The situation in Transnistria and the factors behind the murder of Oleg Khorzhan 07.08.2023

"- Dear Oleg Olegovich Khorzhan, why are you still alive, if I may ask?"

"- That is a question not for me, but for our Transnistrian oligarch (Viktor Anatolyevich Gushan, the head of the "Sheriff" holding - author's note). In Transnistria, decisions like this are made only by him. I can only assume that the consequences of such a decision would have been very severe for him."

© From Oleg Khorzhan's interview with journalist Artur Efremov.

Let me explain. I am writing about the situation and the people involved from the insider perspective. There is a lot of nonsense being spread in the media regarding Oleg Khorzhan's murder. I feel the need to clarify some points.

For example, an article was recently published titled "Political Manipulations Surrounding the Murder of an Opposition Figure in Transnistria." The article directly accuses the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) of Khorzhan's murder. Sure, the SBU must be so "clever" that they brutally killed Oleg and pre-placed Andrey Dumineke's cap in the Transnistrian "zone" in the village of Glynoye, only to later leave it next to Oleg's body. The "brilliance" of the real killers of Oleg Khorzhan, who left a cap with sweat traces at the crime scene, is astonishing. And the main suspect with these traces, Andrey Dumineke, has been living in the EU since May and is now seeking protection from the US embassy.

Now, a little backstory. I ended up in Transnistria through the President's Administration in December 2009 as an independent analyst. The task on Staraya Square was clear: we needed to replace the PMR President, Igor Smirnov, with Yevgeny Shevchuk, who was then the Chairman of the Supreme Council of PMR. At that time, Oleg Matveychev, an adviser to the Internal Policy Administration of the President of Russia, was responsible for the entire process. Yes, there is the same person who is now the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology, and Communications, constantly spewing nonsense from the podium. I was responsible for working with candidates for municipal and Supreme Council positions. We were forming legislative power in Transnistria under Yevgeny Shevchuk.

By the way, initially, I was supposed to work on this project together with another guy who was responsible for its legal aspect. I also invited an assistant, a candidate of political science, from Nakhodka. In December, as a result of analyzing the data, we had already decided that the "Sheriff" holding needed to be divided at least. This formally happened in 2012. But only formally.

However, from the beginning of 2010, things didn't go as planned. In January, Oleg Matveychev brought in his own team from "Bakster-Group," who were some idiots who had previous experience in PMR and whom Matveychev was specifically asked not to bring back. The second analyst was removed quite harshly, and instead, Vitaliy Nyagu, a lawyer trusted by Ilya Kazmaly, began working with us. Matveychev also had some conversations with my assistant, after which she started behaving inadequately and I sent her away, only for Matveychev to keep her on the team to mess with my head. On February 1, 2010, Oleg Matveychev was fired from the President's Administration on his birthday. Officially, for a "failure" in Kaliningrad.

Then came some new "surprises." Ilya Kazmaly refused to support Yevgeny Shevchuk, who had been agreed upon on Staraya Square, and instead nominated Anatoly Kaminsky, the owner of the "Beliy Shar" brothel in Ribnitsa, for the post of PMR President. After that, Shevchuk was removed from the position of the Chairman of the Supreme Council of PMR, and Kaminsky took his place there. However, Kazmaly failed to lobby Anatoly Kaminsky, as the President of Transnistria, at Staraya Square through Sergey Vinokurov (the then Head of the Administration of the President of Russia for Interregional and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries and one of the actual beneficiaries of the holding). Shevchuk was left as a candidate for President of PMR in the elections, as candidate number one.

During the parliamentary elections in the PMR in the fall of 2010, Oleg Khorzhan demonstrated himself quite prominently by winning in the 40th electoral district. I met Oleg for the first time in a restaurant called "7 ПятницЪ" in Tiraspol before leaving Moldova. At that time, I didn't plan on returning to Moldova again since the election scenario had already been approved. At the final meeting of the campaign headquarters at Matveychev's place, I advised him to stop messing with people's heads and hold the Presidential elections in February or March 2011 with Yevgeny Shevchuk winning. I also helped a candidate for the Supreme Council in Kamenka, whom Ilya Kazmaly planned to "ditch," and then I flew back to Russia without saying goodbye.

