START: Alexey Leonov. Who is the planted restaurateur working for? Part 1
Alexey Leonov
Speaking of Leonov the restaurateur, as he calls himself in his biography, Pizza & Grill is not actually a "large restaurant chain," Skelet.Org I managed to google only six eateries (although he claims there are ten), located in small architectural forms or renting a corner in a shopping center. visitor reviews, in these "beer bars with grills," the only prices are restaurant prices! The only "Slow Piggy" in Kotovsky village at the time wasn't even a restaurant. But the most interesting thing is this: on the internet,Pizza&Grill" is mentioned as a franchise owned by 7 Continents LLC (36481233) of Svetlana Pulova and Sergey Bezverkhny. They also owned a chain of so-called "fast food restaurants" under the "HappyBurger" banner. Not only were these simply burger and hot dog stands, but the name itself turned out to be stolen—which is why they having problems With McDonald's itself. These are the kind of "restaurants" and "restaurateurs" you'll find in Odessa!
"Fast food restaurant" in Odessa
In March 2020, Sergey Bezverkhny, who had headed 7 Continents for many years, was replaced as director by Alexander Nensberg, who is also the founder of Megaline Capital Group LLC (38572882) and Megaline Global Ukraine (37476088). However, it should be emphasized that 7 Continents owns the Pizza & Grill franchise, while the "restaurants" themselves were registered to Grillion LLC (37761061). Before his election as a member of parliament, Alexey Leonov served as commercial director of this company, which is owned by Lyudmila Starovoitova and Olga Romanovskaya, and held a modest 7% stake. This seems a bit too small to be called a "restaurateur"...
It turns out that "Pizza & Grill" and "Happy Burger" weren't founded by Leonov at all, but by Pulov and the Starovoitovs. Leonov's role in them is completely unclear; nothing was heard of him at all when the first of these establishments opened. And the stories about the "restaurateur" who hauled sacks of cement in his youth and then built a chain of restaurants from scratch without any investment only surfaced in 2017, when special PR videos were made.
Apparently, this is what happened. In 2014, a completely unknown Alexei Leonov was plucked from some hidden cache and groomed for parliament. In keeping with the political fashion of the time, they initially tried to mold him into a "patriot"—for which purpose they sent him to Kurilo in the Luhansk region (almost like a "deployment to the ATO zone"). Basically, he diligently cultivated a resume as a patriot, a volunteer, and perhaps even an ATO veteran (he even grew a fashionable beard), while simultaneously learning the basics of public policy. But after Ukrainians' jingoistic fervor began to fade, along with the approval ratings of Petro Poroshenko and Solidarity, they began to promote Leonov in a new role, concocting a new "legend" for him, one more appealing to Odesans. And so, with the help of the Starovoitovs, who kindly agreed to take on an old family friend as their commercial director (until the elections), Leonov the restaurateur, giving lectures on successful business, emerged. His puppeteers hit the nail on the head: in the 2019 parliamentary elections, the majority of Ukrainians voted for Zelenskyy's team as a new alternative to Petro Poroshenko and the BPP. Although they had no idea that beneath Leonov's green "Servant of the People" mask lurked a man with a murky past, a protégé. Haberdashery, who just yesterday was just as diligently playing the role of "Poroshenko bot." However, he's not the only one in "Servant of the People"!
The "green roof" of construction scammers
Although Oleksiy Leonov was unclaimed in the Odesa mayoral elections, he is still a member of parliament, capable of making decisions on many issues. And he does make them – in the interests of his sponsors and childhood friends, primarily the Starovoitovs and their Megaline. Their scandalous image has long since transcended mere corruption: the company has a reputation for being scammers capable of defrauding even renowned oligarchs.
