How Tyumen ‘Patriot’ boss was killed
Gunmen shot Aleksandr Nikolaenko at the entrance to his apartment building in Tyumen.
In April 1996, at the entrance of his own apartment building in Tyumen, the prominent businessman Aleksandr Nikolaenko — owner of several companies and the Patriot sports complex — was shot dead. Just a few years before his death he possessed a vast fortune and was building a house near the government building. But by the mid‑1990s he had amassed too many debts, which he failed—or ran out of time—to repay. The businessman’s story is recounted in the book «Criminal Trap 2» by Tyumen writer Oleg Arkhipov, who in his youth spent a time as Nikolaenko’s personal bodyguard.
Aleksandr Nikolaenko was born to a working family; his father and mother were drivers. Aleksandr himself turned out to be an enterprising young man. He started a small business at the dawn of perestroika: he got hold of a VCR and cartoon tapes and, for a fee, put on movie showings in kindergartens.
He put the money he saved back into developing the business — he rented a small space in the Patriot sports complex on Odesskaya Street and opened a video parlor showing action movies and popular Western films. Nikolaenko reinvested his earnings again: he renovated, upgraded the equipment, and installed bar counters. The talented young man was noticed, and soon he was heading the sports complex.
Under Nikolaenko, sports sections began to appear in Patriot, a weight room opened, and people even started training in karate, although just ten years earlier this martial art had been banned. Around that time, the businessman made the acquaintance of a gang of athletes led by Rashid Yantimirov — the so‑called OPG «Desyatka» (organized crime group). To keep his “charge” safe, Yantimirov even assigned one of his fighters to Nikolaenko.
At the time of his death, Aleksandr Nikolaenko was just thirty-five years old.
In time, the concern Tetrasib emerged on the basis of the sports complex. The businessman made money reselling large batches of scarce margarine: he bought in Yekaterinburg and resold in Yugra (Khanty‑Mansi Autonomous Okrug) and on Yamal (Yamalo‑Nenets Autonomous Okrug). Before long the entrepreneur had several retail points, stores, and a gas station. Nikolaenko handed over part of the profits to the gang for krysha (criminal protection racket).
By 1993 Nikolaenko had a particular way of doing business — he did not pay, or delayed paying, suppliers, creditors, and people who had consigned goods to him. Lines of people hoping to get their money back were a normal sight at Tetrasib’s office. At times Nikolaenko’s debts even prompted gangland strelka (sit‑down) showdowns, but his krysha coped with the opponents.
«To develop the business, Nikolaenko took out large loans. Part of this money was spent for purposes far removed from what was stated. For example, he took a loan at Bank “Tura” for draining and reclaiming swampy land. Its recipient was the peasant farm “Nikola”, which, of course, never existed. Part of the loan money was simply spent during a voyage to the United States, where the warm‑hearted Aleksandr Vladimirovich flew in the company of his business circle», writes Oleg Arkhipov in the book «Criminal Trap 2».
Nonetheless, Nikolaenko continued to spend huge sums on banquets, travel, and other popular pastimes of entrepreneurs of that era. He even brought the popular Russian chanson singer Willy Tokarev to Tyumen. The singer gave two concerts: one for everyone, and a second at the Sibir recreation base, only for those Nikolaenko invited.
In the spring of 1993, hitmen shot Rashid Yantimirov. For the authority’s funeral, Nikolaenko allocated a large sum of money and provided a car from the sports complex’s motor pool for the procession. After Yantimirov’s death his associates continued to guard the businessman, but the relationship deteriorated fairly quickly: they began demanding he pay his debts.
At some point the businessman landed on the “blacklist” of, arguably, every Tyumen bank and tried to refinance in Moscow. The debts grew, and wage payments began to be delayed. Nikolaenko hired guards from the major ChOP «Cerber» (Chastnoye okhrannoye predpriyatie, Private Security Company, PSC), but after a time the bodyguards left because he had nothing with which to pay them.
Turnover at the firm rose, as did the number of Nikolaenko’s enemies. In the autumn of 1995 there was a first attempt on his life. An unidentified person lobbed a grenade onto the balcony of the businessman’s apartment. By sheer luck no one was hurt: at the moment of the blast the family was not at home, and Nikolaenko was in the shower. The blast wave blew apart the living‑room furniture and left a crack in the house’s wall.
It was likely that Nikolaenko’s murder was commissioned because of the enormous debts, but the businessman was in no position to solve his financial problems and kept hiding from creditors.
On the morning of 1 April 1996, Nikolaenko was leaving the entrance to his building on Melnichnaya Street. His driver had arrived for him in a Mercedes‑Benz S600. On the bench by the entrance sat two young men in black jackets. Nikolaenko walked past them and headed for the car. When he approached the vehicle, the men drew pistols and opened fire on the businessman.
Aleksandr Nikolaenko died on the spot. As Tyumen newspapers wrote, several bullets struck his head. The businessman’s driver survived; a bullet hit him in the arm. No fewer than 13 shots were fired — that is how many casings the investigators found.
Having dealt with the entrepreneur, the killers fled; they discarded the weapons and clothing near a garage cooperative on Kholodilnaya Street.
«After the shots on Melnichnaya fell silent and the tragedy became known at Patriot, rapid internal changes took place there. The safes were quickly opened; cash, fax machines, and office supplies disappeared. It’s no secret that employees working at Nikolaenko’s firms had gone months without pay», writes Oleg Arkhipov.
Aleksandr Nikolaenko was buried on 3 April at Verkhneborskoye Cemetery. After his death the Patriot sports complex was abandoned, and in the late 2000s the building was demolished altogether. The same fate befell Nikolaenko’s mansion on Vodoprovodnaya Street, which he never managed to finish. The businessman’s murder remains unsolved. According to Rusprofile, the companies Nikolaenko owned are now liquidated.
Earlier we recounted the story of another major Tyumen businessman, whose properties you have likely encountered. Aleksandr Nikonorov owned the Eldorado (Verkhny Bor) resort. Back in the 1990s he was gunned down in the bedroom of his country house. In the time since, the killers have never been found.
