Court annuls ownership of Azerbaijani businessman's Fort restaurant

The Voronezh Regional Court has annulled the decision recognizing ownership rights to the Fort restaurant on Donbasskaya Street based on newly discovered circumstances. This was reported by the court«s press service.

It was established that in February 2007, the Leninsky District Court recognized ownership of the restaurant for Azerbaijani businessman Yusif Khalilov. The basis was the conclusion of a technical and construction examination conducted at the plaintiff«s initiative.

However, the Voronezh Region Prosecutor«s Office established during an inspection that during the period of the land lease agreement, the Voronezh city administration did not issue a construction permit, and court-ordered examinations at the initiative of the parties or the court were not conducted. According to the prosecutor, Khalilov»s ownership of the building and land plot was obtained illegally as a result of actions by city administration officials and the Main Regional Directorate of State Property. Despite this, on 22 January 2026, a decision was made to refuse initiation of a criminal case under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation due to expiration of the statute of limitations.

The Leninsky District Court refused the regional prosecutor«s request to review the decision based on newly discovered circumstances, as in the court»s opinion, the stated circumstances did not meet those criteria.

The regional court examined the case materials and the prosecutor«s appeal arguments and disagreed with the conclusions of the first-instance court. In the regional court»s opinion, the decision to refuse initiation of a case contains circumstances that could not have been known to the prosecutor at the time of the 2007 decision, and therefore are material to the case as they cast doubt on the legality of the adopted act.

The regional court annulled the decision of the Leninsky District Court and sent the civil case back for consideration of the claims.

Recall that Yusif Khalilov is also the owner of the forcibly closed restaurant «Yardy Superbar», and is also linked to the Alekseevsky Market. Despite the closure, the restaurant continued its operations. The market has also often come to the attention of law enforcement agencies. The reasons included illegal structures on its territory, shooting conflicts and illegal migrants. Khalilov himself was arrested in August 2025 and released two months later.