Soviet trade figure, until 1982 director of one of the largest Moscow grocery stores "Eliseevsky". He was shot by the verdict of the Supreme Court in 1984.

Member of the Great Patriotic War, had awards. It is also known that in the 50s he was convicted "for libel". But after two years of imprisonment, he was fully acquitted: the one who actually committed the crime was arrested. From 1963 to 1972, Yuri Sokolov was the deputy director of grocery store No. 1, from 1972 to 1982 he was the director of the Eliseevsky store.

Arrest and sentence

In 1982, Yu. V. Andropov came to power in the USSR, one of whose goals was to cleanse the country from corruption, embezzlement and bribery. He knew the real state of affairs in trade, so Andropov decided [source not specified 289 days] to start with the Moscow food trade. The first arrested in this case were the director of the Moscow store "Vneshposyltorg" ("Birch") Avilov and his wife, who was Sokolov's deputy at the post of director of the "Eliseevsky" store. Moscow grocery store No. 1 ("Eliseevsky") was called an oasis in the food desert of the USSR. He regularly supplied selected delicacies to the party elite and the country's creative, scientific, military elite. As it turned out, huge bribes passed through the hands of the director of the grocery store, which he shared with the powers that be. The details of the investigation, the persons involved in the case are interesting, and the verdict is striking in its severity. If the custom of public execution had been preserved in Russia until 1983, then hundreds of thousands of people could have gathered to carry out the sentence to Yuri Sokolov, director of Yeliseevsky, who, after his arrest, demanded "to punish the presumptuous merchant to the fullest extent of the law." But was his crime drawn to the death penalty?

The case of Yuri Sokolov "got lost" in the three General Secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee

The criminal case on charges of Yu. Sokolov, his deputy I. Nemtsev, heads of departments N. Svezhinsky, V. Yakovlev, A. Konkov and V. Grigoriev "of large-scale theft of food products and bribery" was initiated by the Moscow prosecutor's office at the end of October 1982 - ten days before the death of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev.

The investigation into this case continued under the new leader of the USSR, Yuri Andropov. And the meeting of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR, at which Yuri Sokolov was sentenced to death, was already held under Konstantin Chernenko, who replaced Andropov as head of the party and state. Moreover, Chernenko survived the executed trade worker by only three months.

The Soviet press presented the arrest of Sokolov on command from above as the beginning of a decisive struggle of the CPSU against corruption and the shadow economy. Could the kaleidoscopic change of aged general secretaries to some extent soften the fate of the defendant and save his life? At one point, Yuri Sokolov, who was in Lefortovo, began to warm up, there was hope for leniency, which we will discuss below.

He had already been on trial once and spent 2 years in a colony. But it turned out - for someone else's crime ...

Yuri Sokolov was born in Moscow in 1925. He is a veteran of the Great Patriotic War and has received several government awards. It is also known that in the 50s he was convicted "for libel". But after two years of imprisonment, he was fully acquitted: the one who actually committed the crime was arrested. Sokolov worked in a taxi fleet, then as a salesman.

From 1963 to 1972, Yuri Sokolov was the deputy director of grocery store No. 1, which Muscovites still call "Eliseevsky". Having headed a trading company, he proved himself, as they would say now, a brilliant top manager. In an era of total scarcity, Sokolov turned the grocery store into an oasis in the middle of a food desert.

Who needed to execute the 58-year-old front-line soldier who managed to ensure uninterrupted supply of goods to the store in the rotten system of co-trade?

This puzzling question is being asked today by those who believe that if there were more "falcon" at that time, all Soviet people would eat black caviar with spoons. But not everything is so simple. It should be emphasized that the fruits of Yuri Konstantinovich's labors were enjoyed exclusively by the highest nomenklatura and cultural elite of Moscow.

Grocery store No. 1 and its seven branches "under the counter" were full of: imported alcoholic drinks and cigarettes, black and red caviar, Finnish cervelat, ham and balyks, chocolates and coffee, cheeses and citrus fruits ... All this could be purchased (according to the ordering system and from the "back door") only high-ranking party and state bosses, including members of the family of the ruling General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev, famous writers and artists, space heroes, academicians and generals ...

How did gourmet, rare, and even simply exotic products get into the Soviet grocery store # 1?

Here are the lines from the verdict, which drew a line under the life of the director of "Eliseevsky": "Using his responsible official position, Sokolov for mercenary purposes from January 1972 to October 1982 systematically received bribes from his subordinates for ensuring uninterrupted the supply of grocery products to the store in an assortment advantageous for bribe-givers ".

