Parents Pay 220,000 Rubles for Graduation, 'Residentsia 888' Closes
Parents booked the graduation venue at «Residentsia 888» several months in advance.
Parents of ninth-graders from a school in Northwest Chelyabinsk booked a graduation party for their children at the park-hotel «Residentsia 888» and made a prepayment of 220,000 rubles (approximately $2,400 at current rates). But the resort closed, they cannot get their money back, and have turned to the police and court.
Prosecutors found multiple violations, including fire safety issues, at the resort in December.
Average Cost Per Person — 6,900 Rubles ($77)
Local residents voiced concerns about the resort«s environmental impact and land use.
The parents of ninth-grade students thought about the graduation party, as is customary, well in advance — in September, otherwise they risked missing out on the celebration, as later all spots would be taken. They chose for the celebration the park-hotel «Residentsia 888» on the shore of Lake Maly Kremenkul. The average cost per person was 6,900 rubles (about $77). Collectively, they decided to make an advance payment of 7,000 rubles (about $78) each.
«For the rental of a large hall with a pool, we paid 220,000 rubles (approximately $2,400), and we have all the receipts,» said Alexandra from the parents« committee. »At the end of December, we saw news that the prosecutor«s office had come to them, bailiffs sealed it, we immediately called them. But they assured us that everything was fine, the residence is operating as usual.»
LLC «Residentsia 888» was established in 2018. According to «Kontur.Fokus», the founder and general director of the company is Marina Gridneva. There is no data on financial reporting in the service.
However, after the New Year holidays, on January 13, Alexandra received a message from a representative of the residence that their activity was suspended and «the lessor is unable to fulfill the obligations undertaken under the lease agreement.»
«We wrote an application to cancel the reservation and return the money, but the money still hasn»t been returned to us,« continued Alexandra. »As a result, we are left without money and without a graduation party; we can«t book another place yet — we have no money. The residence has stopped contacting us.»
As a result, the representative of the parents« committee turned to the police and filed a lawsuit.
«We Will Not Allow Any Lawsuits»
The Chelyabinsk police department told 74.RU that the report has been registered and an inspection is being conducted.
We reached out to «Residentsia 888» for comment. The resort«s lawyer, Yulia Leshko, assured that all money will be returned to the parents of the schoolchildren.
«Absolutely everything, down to the last penny, that was received for the preliminary booking, will be returned,» said Yulia Leshko. «At present, due to the fact that activity has ceased entirely and the enterprise has such force majeure circumstances, we do not have the ability to return it all at once. But all money will be returned in the near future, the issue is being resolved, we do not intend to allow any lawsuits.»
Why «Residentsia 888» Closed
«Residentsia 888» is located on the shore of Lake Maly Kremenkul on the territory of SNT «Ural» (a horticultural partnership) and covers 2.5 hectares with villas for rent, baths, a restaurant, pools, and gazebos. The complex has its own beach.
At the end of December last year, bailiffs, by decision of the Sosnovsky District Court, sealed the park-hotel. A prosecutor«s inspection found that the villas, gazebos, baths, and barbecue areas on the shore of the water body operated with gross violations, including fire safety. The court, upon application of the supervisory authority, imposed a ban on any activity except gardening on the complex»s management.
In July 2025, gardeners from «Ural» and «Chayka» (SNTs border each other and are located on the shore of Lake Maly Kremenkul) recorded a video appeal to the head of the RF Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, regarding the violation of their rights by the complex«s activity. Among the complaints — fires, possible environmental pollution, and seizure of territory on the shore.
The head of the RF Investigative Committee responded to this appeal and instructed the leadership of the regional directorate of the Investigative Committee to report on the results of the inspection. And when the prosecutor«s office announced numerous violations at »Residentsia 888«, it turned out that a criminal case under Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on providing services that do not meet safety requirements is being investigated.
The resort«s position is detailed in this article.
