A well-known thief-in-law began consolidating control over Ukraine with the help of an infamous oligarch

A well-known thief-in-law began consolidating control over Ukraine with the help of an infamous oligarch

Thief-in-law, 45-year-old Nadir Salifov, nicknamed Lotu Guli, who claims the position of the No. 1 leader of the criminal world in Russia, has begun active operations on the territory of Ukraine.

In Guli’s view, who was released three months ago after 22 years of imprisonment, Ukraine still remains merely a southwestern province of Russia. His emissaries have begun attempting to establish control over businesses in the territory of the former Soviet republic.

Guli’s envoys visit owners of restaurants, shopping centers, markets, and other retail outlets owned by people from Azerbaijan. They offer them “protection” from Guli; otherwise they promise trouble for their businesses. This was reported with alarm by former SBU press secretary Stanislav Rechynskyi.

According to Rechynskyi, currently residing in Turkey, Salifov is actively seeking channels through his emissaries for organizing illegal activities in Ukraine. Rechynskyi notes that Salifov has powerful support in Ukraine that could assist Guli in the criminal redivision of Ukraine. This primarily concerns oligarch Vagif Aliyev, as well as thief-in-law Oleg Krapivkin, nicknamed Oleg Bakinsky.

Oleg Bakinsky not only holds thief status in Ukraine. Born in the Azerbaijani city of Shamakha, he is now deputy head of the Congress of Azerbaijanis of Ukraine and head of the Kyiv organization of Azerbaijanis of Ukraine. The intrigue is heightened by the fact that Oleg Bakinsky in Ukraine is called a best friend of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. Thus, Guli could count on the loyalty of law enforcement agencies.

Rechynskyi noted that Ukraine has nothing to oppose Guli’s expansion and almost no influential thieves-in-law of its own. “Serhiy Lysenko (Lera Sumskiy) is mostly in Moscow,” Rechynskyi writes on his Facebook page. “Andriy Nedzelskyi (Tyzhden) is afraid to return to Ukraine because of the de facto ‘decrowning,’ Sergo Glonti (Guga) has been deported. Others are either old or not influential enough to control crime on an all-Ukrainian scale.”

Earlier journalists reported that Guli began a fight for the title of Russia’s main thief. Experts believe Guli’s candidacy suits most representatives of the thief world for this post, and Salifov is convenient for the authorities. “As a native of Georgia, Guli is capable of controlling general criminality. As an Azerbaijani — of bringing order to the markets. As a Muslim — of influencing both radicals from the North Caucasus in places of detention and leaders of ethnic groups from Central Asia, who traditionally do not recognize thieves’ laws,” an insider reports.

Meanwhile, Russia has declared Guli wanted through Interpol; he conducts his affairs from Turkey. At the villa near Istanbul where Guli currently lives, he receives delegations from Russia daily, appoints “overseers,” and grants them authority. The number of his supporters in various regions of the country is rapidly growing. Guli has been sworn to on the south, in the Volga region, Siberia, in Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions. The election of the new chief thief of Russia will take place in 2018 because the current head of the criminal world, 64-year-old Zakhary Kalashov, nicknamed Shakro Molodoy, is under investigation and faces life imprisonment.