Oh, sport, you are death

30 years ago, the leader of the Russian Athletes, the criminal authority of Otari Kvantrishvili was killed. The murder is considered disclosed, but the motive is not

On April 5, 1994, the Krasnopresnensky baths in Moscow, a full-time killer of Orekhovo-Medvedkovsky organized crime group, Alexei Sherstovtov, nicknamed Lesha, soldiers with three shots from small-caliber (5.6 mm) rifles shot the criminal authority of Otari Kvantrishvili. After the arrest in 2006, Killer said that the order to eliminate came from another criminal authority - Sergey Timofeev (Sylvester). Sylvester was blown up six months after the murder of the Otarik. Lesha soldiers was sentenced to a long period of imprisonment. But it still remains a mystery which motives moved the customer - revenge, elimination of a competitor or political layouts.

From "Golden Boys" to the bandits

Otari Kvantrishvili was born in the city of Zestafoni (Georgian SSR) on January 27, 1948. Soon after his father, Vitaly Kvantrishvili, is again transferred to Moscow, where during the war he worked as a driver of an electric locomotive in one of the Moscow depot. In 1944, Vitaly was wounded, and after treatment returned to his native Zestafoni. In 1952, Vitaly was transferred to Moscow and attributed to the service personnel of the Kremlin. In particular, he was a driver on electric locomotives who carried government trains.

In Moscow, Otari went to a special school, where children close to the “Kremlin”, then “golden youth” studied. He was seriously involved in sports, by the age of 17 he became a master of sports in the Greco-Roman wrestling, was enrolled in the Olympic reserve, entered the coach and ... was convicted seven years for rape.

“I was very familiar with the Otarik, because it was I who disassembled in 1966 the history of rape, of which Kvantrishvili was accused,” a thief in law, which introduced herself from Ivan Ivanov, told the New Year. - It really was very ambiguous there, and therefore I sent Malyava to free rein (message) so that the victim was carefully talked. A trusted person was sent to her, and she talked that girl. It turned out that there was no crime, just her parents wanted money from the Kvantrishvili family to fuck. Otari told me that his father was attributed to the Kremlin electric locomotives, the Central Committee was served, and therefore had access to the special distributor, and something fell from the special bottle in the train. They had scarce products constantly, which is why they were considered rich.

The atarik actually had to justify, because the girl had already abandoned her testimony in court. But a cruel joke with a spit was played by the reputation of his older brother Amiram.

Amiram Kantrishvili was born in 1944 in Moscow. Immediately after birth, the family left for Zestafoni. And when his father was again taken to Moscow, Amiram remained in Georgia with relatives. He contacted a street gang, showed talent for card games and, by the age of 17, was a famous katal (card fraudster). He also had an explosive character, which often failed him. By 1966, when his younger brother was judged for rape, he was listed in police bases not only as a cards Shuler, but also as a culprit of the attack on a police officer. The judge, according to Ivanov, considered that Otari followed in the footsteps of Amirama, and gave a term - seven years of the colony.

“Thanks to my analysis, Otari had no problems, he was not omitted, as was supposed to do with rapists,” Ivanov says. - While he was sitting in a colony where I was looking at, nothing threatened him. But in 1970 they wanted to transfer him to Vorkuta, and as if it turned out there, one God knows. Otarik managed to make enemies among the authorities. He beat someone, fought with someone, and some simply did not like “lavrushniks” ( the so-called Georgian authorities, from the “bay leaf.” - approx. Ed. ). Anger to Amiram could be transferred to his younger brother. So I advised Otarik to jump over a psychiatric hospital. At first he doubted, they say, then this fact could then prevent him from putting on a thieves' crown. And I explained to him that with his article, even if there was no rape himself, it would never be a thief in law. I could not assume that in only 20 years, times will change so much that with such an article it would even be possible to get a crown. He obeyed me, portrayed Shizu, was transferred to a psychiatric hospital, from where he came out in less than a year.

Under the "roof" "Association of the XXI century"

In the 70s, the Kvantrishvili brothers took up the mind and moved away from crime. Amiram became a rather popular playwright and joined the Union of Writers of the USSR. And Otari devoted himself to sports: at first he received the status of an international master, and then passed the standards for the coach.

As the journalist “Top Secret” wrote Larisa Kislitskaya, who personally knew Kvantrishvili, on the criminal path, Otarik returned in the early 80s. Prior to this, he worked in the Moscow City Council of Dynamo, where he became a master of sports of the international class in the Greco-Roman wrestling and a honored coach. As soon as Mikhail Gorbachev announced the development of the cooperative movement, Otari almost immediately went into business, founding several enterprises. He earned initial capital with his brother Amiram with a game of cards in the Sovetskaya Hotel.

But there is another version - the brothers earned the first serious money not only thanks to the cards, but also to the thief in law Vyacheslav Ivankov (nicknamed Japanchik).

