What is known about the Kharkiv businessman, allegedly connected to the criminal kingpin Armen "Gorlovsky", who was killed in Moscow

Ukrainian businessman from Kharkiv Volodymyr Manukian draws growing attention to his persona. A number of political media are linking him attribute to the separatist and criminal kingpin Armen Sarkisian ("Gorlovsky"), who was recently blown up in Moscow. Depo.ua tried to figure out if this was the case

What is known about Volodymyr Manukian

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Volodymyr Manukian was first mentioned in public media back in 2016. Military journalist Yuriy Butusov drew attention to the fact that the regional authorities of the Kharkiv region began to closely contact a number of people, "who appeared in all law enforcement units’ databases". First of all, Vadym Kazartsev, aka "Kniaz" (Prince), a notorious Kharkiv criminal boss was mentioned. However, according to Butusov, not only Kazartsev, but also Volodymyr Manukian, who the journalist also labeled the criminal boss and the leader of another group rival to Kazartsev gang, came into contact with the authorities.

In fact, the information was confirmed in 2016 by then Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov. In his interview to Ukrainska Pravda ("Ukrainian Truth") he stated that at that time two criminal groups had indeed stepped up their activities in Kharkiv. One of them led by Manukian, who, according to the minister, was acting under patronage of the regional administration, and another one led by "Kniaz", who was closely connected to the Kharkiv City Hall. In the first half of 2016, as Avakov said, both groups were clashing with each other and with the "Eastern Corps", the Kharkiv battalion of the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

It would seem that such a resonant statement by one of the country's top leaders should have at least provoked a reaction from regional and city authorities, and a thorough investigation by law enforcement and security forces. But you can never find a single notice of such reactions in open sources. Political scientist and Director of the Center for Research on Civil Society Problems Vitaliy Kulyk is not surprised by this.

According to him, at that time Volodymyr Manukian also maintained close ties with Andriy Nosach, Head of the State Security Service (SBU) department in the Kharkiv Region at that time, and Deputy Head of the "I" department in Kyiv SBU Headquarters until recently. Nosach was fired from the SBU on suspicion of illicit enrichment, as media reported. The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAZK), according to media reports, found a posh apartment in the Kyiv elite residential complex "Jack House" that Nosach owned but did not declare to the tax authorities. According to journalists, the cost of apartments in the “Jack House” starts at $400K.

Manukian, Nosach, the top officials of the regional administration and a number of heads of law enforcement and security agencies of the region were seen together at public events. The revealing photos were published by journalist Kristina Berdinsky. "... Manukian sits quite comfortable next to the heads of law enforcement agencies and enjoys talking to them during sporting events and boxing competitions," she noted.

And it was in 2015-2016, that Volodymyr Manukian had significantly strengthened his position in Kharkiv, according to the political scientist Vitaliy Kulyk. One of the evidences of Manukian’s growing influence was the fact that his representatives, according to the Vitaliy Kulyk, "got top-managers’ positions in several Kharkiv markets and shopping centers, as well as in the regional branch of Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railway Company)".

Some media outlets wrote that in 2018, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) started an investigation against Manukian and top officials of the regional Ukrzaliznytsia branch. They were suspected of creating an organized group and embezzling money on a particularly large scale during the purchase of a specialized passenger information system for selling train tickets. Since 2002, Ukrzaliznytsia had been operating the website "booking.uz.gov.ua" for selling railway tickets, but the company, allegedly close to Manukian, lobbied the procurement of another system for 21 million UAH. Specifically for the route from Kyiv to Boryspil Airport and back. It is said that detectives have collected a lot of information and evidence in this case, but the investigation, according to information in open sources, has not progressed beyond placing suspicions only on some middle and low rank employees of the railway.

Political scientist Vitaly Kulyk also mentions at least two more criminal cases against Manukian.

The first, Manukian appeared in a criminal case related to the supply of food and fuel to the Donetsk separatist militants in the period of 2014-2019. One of the few traces remaining from these agreements is the criminal proceedings 22016101110000010, started by the SBU in accordance with the Part 1 of Article 258-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine ("Financing of terrorism"). The case mentions the "TD SAN OIL" company operating a chain of gas stations, created in 2014 with Manukian allegedly being one of the founders.

The second, two coal mining companies founded by Manukyan, Shakhtinvestprom LLC and Donenergoprom LLC, were allegedly re-registered under the "legislation" of the Donetsk separatist “republic” back in 2014. Now, as Vitaliy Kulyk notes, these enterprises are in the registers of legal entities of Russia. At the same time, the director of the Shakhtinvestprom, registered now in the Russian Federation, is the same person who was the director in the Ukrainian Shakhtinvestprom until 2014.

It was not reported how these high-profile criminal cases went on and whether the investigation had ever been finished.

What are the possible connections between Volodymyr Manukyan and Armen Sarkisian, who was a criminal supervisor in Horlivka

The SBU says Sarkisian was a criminal boss from Donbas and a member of the closest circle of the ex-president Viktor Yanukovych. According to himself, Sarkisyan moved from Armenia to Horlivka as a child, and lived there "his entire conscious life". He inherited criminal ties in Horlivka from his father, which later allowed him to join the local mafia boss Yuriy Ivanyushchenko (Yura "Yenakiivskyi") with his gang, later becoming one of the "supervisors" in Horlivka. In the early 2010s, Sarkisyan helped to run Ivanyushchenko's coal business.

Armen "Gorlovsky" became widely known during the Euromaidan protests. He was mentioned as one of the possible suppliers of the anti-maidan gangsters and was also suspected of the murder of journalist Vyacheslav Veremiy during the Revolution of Dignity. In 2014, based on the allegations, law enforcement officers had put Sarkisian on the wanted list.

Sarkisian had fled to the occupied part of Donbas, where he managed to gain a top position in the criminal world. Back in 2014, he created the Armenian separatist battalion "Arbat", which included recidivists convicted of murder, robbery and other serious crimes and which, after the start of the full-scale invasion, became part of the Redut PMC, controlled by the Russian Ministry of Defense. After the death of the owner of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Sarkisian was assigned to recruit prisoners to the Russian occupation army.

Manukian and Sarkisian had known each other for a long time. Both began their "careers" in the ranks of the Yenakiyevo gang and, apparently, maintained close ties until Sarkisian's death. At least, this is what the political scientist Vitaliy Kulyk, as well as the well-known journalist and military officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Kyrylo Sazonov, point out, calling Volodymyr Manukian the right hand of Armen "Gorlovsky".

According to unconfirmed information, Manukian has been abroad for a long time since wide-scale Russian aggression started, but he still plans to return to Ukraine and launch new activities.