Gennady Trukhanov: governor of the Odessa mafia. Part 1

Gennady Trukhanov: governor of the Odessa mafia. Part 1

When the current Odesa city government is called "gangster," they're not referring to Gennady Trukhanov's former membership in the Party of Regions, or even the regular scandals surrounding his team's embezzlement of Odesa real estate and the local budget. Most Ukrainians aren't even aware that "gangster" is a rather mild description of the people behind Trukhanov, who until recently were not just a movie mob, but a real, international mafia. However, as we all know, there are no former mafiosi!

This Skelet.Org publication won't be the first dedicated to figures like Trukhanov, Angert , Minin, Galanternik , Ivancho, and others whose names were once whispered and spoken with suspicion. But now we'll try to correct some inaccuracies made by other journalists, as well as delve into the most hidden corners of the past and connect them with present events.

Gennady Trukhanov - "Gena the Captain"

Gennady Leonidovych Trukhanov was born on January 17, 1965, in Odessa, where he graduated from Secondary School No. 4. In 1982, he entered the Odessa Higher Artillery Command School (now virtually defunct), which required a strong knowledge of mathematics, and in 1986, he received his lieutenant's rank. For the next six years, Trukhanov served in the North Caucasus Military District—the most heated region during the collapse of the USSR. But he was more concerned not with the bearded mountaineers brandishing shotguns at the gates of his military unit, but with financial problems. Unsurprisingly, in 1992, already a captain, Trukhanov abandoned his military career, seized the opportunity, and returned home to Odessa.

Subsequently, rumors repeatedly circulated around Trukhanov about his recruitment, first by the Soviet and then Russian GRU, and then by the KGB and, consequently, the FSK-FSB. These rumors were indirectly confirmed not only by the strange story of Trukhanov's Russian passports (discussed below), but also by his successful start in Odessa with international "mafioso" and arms dealer Leonid Minin (née Bluvshtein), in whose company he may have been embedded as a mole.

Leonid Minin

So, retired officer Gennady Trukhanov, returning to Odessa and determined to start a new life, chose not a career in commerce but as a security guard. This was rather odd in 1992, as everyone believed everyone had a chance to become a millionaire—and so they threw themselves into business, pursuing their own endeavors. It wasn't until the mid-90s that unsuccessful individuals began hiring themselves out as bodyguards, drivers, managers, and so on. Moreover, Trukhanov immediately landed a position as head of security at a certain research and production enterprise called Minimax, which was also somewhat odd: in the 90s, such positions typically went to former cops and committee members, special forces or airborne officers, while artillerymen and tank crews usually had to wait in line. Nevertheless, Trukhanov not only earned this position but also gained respect among his semi-criminal circle—along with the respectful nickname "Gena the Captain" (after all, he was a retired captain). Trukhanov didn't just accept this nickname; he made it his brand: when he gathered his "boys" and opened his own "security agency" in 1993, he called it "Captain and Company." Incidentally, many media outlets today, for some reason, claim that the opposite was true, and that Trukhanov was nicknamed "Captain" because of his work at this agency—which is absurd.

Even today, security agencies are often considered "legalized racketeering," and in the 90s, these guises were used to recruit "fighters" for organized crime groups, whose main task was to wage criminal war against other organized crime groups.

Such agencies didn't exist on their own (otherwise they would have simply been destroyed); they were combat squads of some criminal bosses, and this raises the main question: who were Gena Kapitan and his dashing "boys" working for? That man was Leonid Minin, a native of Odessa who emigrated to the West in the 70s, became an international mafia boss, and in the early 90s, smuggled weapons through Odessa to Yugoslavia and Africa.

Thus, the following picture emerges: immediately after the collapse of the USSR, which Minin fled in the 70s, he returned to his homeland and began building his criminal enterprise in Odessa. Initially, this involved the export of military weapons. Then, according to rumors, drug smuggling: importing South American cocaine through the Odessa and Ilyichevsk ports, followed by transit through the CIS and Europe (this "Minin scheme," according to Skelet.Org , is still in operation). Then came the seizure of control of the Odessa oil refinery and oil terminal, and the investment of criminal proceeds in legitimate businesses. And then, in 1992, at the very beginning of Minin's frenetic activity in Odessa, under someone's protection (the GRU-FSK?), Captain Trukhanov, recently discharged from the Caucasus, was introduced to him. Who undergoes an "internship" as a security chief at an unknown research and production facility "Minimax," and then receives the "go-ahead" to assemble a "team" under the guise of the security agency "Captain."