A striking example of this is her relationship with a well-known Kyiv developer. Vagif AliyevHe himself did not want to air his dirty laundry in public, so as not to look like a “loser,” but this scandal dug up Skelet.OrgThe contract with Aliyev, which the Starovoytovs secured through mutual acquaintances, was Megaline's entry ticket into Kyiv. The company served as the contractor for the construction of the Lavina Mall and Blockbuster shopping centers, but instead of delivering the conscientious work that could have earned it a reputation, it once again resorted to its signature scams: embezzling and stealing from the construction budget. Ultimately, Megaline failed to pay its subcontractors approximately 50 million hryvnias for work already completed, and failed to return the client (Aliyev) 150 million hryvnias in unused advance payments.
A similar scandal occurred in Kazakhstan, where the Starovoitovs managed to infiltrate in 2014 and, on behalf of the BI GROU holding company, participated in the construction of the Expo Boulevard and Green Quarter residential complexes. The scheme was the same: acting as a contractor, Megaline stole and siphoned off part of the construction funds through offshore companies, underpaying subcontractors (as always, the workers, left without wages, suffered the most). However, the matter was not hushed up: the scandal reached the ears of the Nazarbayev family, a criminal case was opened against Megaline, and although no one was jailed, the company and its owners were permanently banned from Kazakhstan. According to journalists, such schemes required the participation of several clone companies, which, if necessary, would simply go bankrupt and close. This explains their diversity: Megaline-Ukraine, Megaline Project, Megaline Invest, Megaline Construction, etc.
It was reported that after the "Kazakh scam," the Starovoitovs bought themselves a house in Switzerland! But this was their last successful venture: even the holding's website lists their achievements as stating that Megaline's fortunes began to decline completely in 2016-2017. Commercial development in Odessa became their last hope, but even this was not without scandals and even casualties. This concerns the controversial construction of the Unity Towers residential complex at 5 Gagarinske Plato Street. This is a prestigious area of Arcadia, which many developers had their eye on, but few gained access to it: for example, Vladimir Galanternik, who literally tore the area apart, and his old (in every sense) friend. Igor Uchitel, called "the overseer of Odessa" even during the time of Angert.
Unity Towers was designed as a joint project between Riviera Development (Igor Uchitel) and Megaline (Starovoytov), and this is far from their first collaboration: according to sources Skelet.OrgIt was Igor Uchitel who helped Megaline with renovation contracts in Odessa, and he also brought the Starovoitovs into the construction of his Riviera shopping center. As for Unity Towers, it became famous primarily because apartments in it were sold even before construction began. Incidentally, the building is still in the construction phase, so the apartments offered on dozens of websites with "flexible discount systems" exist only virtually. Secondly, the construction permit for the residential complex was obtained practically fraudulentlySpecifically, the general contractor, Kamerton LLC, first appealed to the State Architectural and Construction Inspectorate (GASI), where it was denied. It then appealed this denial in the District Administrative Court, and Judge Oleg Belostotsky ruled to issue a construction permit. You know, the court might as well have ruled to issue a driver's license to a blind person! And it's not just a matter of legal formalities: experts warn that high-rise construction on Gagarin Plateau and Bolshoy Fontan could lead to landslides and building collapses.
Finally, from the very beginning, the construction project sparked mass protests among Odessans. This forced the Stravoitovs to resort to a series of tricks. First, they engaged the media and commissioned a series of reports emphasizing that, in addition to the five residential towers, the Unity Towers residential complex would also include a "kindergarten of the future"—and immediately expressed outrage that the protesters were "taking aim at our children." Then they began claiming that competitors had ordered the protests. When protesters literally began battering down the construction site gates, they hung flags of Ukraine and... Israel. And after someone cut these flags overnight, the media immediately reported on them. An article about "vandals" was publishedThe finale was the events of October 25, 2019, when the developers hired "titushki" attacked pickets, beating and seriously injuring several protesters (one girl had her head broken).
