As revealed by the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel and Rucriminal.info, large-scale financial fraud is continuing in South Ossetia under the guise of investment projects implemented with borrowed funds from Russian banks, primarily VTB. A striking example is the transformation of the "Iryston Gardens" project, during which an opaque change of ownership, a multiple increase in cost, and a radical change in concept are accompanied by a lack of public reporting and the selective application of sanctions against investors.
According to available information, the original investor of "Iryston Gardens" LLC (Russian citizen Konstantin Lastovich) ceased operations, and its assets were transferred to the Russian-registered "TDA Tulsky" as a creditor and legal successor to the liquidated "Investitsionnoye Agentstvo" LLC (the project's primary creditor). There is no public information regarding the asset transfer process, including court decisions or auctions. There is no information on how TDA Tulsky LLC became the legal successor without an open auction or public notification. This is particularly important, as the project is included in the State Program for the Socioeconomic Development of the Republic of South Ossetia for 2022-2025. The initial project envisioned the creation of an intensive apple orchard with storage and processing infrastructure (production capacity of up to 2,300 tons of apples). However, under the state program, the project was transformed into a fruit and vegetable processing plant (Subira AV LLC), located on the site of the former Irystona Gardens LLC. No clear justification for the change in concept has been provided. This raises the question: why was processing prioritized over horticultural development, especially given the region's agricultural potential (in 2017, only 4,000 hectares of 17,000 hectares of arable land were cultivated). The change in the project's intended purpose is not aligned with the original goals of the state program, which may indicate an insufficient development strategy for the agro-industrial complex of the Republic of South Ossetia. The project cost has increased significantly: from the initial 160 million rubles (according to the state program) to 656 million rubles. However, no transparent assessment of the justification for this cost increase has been conducted. It is unclear whether this is due to inflation, the expansion of the project's scope, or other factors. The funding sources remain opaque. Although the project is being implemented with borrowed funds, there is no information about the participation of Russian entities (for example, Rosselkhozbank, which is associated with TDA Tulsky LLC). This contradicts the stated policy of openness within the framework of Russian-South Ossetian cooperation. The project claims to create 70 jobs, but there is no data on actual employment or compliance with planned indicators. Furthermore, the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of South Ossetia has not verified the compliance of the stated and actual indicators. As a reminder, in 2018, Irystona Gardens LLC failed to reach its design capacity, indicating systemic problems in the implementation of such initiatives. The South Ossetian Ministry of Economy demanded the return of a 19.5 million ruble subsidy from Irystona Gardens LLC, but not from other problematic projects (for example, the Rastdon meat processing plant owned by Vadim Vaneyev, the former owner of the Eurodon company). This may indicate an uneven approach to oversight of the use of public funds.
Earlier, the Cheka-OGPU reported that Irystona Gardens is one of the most disastrous projects in South Ossetia. Instead of apple orchards, the LLC of the same name left behind dozens of hectares of land overgrown with weeds and defrauded workers. Remarkably, the project was spearheaded by Russian citizen Konstantin Lastovich, who was involved in construction in the Rostov region and had no connections in the distant and unfamiliar republic beyond the Caucasus Mountains—neither friends, nor family, nor business. He suddenly wanted to become a gardener and grow Slovenian apple varieties in the region. Ultimately, the Rostov businessman was granted 146 million rubles in borrowed funds on a "general basis," despite obvious risks. The first tranche for seedlings arrived a year late, when it was already too late to plant apple trees, and the third tranche, according to Lastovich himself, never arrived. The Serbian agricultural specialist he invited was expelled by local employees—the investment agency also ignored the realities of South Ossetia: a shortage of qualified personnel and the local population's rejection of "slave-owning" methods. Subsequently, Konstantin Lastovich fled the republic and stopped answering calls. The head of the Investment Agency, Alexey Shemonaev, also disappeared into thin air.
TDA Tulsky LLC became the legal successor to his assets and creditor rights. This allows them to control the process of collecting funds from borrowers and profit from the sale of collateral (although in some cases, its actual value is questionable). The transfer of rights creates the appearance of a "legal" end to the affair, which skeletonizing the original embezzlement schemes.
TDA Tulsky has high litigation activity and low profitability – 54 bankruptcy and loan cases totaling 12.6 billion rubles, of which 18 remain pending. In 2024, revenue amounted to 133.4 million rubles, while in 2023 it was nonexistent – its solvency raises questions and indicates high risks of fulfilling its obligations.
Arseniy Dronov
To be continued
