Shalva Chigirinsky
Shalva Chigirinsky (Russian: Шалва Павлович Чигиринский, born July 1, 1949) is an Israeli-Russian businessman, who was the major shareholder of AIM-listed British oil company Sibir Energy Plc.
[2][3] After returning to Russia in the early 1990s, Chigirinsky, as the S+T Group Handels GmbH majority owner, managed construction and reconstruction of real estate projects, including Moscow's heritage landmarks.
The most known MDC's projects were the construction of the International Business Center "Moscow City" and the establishment of Metro-Real retail chain of 20 hypermarkets, under an agreement with the German Metro Group.
The largest units were constructions of the Russia Tower in Moscow City (400,000 m2) and the multifunctional complex "Yugra" in Khanty-Mansiysk (161,000 m2); reconstructions of the Rossiya Hotel (410,000 m2) and New Holland Island in Saint Petersburg (68,000 m2).
Chigirinsky implemented some of the landmark projects in collaboration with Russian retail businessman Igor Kesaev and Viktor Rashnikov, the owner of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works.
Cooperating with British Petroleum in 1996, the businessman founded the Petrol Complex Company, which created a network of gas stations in Moscow under the BP brand.
In the same year he merged his oil assets with the British company Sibir Energy, listed on the London Stock Exchange (AIM), thanks to which he became its majority owner and director.
[11][12] In 2000, Shalva Chigirinsky and Roman Abramovich set up a joint venture, Sibneft-Yugra, half of which was owned by Sibir Energy subsidiary Yugraneft, with Sibneft becoming the other co-owner.
[18][19][9] In October 2008, it was announced that Sibir Energy made advances to purchase Sovietsky Hotel and the New Sovietskaya developments — the objects owned by Chigirinky's companies.
In December 2008, the company, in which 18% stake was owned by the Moscow government, announced that it is considering to buy out the remaining development projects and assuming debt obligations of Chigirinsky's Russian Land.
Margaritaville Resort Times Square is a joint project of Shalva Chigirinsky and Soho Properties, founded by American businessman Sharif El-Gamal.
In the course of the couple's long-term divorce settlement followed up by courts in Russia and the United States, Panchenkova filed a lawsuit in Connecticut accusing her ex-husband of "physical, psychological and emotional abuse" over a span of 10 years.
[32] In June 2014, Chigirinsky brought an action in the New York's Federal Court, accusing Panchenkova of illegal profiteering by selling a part of US$120 million art collection transferred to her on the children's benefits for trust management, as well as of the real estate concealment in the US during a divorce proceeding.
Based on pre-trial investigation results in 2016, the Court of Stamford issued an arrest warrant for Chigirinsky, who, although denying the charges, voluntarily presented himself to the police station.
[32][19] After considering the facts of the case, the Stamford Court issued an arrest warrant for Tatyana Panchenkova on charges of actions that "entailed the risk of harm to minors and their moral decay" in early June 2016.
The warrant resulted from an expert examination, which proved that Panchenkova "manipulated her children to incite hatred towards their own father" and instructed them on "correct" answers in court.