The massacre went unpunished, no one was punished—and this was facilitated not only by Igor Uchitel, but also by Alexey Leonov (all this was happening in his district). Similarly, another Megaline escapade was reliably covered up from above.: development of the site In the area of the Health Trail recreational area at 1/5 French Boulevard (cadastral number 5110137500:48:001:0010), construction began in 2019 (after Leonov's election) and was only briefly halted by a court injunction. Incidentally, journalists reported on this case that the developers (the Starovoitovs and their German partner, Max Wegner) were pinning their hopes on a change in the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (with a subsequent change in the leadership of the Odesa Prosecutor's Office). And here's the "coincidence": MP Leonov voted for Ryaboshapka's resignation and Venediktova's appointment.
Alexey Leonov - Where does the money come from?
Having covered up other people's illegal construction projects, Alexey Leonov decided to open something in Arcadia himself. So, on December 8, 2019, right on the day of mourning declared by President Zelenskyy in memory of the victims of the fire in Odessa College of EconomicsHe staged the launch of the Slow Piggy beer and grill bar on Genuezskaya Street. It was a grand affair, with a concert and invited performers: they devoured grilled meats, washed them down with beer, and they couldn't understand what mourning the television was talking about! But when the scandal erupted the next day, Alexey Leonov not only failed to apologize to the people of Odessa, but decided to deceive them all again – claiming it wasn't a celebratory opening, but... a fundraiser for the families of the victims. He even demanded retractions and apologies from the local media! Well, one thing can be said: in just one year as a member of parliament, Alexey Leonov has become a true Ukrainian politician – that is, a complete hypocrite!
But here's the question: is this really his "beer restaurant," if all of Leonov's eateries are, in fact, owned by the Starovoitovs? After all, he himself is their hired actor, portraying himself now as a "patriotic social activist," now as a restaurateur, and now as a "servant" of the people of Odessa—for whom he couldn't care less. But the issue isn't a matter of conscience, which Leonov simply lacks, but rather the fact that, being merely a hired actor, he received the corresponding income for his work.
Natalia Lyubimova and Alexey Leonov
Now let's take a look at his 2019 asset declaration, which, in addition to Alexey Leonov himself, lists his wife, Natalya Lyubimova, his mother-in-law, Valentina Lyubimova (a Russian citizen, by the way), two stepsons, and two sons. It reveals that during his six months as commercial director of Grillion (before the elections), he earned 39,500 hryvnias there (6,583 hryvnias per month), and also received 104,800 hryvnias for the year from "entrepreneurial activity" (apparently dividends from his 7% stake in Grillion). Not much, you'll agree! Moreover, as we've established above, it's completely unclear what he did and did before 2017, when he began being promoted as an "Odessa restaurateur," which he is not.
However, in his asset declaration, Leonov indicated he had 300,000 hryvnias in cash and 68,000 hryvnias in bank accounts—that's twice his annual income! Plus a 2017 Honda Accord worth 758,000 hryvnias—another four times his annual income! Perhaps these were gifts from his wife, who is registered as a sole proprietor and has an annual income of up to a million hryvnias? He didn't explain this, believing his fake "restaurateur" image would allow him to avoid such awkward questions. But they have emerged, and Odesans are waiting for answers.
But these are only questions about his sources of income before being elected as a people's deputy. How much Leonov now receives for "protecting" development projects or voting on favored bills is anyone's guess. However, specific figures have already been voiced. After several "servants of the people," including Leonov, failed to pass the anti-corruption bill No. 2047-d in committee in October 2019, information appeared in the mediathat they received 30 thousand dollars for this from the scandalous people's deputy from the "For the Future" group Anton Yatsenko, a well-known creator of tender schemes. And in order to somehow exonerate them from this scandal, all of them They decided to publicly run a polygraph test. As you may recall, no one was caught lying back then, after which such performances ceased, as the public believed more in the malfunctioning polygraphs than in the crystal-clear honesty of the elected officials. However, one might think that Alexei Leonov could fool a real, functioning lie detector. After all, he immerses himself in his roles so quickly and convincingly that even Stanislavsky would believe him!
Mikhail Shpolyansky, for Skelet.Org
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