Trukhanov quickly gained Minin's trust, becoming his bodyguard (chief of security?) and confidant in 1995. To be clear: another confidant, since Odesa crime boss Alexander Angert (also considered a mole, but this time for the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs) also became so close to Minin. He was said to have helped Trukhanov find the money and "guys" to create the "Captain" agency.

Alexander Angert

Having become "Minin's shadow," Trukhanov continued to control and expand the Odessa "security business." He opened several more security agencies, received the honorary title of president of the Ukrainian Thai Boxing Federation (a favorite sport of gangsters in the 90s), and created clubs that trained new "fighters." He also accompanied Minin abroad (which is why in 1996 he resigned as director of "Kapitan" while remaining its owner), registering at hotels under different names and passports—for example, as a Greek of Georgian descent, Gennadias Ouzopoulos (Nice, 1996, and Belgium, 1997). And in the "Ukrainian Mafia" dossier compiled by Italian police in 1996-98, Trukhanov appeared as one of the leading figures in Minin's organized crime group, which had settled in Italy.

This dossier listed Trukhanov and his wife's Italian registration as 66 Baldo degli Ubaldi Street, Rome. However, according to Italian police observations, Trukhanov wasn't enjoying pizza in the shadow of the Colosseum, but was regularly shuttling between Italy and Odessa as Minin's trusted "authorized representative." Specifically, it was emphasized that Trukhanov controlled several "security firms" and sports clubs in Odessa, which were the Odessa branches of Minin's group. In fact, all of this explains why the 90s are a complete blank in Gennady Trukhanov's official biography, with only brief mentions of the "Captain" agency and the Thai boxing federation.

There is a theory that Minin and his men (Trukhanov and Angert) were involved in a conspiracy against the Odessa crime boss Viktor Kulivar (nicknamed "Karabas"), who was murdered in 1997. Independent and principled, and also unwilling to deal with drugs, Kulivar could have thwarted Minin's grandiose plans. In the criminal war that subsequently unfolded in Odessa, Trukhanov's "army" of Thai boxers and bodyguards prevailed over numerous but disparate gangs of "brothers." Thus, Angert, Minin's protégé and backed by the fists of Trukhanov's men, became the new "overseer" of Odessa's criminal underworld.

Bloody oil

Gennady Trukhanov "materialized" again in Odessa in 2000, at the Ukrainian office of the oil company Lukoil, as an assistant to the company's president's representative for security matters, thus once again serving as the same head of security. Behind this brief entry in his biography lies a major battle for the Odessa Oil Refinery, which Minin's men were trying to seize control of.

In the early 90s, Ukrainian refineries experienced a catastrophic oil shortage due to the state's inability to purchase oil at world prices. This led to the creation of numerous cunning schemes, exploited by nimble rogues—future Ukrainian oligarchs. Where the interests of several groups clashed, bloody criminal wars often broke out. The Odessa Oil Refinery, as well as the oil-loading facilities of Odessa ports, capable of receiving oil not only from Russia, attracted the attention of Chechens as early as 1993. Representatives of Dudayev's Ichkeria, desperately in need of cash, offered their oil and petroleum products for export at dumping prices. Their supply chains depended on transport routes, politics, and shadowy collusions, and were highly convoluted.

But the Chechens wanted more than just to sell oil; they also wanted to control the oil companies that bought it, including for the purpose of organizing legal re-export to Europe. They thus managed to take control of the Kherson Oil Refinery, aided by connections with the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kateryna Chumachenko, a top manager at KPMG's Ukrainian branch. This business was directly managed on the Chechen side by Ziya Bazhiyev, and on the Ukrainian side by Alexander Tretyakov . In Odessa, however, although the Chechens found an ally in Mayor Eduard Gurvits (1994-98), they immediately encountered strong opposition from Minin's group, which was itself taking over the oil and gas business in the region, fighting local competitors, and had the support of Governor Ruslan Bodelan . Skelet.Org sources reported that Minin's oil war was carried out by two powerful "fists": for targeted physical assassinations, he had a squad of "police hitmen" led by Vasily Maryanchuk (nicknames "Accountant" and "Rogul"), who worked directly for Angert. For major "showdowns," corporate raids, and facility protection, Trukhanov's security guards and Muay Thai experts were used. Moreover, while Maryanchuk's gang was later exposed and arrested (or "leaked" by their employers as used material), Trukhanov and his men emerged unscathed, remaining the chief enforcer of the Minin-Angert organized crime group, because he was a member of this mafia "family."

