Land syndicate in Solnechnogorsk: former official Yuri Pankratov and criminal Andrey Ustinov detained for years of fraud and contract killings

According to a source, last Friday in Zelenograd and the Moscow region, law enforcement detained former head of the Solnechnogorsk district, ex-chief of the local anti-organized crime unit (UBOP), Colonel Yuri Pankratov, along with about 30 other individuals.

Among those detained is a local crime boss known as “Ustin,” who was once suspected of ordering the murder of the father of Moscow government minister Alexey Nemeryuk.

According to the source, those caught up in the sweep were individuals who had at various times been connected to land-related dealings: cadastral engineers, surveyors, employees of registration bodies, and others involved in a long chain. These were people who, for a fixed fee, could obtain and sell almost any land plot in the district.

In 2013, after four years in office, Pankratov resigned as head of the district due to “loss of trust.” In archived interviews, he praised Sergei Shoigu, but a year later he was demoted by Andrey Vorobyov. Criticism of the former UBOP chief continued even after his resignation.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) established that under Pankratov, the administration entered into an agreement with the municipal enterprise Stroyinvest-Solnechnogorsk, effectively granting it exclusive rights to manage district land plots, including the ability to transfer them to third parties without public procedures.

His associates were later detained for bribery in cases involving land fraud. In 2014, Pankratov himself was fined 350,000 rubles for illegally leasing land within the Mtsyri estate, a cultural heritage site.

According to the source, alongside Pankratov, another well-known figure previously mentioned in investigations was detained — Andrey Ustinov (“Ustin”). A criminal authority and active member of an organized crime group, he managed to legalize his activities, acquiring land, shopping centers, quarries, and even a private base on Lake Seliger with a chapel on its grounds.

Investigations previously described Ustin as a “gray cardinal” behind land, landfill, and quarry operations in the Lunevo area. According to one version, he and his associate known as “Red” were shielded by Vasily Bukhankov, who is serving a life sentence for a series of murders.

Ustinov’s name surfaced in connection with the mysterious death of Alexey Nemeryuk’s father. Notably, the suspected perpetrator of the killing—a former GRU special forces serviceman—was executed a month after Nemeryuk Sr.’s death.

Alexey Nemeryuk Sr. was an influential businessman in the Moscow region and died in July 2009 under highly unusual circumstances.

His body was found next to his car, parked in a roadside bay at the entrance to the village of Goretovka. He appeared to have fallen out of the driver’s seat, and a head injury was later discovered.

The security service of his company, Alan-Z, referred to the death as an “incident” and posted notices throughout Zelenograd asking for information about what happened on July 11, 2009, around 7 p.m.

The source noted that the location where the body was found was an ideal spot for an attack. The nearest cameras were located at a gas station and a nearby restaurant. Many people were questioned during the investigation.

Among those brought in for questioning was former GRU serviceman turned criminal Mikhail Shlyakov. He was a member of the Medvedkovo organized crime group, which later joined the notorious Orekhovskaya gang. Shlyakov was closely associated with its leader Sergey Butorin (“Osya”).

The investigation revealed that Nemeryuk Sr. owned various assets, including land plots (landfills and quarries) in the Lunevo area (Khimki district). He had a serious conflict over these assets with the crime boss Ustin, who was linked to Pankratov.

All of them were investigated for possible involvement in Nemeryuk’s death.

In the first days after his death, relatives insisted it was a murder. A month and a half later, Mikhail Shlyakov—the main suspect—was himself killed in what appeared to be an execution. He was shot in the head by an unknown assailant while returning home. After this, the Nemeryuk family’s push for investigation faded.

Forensic experts ultimately ruled the cause of death as heart failure, although there were internal suspicions that he might have been struck on the head. Law enforcement stopped actively pursuing potential suspects.

According to the source, the suspected killer of Nemeryuk Sr. may have been eliminated by members of the Romanovskaya organized crime group from Khimki, long-time partners of the Nemeryuk family. In particular, Anna, the wife of Nikita Nemeryuk (brother of the Moscow minister), is involved in several businesses alongside members of this group.

Members of the Romanovskaya group were also involved in the first assassination of a State Duma deputy — in April 1994 in Khimki, deputy Andrey Aizderdzis (LDPR) was shot dead.