“The Japanchik was crowned in thieves in law in 1974 in Butyrsky cover (Butyrskaya prison, pre-trial detention center No. 2 of the Federal Penitentiary Service in Moscow),” a thief in the Law of Ivanov told Novy-Europe. - He was then untwisted into several murders and robberies as part of the gang, but he managed to jump off and was released right in court, having received a term only for a fake passport and driver’s license. For several years, while he was watched quite closely, he lived quietly. At the beginning of 1980, he organized another gang, in which, in addition to the old accomplices of Balda (Vladimir Bykov), the plum (Vyacheslav Slum) and Asaph (Asaf Sosonov), the Kvantrishvili brothers entered. In the gang, they played the role of gunners. Otari, thanks to school relations, was entered into the bohemian party of Moscow, in which many shadowers rotated. Well, Amiram with the same shadowers played cards. In 1982, when the Japanese and the rest were tied, the Kvantrishvili brothers managed to jump off. Yes, and with the common fund of the group, with the help of which the pacifier (with the resolution of the Japanese) was established by the cooperative “Association of the XXI Century”, in which he united most of its structures.

The words of the old authority are confirmed by the reports of the Ministry of Internal Affairs , published immediately after the death of Kvantrishvili. However, in the documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs there are no references to the fact that since 1982, Otari Kvantrishvili has been closely converging with Oleg Korotaev (we wrote in detail about this legend of the racketeering movement earlier).

“Oleg Korotaev with the crowned thieves came close in the zone, where he sat for robbery, but did not become an adherent of the thieves' law,” says Ivanov. - As I already said, he was a link between the thieves' community, which set the task of crushing the whole business in Russia, and “infantry”, which was gained among former athletes. Therefore, the Japanchik put on him, introduced him to authorities like Lenchik (Leonid Zavadsky). Well, with Otarik, Korotaev fell in the field of sports. Still, Kvantrishvili was not a stranger in a sports environment. But he would not be able to attract eminent athletes to the fund of eminent athletes, who allowed Otarik to go to the highest political level. And with the future vice-president of the “Association of the XXI Century”, Japanchik also introduced the Japanchik by Joseph Kobzon of the Otarik. With the help of the famous singer, Kvantrishvili met many top -level politicians. Relations in the law enforcement agencies of Association were provided by another vice president: Major General of the police (and former employee of the 5th, Retirement of the KGB Anti-Disement Department) Alexei Bugaev. Well, the former graduate of the diplomatic academy Anzor Kikalishvili was responsible for foreign economic relations.

While Player balanced on the verge of legal and illegal businesses, his brother Amiram finally chose a criminal path. It was on it that the Kazan organized crime groups were closed, whom the “Slavic” thieves in law used in the war against the “Caucasian” (primarily against Chechen) organized crime groups. However, Kvantrishvili Jr. also did not sit back: he took his hands first of the “Solntsevsky”, then “Podolsky” and “Izmailovsky” bandits-athletes.

“It was relations with the“ Izmailovites ”that became a stumbling block between Shakro young (Shakro Kalashov) and Otari Kvantrishvili,” says the thief in law Ivanov. - Shakro strongly annoyed the “Izmailovites”, fulfilling the request of Grandfather Hassan on the “promotion” of the thief in the Law of Shishkan (Oleg Shishkanov). The situation could have resolved the Japanese, whose clan belonged to Shakro and Otari, but he was already in America at that time. And Grandfather Hassan took the side of Shakro - and the organization of thieves in law and the authorities, which the Japanese created for the control of Russian business, gave a crack.

In 1993, Otari Kvantrishvili was creating a National Sports Center, which receives the full support of President Boris Yeltsin. In particular, the center is exempted from any customs duties, excise taxes and most of the taxes. In addition, according to Yeltsin’s personal order, raw materials (wood, oil products, non -ferrous metals) worth 2.4 billion rubles (about 2.5 million US dollars) are transferred from the state reserve to the “promotion” center.

By that time, the Association of the XXI Century controlled more than a hundred enterprises, among which there were many raw materials. Obtaining customs benefits for imported activities opened up just fantastic opportunities for participants in the Association. Under her “roof” (there is a legend that the very “roof” itself was introduced into the circulation of Otari Kvantrishvili) even those who already had patrons in the criminal environment rushed.

Clung to one version

“I do not know many details of what happened around the Otari in 1993, because I deliberately distance me from big deeds, preparing to completely disappear from the then layouts,” says Ivanov. “But personally, I see the sequence of events as follows.” When the hucksters, already having a “roof” from other groups, rushed to the “association”, this greatly hit the interests primarily of the racketeering and sports movement. Sylvester (Sergey Timofeev, the leader of the Orekhovo-Medvedovskaya group, the most powerful in the country of the early 90s), after all, was also focused on foreign economic activity and managed to take control of almost 40% of this market by 1993. And suddenly the hucksters controlled to him began to massively run to the Otari. The Japanchik, on whom both were oriented, took the side of Kvantrishvili, with whom he was familiar much longer than with the beginning to get out of control by a silver. In addition, Otarik, one way or another, controlled part of the Moscow and Moscow Region, which, united, could well create competition “Orekhovo-Medvedkovsky”. And through Amirami Kvantrishvili, the Association controlled two -thirds of the Kazan organized crime group.

The fact that Sylvester will unite with the Caucasian clans, the Japanchik was not afraid, Ivanov believes:

- Too many Caucasian blood was in the hands of Timofeev, which made such an alliance impossible. Therefore, having taken the side of Otarik, Ivankov-Japanchik also declared Timofeev about support. Simply put, took a wait -and -see position. Here is Sylvester and decided to act independently.

In August 1993, Amiramas Kantrishvili were accidentally killed. By accident, because on that day he should not have appeared in the office of the Aquarius company on Bolshaya Yakimanka, where the killers were waiting for the Kazan authority Fedya Beshenoy (Fedor Ishin). Be that as it may, they killed both Fedya and Amirami. And then the performers exploded in a car in which they had to leave the place of murder.

After a couple of hours, Otari drove up to the place of murder, who told reporters that there would be no blood feud, because there was so much blood. The crime is still considered unsolved.

On January 12, 1994, in New York, Killer killed Oleg Korotaev with a shot in the back of his head. This crime is also not disclosed to the end either. In February, Otari Kvantrishvili Pompeyo establishes the party "Athletes of Russia." Celebrities as Alexander Karelin (Greco-Roman style wrestler, three-time Olympic champion, nine-time world champion, 12-time European champion, a member of the Council of the Russian Federation), Ivan Yarygin (free-style wrestler, two-time Olympic champion, three-time world champion, died in a car cataststrophe on October 11, 1997, become co-chairs. years) and Alexander Tikhonov (biathlonist, four-time Olympic champion, 11-time world champion, was accused of preparing the attempt on the Governor of the Kemerovo Region Aman Tuleyev in August 2000, hid in Austria until 2006, returned to Russia, appeared in court, was convicted of three years in prison and was immediately abstracted in the age Relations with the 62nd anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War).

- Having discarded the slogan “Sports outside the politics”, athletes should be engaged in politics. We will put the best of them to the State Duma and the government in order to stand up for the people and slow down the destruction of Russia, expressing its cultural and sports traditions, ” said Otari Kvantrishvili at the Constituent Congress of the party.

On April 5, 1994, the full-time Killer of the Orekhovo-Medvedkovsky organized crime group Alexei Sherstobitov (Lesha Soldier) with three shots from small-caliber (5.6 mm) rifles shot Otari Kvantrishvili. After the arrest in 2006, Killer said that the order to eliminate personally from Sergei Timofeev (Sylvester).

“I would like, if this, of course, is possible to apologize for what I had done,” Eliso Cantrishvili, turning to the widow of Otari, said Sherstytov in court. - You see, if I hadn’t done this, it would have changed much, another performer would be found, the death of Otari Kvantrishvili was necessary. And so I saved my life.

To who exactly the death of Kvantrishvili was needed, Lesha did not say the soldier, and the prosecutor and the judge did not clarify anything. It is officially believed that the murder has been completely disclosed: there is a customer who had several motives at once (revenge for Korotaev and eliminating a competitor), there is a performer who admitted everything. And still, in this matter, a certain lack of core is felt.

“Immediately after the murder of Poparik, many versions were advanced, for which he could be killed,” Ivanov recalls. - There was also a purely political one, that, they say, with his “party of athletes”, Kvantrishvili did not reach the “Kremlin table”. Personally, I doubt that the Sylvester ordered Otarik, because you can’t specify him, but you can write a lot to the corpse ( Sergey Timofeev was blown up in his own “Mercedes” on September 13, 1994. - Approx. Ed. ). The version with revenge looks logical, but still I do not believe in it to the end. But I have repeatedly been convinced of the correctness of the main postulate of ancient Roman criminal law - look for whom it is beneficial. And the most benefit from death by Otari Kvantrishvili received Anzor Kikalishvili. As long as the Otarik was alive, he was in the “Association of the XXI Century” not a decisive zits-chairman. But after the elimination of both brothers, he quickly became a sovereign owner there. And he even renamed the company into Anzor XXI, which indicates great ambitions. In addition, there were rumors that Kikalishvili was closely connected with the Azerbaijani and Chechen organized crime groups, the first enemies of the supporters of the Japanese. However, if it were so, then it would hardly have been taken into the “association” at all, they would have found another person with the ties in the diplomatic corps. At the same time, I am not completely sure that Kikalishvili could be the customer of the murders of the Kvantrishvili brothers or even only Otari. I just want to pay attention to the fact that other versions were not worked out in this case, but they accepted one too quickly and tried to forget the murder.

The editors draws attention to the fact that Anzor Kikalishvili was never prosecuted, and only from the media publications are known about his close ties with the criminal world. At the same time, Kikalishvili is prohibited from entering a number of countries just because of suspicions of organized crime relations. Including since 2003 he is forbidden to enter Lithuania, where a daughter is growing at Kikalishvili. Kikalishvili twice - in 2000 and 2004 - ran for the presidency of Russia. In recent years, he was an adviser to the Russian-Belarusian Union and adviser to the head of Kalmykia Ilyumzhinov. In Belarus, he was accused of “laundering” money through the Trip syndicate belonging to him.