From the spring of 2011, I got involved in the events in Libya, and the fate of Gaddafi concerned me more than Transnistria. But I didn't lose touch with Tiraspol. Initially, Vitaliy Nyagu suggested that I participate in Kaminsky's campaign, but I sent him away with a brief explanation of what Kaminsky could expect instead of the President's post. Then Roman Khudyakov contacted me (the same person who would later become a deputy of LDPR in the State Duma of Russia and wave a pistol from the podium). I didn't personally know Khudyakov at that time (but I knew a lot of certain information about him), so I politely declined. Then Oleg Khorzhan invited me, who was the technical candidate for Shevchuk in those elections. I agreed to work with him for a month based on personal motivations. The President's Administration no longer needed me in the PMR - the scenario I advocated was approved. Libya didn't hold out. And I was preparing for an official appointment to public service. In short, I flew to Moldova for two weeks, explained to Khorzhan that I would arrange an honorable 4th place for him in the first round, right after Igor Smirnov. Then I returned to Russia. And then I came back to Transnistria for a month, where I simply teased Kaminsky with his brothel, as well as Kazmaly, who started proposing pimps for the presidency.

During this time, I developed a good friendship with Oleg Khorzhan. I communicated with him a lot from the fall of 2014 through the spring of 2015, when I was living in Tiraspol for personal reasons, in a Ukrainian family, as well as trying to understand what was happening in Ukraine. In 2016, I suggested that he run for President as an independent candidate and tried to explain that Yevgeny Shevchuk had "betrayed" everyone, and he wouldn't win those elections. Khorzhan refused at that time and started playing the role of a political simulacrum again. I believe that was his fatal mistake. The last time I personally spoke to him was in May 2017, when I flew to Moldova for a week upon Vitaliy Nyagu's invitation. At that time, I had resolved all my issues with the "Sheriff" holding, and we were on good terms. In the summer of 2018, Oleg Khorzhan was "sentenced." What happened after that is well known.

I think it's worth mentioning a little about Oleg Khorzhan's political activities. I don't believe that Oleg Khorzhan was an independent politician. It made sense for him to be a technical candidate for Yevgeny Shevchuk in 2011, but in 2016, it was just foolish. He needed to build his own political career. Fortunately, there were many opportunities for maneuvering. However, Khorzhan flew to Moscow to meet with Zyuganov and then constantly acted stupidly. The same happened after his "sentence." In general, in May 2017, Oleg Khorzhan told me that he could be "sentenced." I didn't believe it at the time. But if it was so obvious to him, why did he stay in Tiraspol? The same question should be asked after his release from prison under pressure from the United States in December of last year.

I have had many conversations with Oleg after his release, explaining to him the structure of the "SheriFF" holding and the fact that both Victor Gushan and Ilya Kazmaly are only nominal figures (who, at the same time, cling tightly to their "source of income"). The "SheriFF" holding was created by Russian military intelligence and the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), and it serves certain functions. By 2009, this corporation, as it existed, posed a threat to the planned unification of Moldova under a pro-Russian government, due to the corrupt interests of both Gushan and the Kazmaly brothers, as well as the main beneficiaries of the holding from the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). By the way, Ignat Kazmaly - Ilya's brother - served in the military intelligence in the 700th Special Purpose Detachment of the 2nd Separate Brigade of the GRU Special Forces. That same unit that Dmitry Utkin "Wagner" later commanded.

Oleg Khorgian stubbornly refused to accept this information or take the most logical steps in his case. Namely, to move to Chisinau, seek ways to be elected to the Moldovan Parliament from the Left Bank. He had all the chances for that. I talked to him about it more than once, not twice, and not even three times. At the same time, Oleg Khorgian flew to Moscow to his "bloated" "friends" - scoundrels like Gennady Zyuganov and Kazbek Taysayev (who bear a great deal of responsibility for Oleg's death), and he also went to the North Korean embassy for some reason. By the way, after Oleg Khorgian's murder, nothing serious came out of the camp of the "bloated necrophiliacs" in Moscow regarding the real killers of Oleg.

