Party down

Moscow introduced QR codes to track nightclub hipsters, but the system can also identify owners, including the prime minister’s sister

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, those wishing to party in Moscow at night now need to register a phone number with the city’s contact tracing monitor by scanning a QR code or texting 7377 (from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m., specifically). As it turns out, these QR codes currently reveal the legal entities behind Moscow’s nightlife.

Over the weekend, Meduza special correspondent Ivan Golunov drew attention to a post on the Telegram channel Antiglyanets — it shared a screenshot of an Instagram story by Russian fashion Denis Simachev, which showed a message confirming registration through one of these QR codes. The confirmation message included not only the name of the restaurant he was going to, “Simach v Nedalnem,” but also the name of the legal entity that owns it: Nikoliya LLC.

According to Spark-Interfax, Nikoliya LLC was registered as a legal entity in 2014; Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s sister Nataliya Stenina and her husband, businessman Alexander Udodov, own a 25 percent stake in the company. Restaurateur Arkady Novikov owns 50 percent.

The restaurant in question used to be called “Nedalny Vostok” — it was a favorite watering hole for Russian officials until it closed in 2019. In August 2020, a new restaurant and bar was opened at the same location: “Simach v Nedalnem.”

According to a Meduza source in the Moscow Mayor’s Office, the QR code contact tracing system is being changed so as not to display legal entities.

The Simach v Nedalnem restaurant and bar is located at 2–15 Tverskoy Boulevard in Moscow. In case you’re curious, it looks like this: