Gukasyan Brothers' Decade of Kuban Funeral Business

In Krasnodar Krai, the funeral business has long been one of the most closed, scandalous, and highly profitable sectors. Since the mid-2010s, stories have regularly surfaced about monopolies in morgues, extortion from relatives of the deceased, and corruption schemes that allow millions to be made from others« grief. Central to many investigations and journalistic reports are the Gukasyan brothers — Arsen and Aram, who headed the regional Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination (BSME) for the past 12 years.

In April 2026, Aram Gukasyan quietly left his post. This happened immediately after the arrest of the now former regional health minister, Yevgeny Filippov. The portal 93.RU recalls the main scandals associated with the funeral business of Krasnodar Krai that made headlines across Russia in recent years. All this time, the Gukasyans were in charge of the sector.

From a «monopoly on bodies» to high-profile cases

It all began in the mid-2010s. Officially, Arsen Gukasyan took over the regional BSME in 2014. According to market participants and investigative journalists, under him, «smotryashchiye» (watchers) appeared in morgues — people who actually distributed the bodies of the deceased among «approved» funeral companies. Kuban residents complained: if relatives chose a company other than «theirs», the body could be refused for several days, sometimes longer. Formally free services — washing, dressing, transportation — became paid, with inflated rates.

Yevgeny Filippov became health minister in 2013. The same year, the head of the BSME, Nikolay Varshavets, who had held the post since 1991, left. From 20 October 2014, Arsen Gukasyan officially became the new head, followed by his brother Aram.

Arsen died suddenly in 2015. He was replaced by his younger brother, Aram Lavrentievich Gukasyan. By training, he is an orthopedic dentist, but that did not prevent him from heading one of the key institutions in the funeral service chain. It was in 2016, after the morgues were transferred from municipal to regional Ministry of Health control, that the scheme gained new momentum and spread far beyond Krasnodar — to Novorossiysk, Anapa, Armavir, Gelendzhik and other cities.

Funeral agents told the same story: bodies, even without signs of violent death, were sent to the BSME. There they were «greeted» by representatives of affiliated firms. Refusing their services led to delays, pressure, and sometimes outright desecration of the bodies.

The issue reached the federal level in December 2021 thanks to Andrey Malakhov«s show on Rossiya 1. The broadcast showed a story from Timashevsk, where agent Roman Pikalo brought the body of an elderly woman to the doors of the administration. For several days, the morgue refused to accept the body without a »proper« agency. Funeral workers from various cities of Kuban spoke in the studio. They directly discussed the »monopoly on bodies,« named names and described the mechanism.

The broadcast caused a strong reaction: the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, ordered an investigation, and the regional IC began work on the BSME and possible corruption ties. However, time passed, but no major changes occurred. The head of the Timashevsk BSME resigned of his own accord, but the scandals continued. And Pikalo himself was sentenced to a fine under a criminal article for desecration of a deceased body.

«Prestigious» cemetery plots

In 2023–2024, a case in Sochi made waves. There, an entire «funeral organized crime group» was uncovered, led by former mayoral adviser Rodion Pishchur. The group included the head of the funeral affairs department of the city housing department, Stanislav Garmash, four specialists from the same department, the general director of LLC «Ritual-Sochi», Valentina Sinitsyna, the firm«s chief accountant, and its administrator. The group also included the head of the funeral services department of SANOOPU «Ritual», Viktor Danilchuk, a specialist from the information and legal department, and an individual entrepreneur.

According to the investigation, they extorted bribes for cemetery plots — from 100,000–200,000 rubles ($1,000–$2,000 at current rates) to 3 million rubles ($30,000 at current rates) for a «prestigious» plot. The total illegal income was estimated at tens of millions of rubles. The case went to court in 2025 and became one of the most high-profile in the region.

At the same time, in Dinskoy District in 2026, a caretaker of the Yuzhno-Kubanskoye settlement cemetery, a former head of a municipal institution, and an entrepreneur appeared before the court.

The investigation established that from December 2023 to October 2024, they received more than 7.8 million rubles ($78,000 at current rates) in bribes for selecting and reserving burial plots, plus embezzled nearly 2 million rubles ($20,000 at current rates) that should have gone to the budget. Bribe amounts ranged from 50,000 to 320,000 rubles ($500 to $3,200 at current rates) per family. To conceal the scheme, they entered deliberately false information into documents.

Who controls the market today

According to reports and ratings, Krasnodar Krai has several key players in the funeral market. The undisputed leader is LLC «Memorial». The company shows impressive results: in 2025 revenue exceeded 566 million rubles ($5.66 million at current rates) (in previous years — about 564 and 417 million rubles), net profit — 39.2 million rubles ($392,000 at current rates).

Memorial is controlled by Oleg Makarevich (known by the nickname «night governor» of Krasnodar, he also owns a significant part of the garbage business in the city) and partners, including Razmik Tazagulov. He, by the way, is the brother of Gukasyan«s wife. In part because of this, there is reason to believe that the ex-head of the regional BSME was an active participant in all the schemes.

Razmik Arsenovich Tazagulov is a 39-year-old businessman from Rostov Oblast. He is a co-founder of the funeral companies «Memorial», «Panteon», «Traurny vizit», «Ritual-Tsentr». His partner Oleg Makarevich owns 28 firms: in addition to funeral companies, he has «Dinskiye kolbasy» (100% owned by Makarevich), LLC «Bank YMK» (in liquidation), LLC «Mysorouborochnaya kompaniya» (Garbage Collection Company).

According to investigations, their structures occupy a significant market share. In the all-Russian ranking of the largest funeral companies, they consistently rank in the top 10 with turnovers of more than a billion rubles ($10 million at current rates).

Investigative journalist and author of the Telegram channel «Pohoronny trust», Ivan Golunov, reported that in 2025, Makarevich and Razmik Tazagulov took over the funeral assets of Sochi mayoral adviser Rodion Pishchur when he came under investigation.

In Krasnodar, besides «Memorial», there is another large enterprise, but a municipal one — MUP «Ritualnye uslugi» (Funeral Services) with a revenue of about 150 million rubles ($1.5 million at current rates) per year. Among other notable companies are «Panteon», «Ritual-Tsentr», «Traurny vizit», «Pandora», «Status» and a number of smaller firms.

According to market participants, 12–15 organizations actively operate in the regional center, but not all experience real competition. Large structures often have an advantage due to established connections and control over key links in the chain — from morgues to cemeteries.

Market redivision after Gukasyan«s departure

According to the «Pohoronny trust» project, Aram Gukasyan left Russia a few days after the arrest of Minister Yevgeny Filippov. Over 10 years at the head of the regional BSME, Gukasyan and his partners built an entire funeral empire in Kuban, which took fifth place in the ranking of the largest funeral companies in Russia with an annual revenue of more than 1.2 billion rubles ($12 million at current rates).

After Gukasyan«s departure, in May 2026, a tax audit came to «Memorial», which found that in 2025 alone, the company had bypassed the cash register for nearly 23.3 million rubles ($233,000 at current rates).

Also, according to Golunov, changes began in Sochi, where there was its own BSME No. 2, not subordinate to the regional one. It was headed by a «close» associate of Gukasyan, Alexey Kukushkin, under whose leadership priority for releasing bodies shifted to «Ritual-Sochi». Kukushkin also left his post as of 1 June 2026.

The company «Ritual-Sochi» itself has been owned since 2025 by Natalya Uvarova (accountant of the Gukasyan family), Nina Fedorova (mother of Rodion Pishchur), Larisa Pervushina (wife of the ex-head of the Sochi administration«s funeral department). Recently, the Arbitration Court demanded termination of the lease agreement for municipal property with «Ritual-Sochi», whose office was located directly in the building of the Sochi city funeral affairs department, which issues burial permits.

Since April 2026, Gukasyan«s duties at the BSME have been temporarily performed by his deputy, Oleg Shilonosov. Who will become the new permanent head of the regional BSME is still unknown. Despite major scandals, complaints from local residents and private agents, law enforcement has still not opened a criminal case against Gukasyan and other major funeral market players.