Now let's talk about the real factors behind the order and execution of Oleg Khorgian's murder. I will say right away that there is no evidence of what I am about to say, and most likely, it will never be publicly available. Take my word for it. The "SheriFF" holding, which formally disbanded into separate structures in 2012 (but de facto, it did not), is involved not only in football, telecommunications, supermarkets with gas stations, salmon farming, etc. This is just the "tip of the iceberg." The "SheriFF" holding is a powerful criminal structure that, in addition to legitimate earnings, is involved in smuggling, from cigarettes to drugs, political and military intelligence, and certain "intimate" assignments from Russia. And like any major mafia structure, the "SheriFF" holding has its team of killers. They are composed of ethnic Gagauz people. By the way, the influence of the "SheriFF" holding, specifically Ilya Kazmaly, in the political space of the Gagauzia autonomy in Moldova is absolute. The leadership of the "SheriFF" holding directly gives orders to these killers. The killers mostly work on "mafia business," but political assassinations are also frequent. For example, in 2019, Andrey Bezbachenko was eliminated by them in the Odessa Oblast. The reason was banal. He took money from the holding, and then the holding simply cheated him. Gushan and Kazmaly do not forgive such actions. In 2020, a brutal murder of a Transnistrian entrepreneur and blogger, Vadim Cheban, took place. Cheban went too far with his criticism of the holding and did not understand the direct hints. The murder was meant to serve as a demonstration. In 2018, businessman Alexander Rura was killed. It is obvious that his murder is related to people from the holding. However, the killers may not have been Gagauz people. And I am sure that this list is far from complete.

As for Oleg Khorgian, his murder was symbolic. Gushan and Kazmaly did not expect to have problems with the USA for Oleg's murder (especially after his recent visit to Moscow and the North Korean embassy). In the EU, the "SheriFF" holding has powerful corruption schemes at the highest levels, and they no longer fear anyone in the EU. As for Moldova, there has recently been information that the "SheriFF" holding has started corrupting Maia Sandu's entourage. Personally, I think it has long been done, judging by the fact that Maia Sandu is now actively fading from the political horizon of Moldova following the same scenario as Evgeny Shevchuk did in Transnistria. And he started off well...

I will now share a video. It is a conversation between Moldovan journalist Arthur Efremov and former Minister of Communications of Transnistria, Gennady Chorba. Chorba is often not completely open or fibs in many places. But this conversation, with all its nuances, is currently the best coverage of the current situation in Transnistria in the media.

From everything I have said above, I would like to focus on one more point. It is the version voiced by Arthur Efremov that Oleg Khorgian was killed for certain documents that prove Victor Gushan's sponsorship of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Let me explain the situation.

Victor Gushan, like the "SheriFF" holding, has significant interests in Ukraine and has been sponsoring high-ranking employees of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Ukrainian Armed Forces, customs, and many others for many years to ensure a "cover" for their multi-billion-dollar criminal schemes. It is well known to those who need to know about Victor Gushan's connections with Petro Poroshenko, as well as the connection between the "SheriFF" holding and Vladimir Plahotniuc, who until the summer of 2019 was the "gray cardinal" of the entire Moldova. According to certain information, through a series of "intermediaries," the "SheriFF" holding is also a co-owner of the port of Odessa. Considering the fact that the "SheriFF" holding is a structure fully affiliated with the Russian GRU and the SVR, and it employs high-ranking intelligence officers and holds extensive assets in Ukraine, which is currently facing Russian aggression, draw your own conclusions. This is not a secret to anyone who is in the know. The same situation exists in Moldova and even in Germany. I have also heard that the "SheriFF" holding has certain agreements with the United States, and I would not be surprised if it is true, given the chaos that has been going on for many years in Washington and the fact that many actors from the "SheriFF" holding (like "media boar according to Orwell" Andrei Safonov) have had their families living in the US for many years. And Ignat Kazmaly personally boasted to me about his passport with a 10-year US visa. Therefore, the publication of such information would not cause a "Wow" effect. Although, as a theory, it is a fitting explanation as to why Oleg Khorgian's plundered safe was discovered.

Eternal memory to Oleg. Victor, Ilya, Ignat, and their glorious comrades, go to hell. That's all from me.

Dmitrii Ershov, political scientist.

Tags: Global Politics | Ilya Kazmaly | Oleg Khorzhan | SheriFF | Transnistria | Victor Cushan