Minister Ģirģens kept quiet his friend's connection with the murdered football agent

Interior Minister Sandis Ģirģens is happy to explain to the public the connection between the murder of football agent Romāns Bezzubovs and the police's successful fight against crime, but conceals that an important witness, the minister's friend and former footballer Vladimirs Koļesņičenko, has left Latvia.

Informed sources revealed to Neatkarīgā that the boss of the murdered R. Bezzubovs in the football business, V. Koļesņičenko, left the territory of Latvia on April 18 and went to the Russian Federation. Thus, an important person has disappeared from the sight of the police, who might provide information on the motives of R. Bezzubovs' murder for the investigation.

On the morning of April 19, S. Ģirģens said in an interview with Latvijas Radio that R. Bezzubovs' murder should be perceived not as retribution in connection with R. Bezzubovs' business, but as a warning to law enforcers about disrupting the activities of criminal groups in Latvia. The murder should not be linked to R. Bezzubovs' professional activities. "At least for the time being, I do not link the crime to Bezzubovs' professional activities. We will have to wait for the evidence, but I have a different version - I believe that it is a warning in response to us starting to cleanse Latvia from criminal groups that have worked in Latvia for a long time,” S. Ģirģens announced on Latvijas Radio.

Some things have been left unsaid

Such a statement of the Minister urges the public to perceive as correct and credible the versions of the motives for the murder, which are not related to R. Bezzubovs' activities as a football agent and the large sums of money in the football industry, betting and match-fixing.

According to the Minister, the successful actions of law enforcement agencies in recent years have angered the criminal world and it sent a threat specifically through Bezzubovs' brutal murder in broad daylight with direct shots from an automatic weapon in a crowded public space on a busy street in Riga. The Minister does not explain why such a bloody message is sent by the criminal world specifically with the cynical murder of a football agent and not of a law enforcer or some other profession. The Minister has not explained the "success stories" of law enforcement, for example, in solving the murders of lawyers Pāvels Rebenoks and Mārtiņš Bunkus.

Friends and acquaintances

In 2020, S. Ģirģens, being the Minister of the Interior, ran for the position of the President of the Latvian Football Federation. The main interested party in S. Ģirģens' honorable position as President of the Football Federation was V. Koļesņičenko.

According to the data of the Register of Enterprises, V. Koļesņičenko does not own any company in Latvia, but one belongs to his friend, the late R. Bezubovs, together with Viktorija Mogiļeviča - the spouse of V. Koļesņičenko. Firmas.lv shows that R. Bezzubovs with V. Mogiļeviča owns SIA BR-sport agency, which in 2019 had a turnover of 1750 euros and worked with a loss of 7688 euros. The legal address of the SIA is near the crime scene in Purvciems - Zvaigznāja gatve 4-13.

The lives of Victorija and Vladimirs held a lot of excitement, as evidenced by both of them being caught drunk behind the wheel of a car in July 2008. Although V. Koļesņičenko does not currently own any companies in Latvia, his wealth is obvious. The former footballer goes around in an S-class Mercedes car, notably, with the registration number of the Russian Federation.

At the beginning of 2012, V. Koļesņičenko became the president of the Skonto club, replacing the team's founder Guntis Indriksons. In July 2014, he resigned. Skonto was liquidated in September 2019, with more than 800,000 euros in debt to creditors.

In December 2019, the LTV program De facto, mentioning the role of V. Kolesničenko, revealed the behind-the-scenes of the sale of the Skonto stadium owned by Reverta: “The deal was built very complicated. It took about a year, and the money went through the accounts of seven companies - from the tax haven in Belize to Estonia. The long chain was largely determined by Rogačovs' reluctance to be revealed in the deal.

A Belize offshore company called Silvertone Enterprises Limited, in which (Russian businessman Aleksandrs) Rogačovs was identified as the real beneficiary, transferred 35 million euros in four loans without collateral to the Latvian company Mani Group, which is related to the Rudzītis family of brokers. Of this money, 14 million was lent by Mani Group to company SSA, then headed by Indriksons' business partner Vladimirs Koļesņičenko. SSA bought the Skonto hall and stadium from Reverta on loan. The stadium and adjacent properties were later rewritten to the name of Mani Group, and the Belize offshore associated with Rogačovs became the owner. Of the remaining 20 million euros, five million were retained by the broker as the promised commission, the rest remained at the disposal of the company SSA." V. Koļesņičenko still maintains close relations with the former founders of Skonto. Shortly after the murder of R. Bezzubovs, V. Koļesņičenko met with one of the founders of the Skonto group Andrejs Makarenko (pictured left).

Thorns in football

The fact that tensions were high in the football business is evidenced by the publications of sports journalist Anatolijs Kreipāns in July last year about the atmosphere in Valmiera Football Club. A. Kreipāns wrote on sports.tvnet.lv, among other things: “People close to the team revealed that (football player) Jagodinskis' agent Romāns Bezzubovs and... Vladimirs Koļesņičenko were causing unrest. Believe what you will.”

The news portal lsm.lv, reflecting the brutal murder of R. Bezzubovs, has mentioned the following: “Unofficially, it is known that Bezzubovs did himself a bad turn by fooling the management of the Valmiera club, when he placed his clients in this team last season. Many people in the club still feel bitter. It is also said that now Bezzubovs' friend Vladimirs Koļesņičenko is quietly hiding somewhere, who was involved in various financial machinations during the Skonto club days, but now could be the next goal of Purvciems shooters. All of these versions are unofficial, and the case is currently being investigated by the police. One thing is clear - what is happening in the Latvian football environment more incited what happened last week than could have prevented it.”

As reported in November 2019 by the LTV program De facto, at the end of October 2019, S. Ģirģens met with V. Koļesņičenko in a cafe in Riga. According to the program, “Koļesņičenko is considered one of Indriksons' people in football circles. However, when asked whether Indriksons had approached Ģirģens about the position of LFF, both Ģirģens and Indriksons answered in the negative - both stated in the interview to LTV that they had never met.”

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