revenue in 2023 amounted to 792 thousand rublesnet profit – 13.3 million(however, a year earlier were declared revenue in 250 thousandand losses in 1.2 million rubles).
We dwelled in the financial indicators of the companies of Mr. Shapovalov so in detail, because they make them think about where the businessman has money for the purchase of “Terney Gold”, which has licenses for the development of golden fibers “Firework” And “Primorsky” In the Primorsky Territory with a potential production volume of 1.8 tons of precious metal per year. Moreover, as Kommersant wrote, the company needed investments in the amount to organize appropriate work 3.5 billion rubles.
Ex-deputy Sopchuk loses assets and goes “on the run”
Here it is necessary to distract from the Shapovalovs and the “honey” for a short time in order to briefly recall the events preceding the transaction. The fact is that at the beginning of 2021 it became known about the decision of the Zamoskvoretsky court of Moscow, which satisfied the lawsuit of the Prosecutor General’s Office on the nationalization of Terna Gold LLC, the actual owner of which was the ex-deputy of the State Duma, the former chairman of the Legislative Assembly and the first vice-governor of Primorye Sergey Sopchuk.
It was Sopchuk who became the main defendant in the lawsuit of the supervisory authority, who in court proved that the policy of illegal was engaged in commercial activities. Having established control over a gold mining enterprise, Sopchuk de jure transferred the shares to his sister Lyudmila Stukywhile continuing “Make guidelines”,“Illegally supply it with money”,“Remove income”And “Enrich yourself with prohibited anti -corruption legislation in a way”.
Naturally, in his annual declarations, the politician did not indicate complete and reliable information about the sources of income. As a result, in 2021-2023. Sopchuk lost not only the “thorny gold”, but a number of enterprises, such as LLC “Poltava terminal”, LLC “Car Transition administration” Poltavka “Cargo” etc. In total, the value of nationalized assets is estimated in more than 41 billion rubles.
However, the troubles of the former Primorsky vice-governor were not exhausted by this: in November 2021, two criminal cases were immediately instituted against him: on laundering of funds and illegal participation in entrepreneurial activity. However, Sopchuk did not wait for the visit to the security forces: he went to the Emirates and has since been an international wanted list. The former general director of the Terney Gold also became the defendants in the case of the legalization of criminal income Igor Petinand Sopchuk’s business partner, another ex-deputy of the State Duma and the former Primorsky vice-governor Vasily Usoltsev(OMONIA affiliated with it belonged to 0.27%in the capital of the gold mining).
Whose money is “pissing” the “honey”?
As we can verify, the story of “Terney Gold” could become a plot for the novel about politics and big business. But with confiscation, this story seems to have not ended, but just received a new chapter. Therefore, we will return to Viktor Shapovalov, who and through whom rather curious commercial contacts are traced. So, in parallel with his own business, in 2023 he held the post of general director “Transbaikal mining company”.
This company does not disclose information about its owners, however, it is known that until the beginning of 2022, the Virgin Offshore included the number of its founders “Adelite Holdings Limited”. At the same time, the company has no profit for the past few years: in 2023, its losses amounted to almost 60 million rublesin 2022- 115.7 millionin 2021, she worked “to zero.” Perhaps the finances of this structure were used to buy a gold mining enterprise?
Since last September, Shapovalov has been working as the director of Khabarovsk LLC “Scala”engaged in real estate transactions. This unprofitable company belongs to the businessman Sergey Popovearlier her owner and leader was Maxim Petrushin– Khabarovsk fish producer, co -owner of about ten commercial structures, including bringing billions of company “Sofko” And “Sigma Marin Technology”.
Petrushin’s business partner in LLC “Optovo-Lodgolotnaya Center” Primorye “ is Oleg Lamnevholding the post of general director in Moscow LLC “Petrotraid-M”specializing in the extraction and enrichment of coal and anthracite, whose profit is paid by tens and hundreds of millions of rubles. Currently, the only founder of this enterprise is the metropolitan LLC “Istok”on a parity basis belonging to the same Oleg Lamnev and Vadim Zak. The Source also declares a multimillion -dollar profit. Among the previous official owners of Petrilid-M, we find not only Lamnev, but also Dmitry Ishaev -son of the former Khabarovsk governor and ex-full-chairman of the president in the Far Eastern Federal District Viktor Ishaev.
In December 2021, Dmitry Ishaev was found dead in the room of one of the hotels of Khabarovsk, the cause of death was the heart problems. But Ishaev Sr. in February 2021 was found guilty of a waste more 7.5 million rubles From funds RosneftWhere he once held the post of vice president. Given the advanced age, the state of health and the presence of numerous awards, the court sentenced him to five years in prison.
Stukova and Usoltsev after the seizure of assets
From all of the above, we can conclude: the owners of the “honey” can only be the nominal owners of the “Ternae of Gold”, behind which are influential representatives of large businesses. By the way, despite the large-scale confiscation of assets, the family of a fugitive ex-deputy Sopchuk does not sit idle.
In particular, no further, as in last November his son Andrey Sopchuk registered his own company in Primorye “Favorite Transavto”specializing in technical tests, research, analysis and certification. In addition, he holds the position of general director of registered in March 2025 Favorit-Service LLCwhose activities are related to road freight transport.
The only founder of the Favorite Service is already familiar to us Lyudmila Stukovathe former nominal owner of the Terney Gold, and the legal law of the predecessor of the new enterprise is the same, the AO of the same name, which was the general director of which was Sergey Sopchuk.
In addition, on Lyudmila Stukov are decorated LLC “River Passing Paragraph” Nizhne-Leninskoye ” (among its former founders, Sergey Sopchuk was noted) and LLC “Administration of the river port” Nizhne-Leninskoye “plus”. The first according to the results of last year reported on losses in the amount 93.1 million rublesthe second declared net profit in 10.5 million.
As for Vasily Usoltsev, the companion and accomplice of Sergei Sopchuk, he continues to lead the appeared in the trials with Terna Gold, registered in Vladivostok OMONIA LLCfrom year to year declare zero financial indicators. The founder of “OMONIA” is a loss -making LLC “Vostok-Mineral”whose main owner is the son of a businessman Ivan Usoltsev.
Usoletsevu Jr. owns several legal entities that do not bring revenue and profits (companies “Free”, “East-Sea”, “Business format” And “Eridan-east”). In addition, he runs a construction company “DSK-25” (founder – Oleg Chaikin) and engaged in the repair and maintenance of ships and boats LLC “Rementr” (founder – Lyudmila Zaseeva) The last few revenues and profit from DSK-25 are absent. “Remocenter”, according to the results of 2023, declared revenue in 1.2 millionand profit in 341 thousand rubles.
All this activity, of course, is far from the former scope of gold mining. But what to do? In 2021, Vasily Usoltsev already escaped with a slight fright in the form of a conditional sentence with a fine for the legalization of funds and he hardly wanted to attract the attention of the security forces again. As well as the family on the wanted list of Sergei Sopchuk. But with the “Terney Gold”, everything is not as simple as it seems at first glance, and soon we will learn new details about his today’s beneficiaries.