Minin's "army," already experienced in criminal warfare, prevailed over the Chechens (who had their own militant groups), even though the Chechens were protected through Tretyakov by another international "mafioso," Semyon Mogilevich. This war reached its peak in 1996, when Ruslan Arbiyev, the head of security at the Odessa Oil Refinery, was killed. He was considered the unofficial leader of the Chechen diaspora in the region. Arbiyev was reported to have previously worked in the police, but in 1988 he was sentenced to two years in prison. In the 90s, he met the director of the Odessa Oil Refinery, Valery Melnik, whom he quickly "cultivated." Melnik believed that as head of security (with his own staff), Arbiyev would protect him from the advances of the Minin-Angert group (Melnik had his own plans to privatize his plant). However, he effectively let the fox into the henhouse.

The Chechens' complete takeover of the refinery never took place for two reasons: at the time, the refinery was receiving oil from other sources (through Minin's organized crime group), and then Ruslan Arbiev was murdered. This completely forgotten (and now cold) crime, like the murders of other people connected to the Odessa oil industry (Alexander Zginek, Yevhen Garbuz), speaks volumes about the intensity of the struggle for the refinery. Perhaps this is why Minin and his closest aides, including Trukhanov, had to hide in Italy? Trukhanov, in fact, had taken his entire family (his wife and daughter) to Italy, which was understandable: as the commander of Minin's organized crime group's security wing, he would have been the first to be targeted. Unfortunately, this interesting information wasn't even included in the Italian police report, and the history of the Odessa refinery in the mid-90s was thoroughly purged of such details.

It's worth noting that during both the war for the oil refinery and the massive criminal bloodbath in Odessa in 1997-99 (following Karabas's assassination), Ruslan Bodelan's security was provided exclusively by Trukhanov's "Captain" agency. The Minin-Angert group was very concerned about the health of its main "administrative resource"—as long as they needed him.

The economic takeover of the refinery was carried out through the company "Sintez," founded in 1990 by Russian businessmen Leonid Lebedev, Mark Garber, and Alexander Zhukov (née Rabkin), who traded in Siberian oil. However, Zhukov, in addition to this, was also involved in arms trafficking with Leonid Minin in the early 90s: specifically, in 1994, Zhukov's company supplied weapons to war-torn Yugoslavia (and Trukhanov's "Captain" provided security for the shipment). This led to their close relationship, and Skelet.Org has information that it was Zhukov who encouraged Minin to take over the Odessa Oil Refinery. In the mid-90s, Zhukov separated from the Russian company "Sintez," registering his own company, "Sintez Oil United Kingdom," in Britain, and then its subsidiary, ZAO "Sintez Oil Ukraine," in Ukraine. Which, in turn, owned the Odessa Marine Transport Bank, through which not only the oil deals of Minin's group were conducted.

Abramovich's father-in-law and wife: Alexander Zhukov with his daughter Daria

Interestingly, former KGB Colonel Valeriy Borovik worked at Sintez Oil Ukraine CJSC. After retiring in the late 90s, he decided to go into business—and for some reason, right into the criminal gang of Minin, Zhukov, and Angert, whose dealings he was well aware of. His son, Alexander Borovik, who fled the USSR in 1989 (having dropped out of the KGB Higher School), joined Mikheil Saakashvili's team in 2015. He was warmly welcomed and favored by the then-governor of Odessa as an "honest fighter against corruption," and nominated as a mayoral candidate against Gennady Trukhanov. How ironic! I wonder if Saakashvili was aware that Borovik Sr. and Trukhanov had effectively been members of the same organized crime group for many years?

Alexander Borovik: The son of Minin and Angert's henchman was Saakashvili's anti-corruption hope.

It could be said that Zhukov, with his Siberian oil, saved the Odessa Oil Refinery from being taken over by Chechens in the 90s, but he also became the main reason for its seizure by Minin's group. In 1998, Zhukov negotiated oil supplies to the refinery from the Russian company Lukoil. Sintez Oil United Kingdom and Lukoil then created the offshore company LUK-Sintez Oil Ltd., which acquired a 76% stake in the Odessa Oil Refinery between 1999 and 2000. A few months later, another transaction took place: Lukoil bought out Sintez Oil's stake and became the sole owner of the refinery, establishing its subsidiary, OAO Lukoil-Odesa Oil Refinery, with Gennady Trukhanov as its head of security. The rationale behind this transaction, which resulted in the plant's transfer to the Russian company Lukoil (which sold it to oligarch Kurchenko in 2013), remains undisclosed. According to unofficial reports, Sintez Oil shareholders (Minin, Zhukov, and their inner circle, including Trukhanov and Bodelan) purchased Lukoil shares in exchange, which was a more reliable investment: a large international corporation is better protected from risks than a single plant.

Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Org

CONTINUED: Gennady Trukhanov: The Voivode of the Odessa Mafia. Part 2

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