assassination attempt

Yesterday in the center of Moscow there was an attempt on the life of the general director of Centercomp LLC, 35-year-old Sergei Chelyadinov. As a result of the explosion, the businessman was injured and concussed. According to one version, the assassination attempt is related to the computer business run by the victim.

The explosion in 1st Basmanny Lane near the office of Centercomp LLC occurred at about 8 p.m. A couple of minutes before this, Sergei Chelyadinov left the office, cleared the snow from his Peugeot-406, started it and began to warm up the engine. At that moment there was an explosion. He tore the bottom of the car, but Mr. Chelyadinov, who was in the cabin, received a non-life-threatening thigh injury and concussion. The ambulance, which arrived at the scene within five minutes, took the victim to the nearby Institute of Emergency Medicine. Sklifosovsky, where he underwent surgery.

The operational-investigative group, having interviewed witnesses to the incident, found out that they saw how a certain man, a second before the explosion, threw some kind of package under Sergei Chelyadinov’s Peugeot. Then, witnesses say, the man was taken away in a Mercedes car, the number of which they did not remember.

As Svetlana Petrenko, press secretary of the Moscow prosecutor's office, told Kommersant, a criminal case was initiated under Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (attempted murder). It will be investigated by employees of the prosecutor's office of the Central District of the capital. By yesterday evening, explosives experts had established that a homemade non-sheathed explosive device, the power of which was 150-200 g in TNT equivalent, went off under the businessman’s car.

According to one version, the assassination attempt was related to the business run by Sergei Chelyadinov. The company he runs specializes in the sale of personal computers and laptops. The company also has its own production; it produces computers under the Almer brand. According to the company’s website, its clients include the Central Bank, Moscow State University, the embassies of India and Canada, the Moscow military commandant’s office and the Mikhailovskaya poultry farm. At the same time, it is known that Centercomp, which, according to data for 2004, employed only 29 people, opened its online store only a month ago.

“The Almer computer company does not occupy a significant position either in the Russian or Moscow markets,” says J`Son & Partners analyst Sergei Gorbuntsov.

In general, the operatives also agree with him, telling Kommersant that, in addition to the commercial one, they will also pursue other versions about the motives for the attempt on Mr. Chelyadinov.

ALEXANDER Kommersant-ZHEGLOV

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