In turn, Yuri Sokolov, in the last word of the defendant, emphasized that "the current order in the trading system" makes it inevitable to sell unaccounted foodstuffs, overweight and shortage of buyers, shrinkage, wear and tear, write-off according to the column of natural losses and "left sale", as well as bribes. In order to receive the goods and fulfill the plan, it is necessary, they say, to win over those at the top and those at the bottom, even the driver who carries the food ...

So who, after all, needed the life of a grasping and swaggering "breadwinner" of the Moscow elite, who observed the basic "laws" of the Brezhnev era - "You are for me, I am for you" and "Live yourself, and let others live"?

During the arrest, Sokolov remained calm and refused to answer questions in Lefortovo

Eyewitnesses testify that during the arrest Sokolov remained outwardly calm, at the first interrogation in the Lefortovo remand prison he did not plead guilty of receiving bribes and categorically refused to testify. What did the arrested man count on, what did he wait?

For a long time Sokolov was out of the reach of the long arms of the Lubyanka and Petrovka. Among the high patrons of the director of the self-assembled grocery store were the head of the Main Directorate of Trade of the Moscow City Executive Committee and deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR N. Tregubov, Chairman of the Moscow City Executive Committee V. Promyslov, Second Secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU R. Dementyev, Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs N. Schelokov. At the top of the security pyramid stood the owner of Moscow - the first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee and member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee V. Grishin.

And, of course, the party, Soviet and law enforcement agencies were aware that Sokolov was friends with the General Secretary's daughter Galina Brezhneva and her husband, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yuri Churbanov.

Yuri Sokolov undoubtedly hoped that the "security system" he had built on the principle of mutual responsibility would work. And there was a moment when she seemed to begin to act: it is known that Viktor Grishin, after the arrest of Sokolov, said that he did not believe in the guilt of the director of the grocery store. However, as the upcoming events showed, the leapfrog with the change of secretaries general deprived not only Sokolov, but also his high-ranking "roof" from untouchability.

Sokolov began to testify only after the election of a new General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

The suspect began to confess immediately after he learned about Brezhnev's death and that Yuri Andropov had been elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Sokolov knew his way around the corridors of power well enough not to come to a disappointing conclusion: he became one of the pawns in Andropov's game to discredit possible opponents in the place of the seriously ill Brezhnev. And the owner of Moscow, Viktor Grishin, as it was well known then, was one of the most likely contenders for the Kremlin "throne."

Sokolov could not calculate one thing then: he got into the development of the KGB even when this all-powerful department was headed by Andropov. Starting the multi-step game for the highest power, the Chairman of the Committee had already identified the director of "Eliseevsky", to whom the agent reports of bribery were received, as a fuse, which was supposed to detonate a bomb ...

Sokolov's first confession was recorded in the second half of December 1982. The KGB investigators made it clear to the person under investigation that he must, first of all, uncover the scheme of theft from Moscow grocery stores, testify about the transfer of bribes to the higher echelons of Moscow power. Cooperation with the investigation will be counted, - they told him at the same time. And a drowning man, as you know, grabs at straws ...

For what purpose did the KGB arrange a short circuit in the Eliseevsky building?

The expert assessment of the former prosecutor for the supervision of the KGB, Vladimir Golubev, has been preserved in the Sokolov case. He believed that the evidence of Sokolov's guilt had not been thoroughly examined during the investigation and trial. The amounts of bribes were named based on the economy of the norms of natural attrition, which was provided for by the state. And the conclusion: from a legal point of view, such a severe punishment of the director of "Eliseevsky" is illegal ...

It is indicative that the KGB conducted the Sokolov case without the participation of its "younger brother" - the Ministry of Internal Affairs: Minister of Internal Affairs Shchelokov and his deputy Churbanov were on Andropov's "black list" even when he was Chairman of the KGB and then secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. (In December 1982, 71-year-old N. Shchelokov was removed from the post of Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and committed suicide).

A month before Sokolov's arrest, the committee members, having chosen the moment when he was abroad, equipped the director's office with operational and technical means of audio and video control (they arranged a "short circuit in the electrical wiring" in the store, turned off the elevators and called in "repairmen"). All branches of "Eliseevsky" were taken under the "cap".

Thus, many high-ranking officials who were in "special" relations with Sokolov and who were in his office, literally got into the field of view of the KGB Chekists in Moscow. Including, for example, the then all-powerful head of the traffic police N. Nozdryakov.

Audio and video surveillance also recorded that the heads of the branches on Fridays came to Sokolov and handed envelopes to the director. Subsequently, part of the money raised from the deficit that did not reach the counter was transferred from the director's safe to the head of the Main Trade Directorate of the Executive Committee of the Moscow City Council Nikolai Tregubov and other interested parties. In a word, a serious evidence base was collected.

On one Friday, all the "postmen", after having handed over envelopes with money to Sokolov, were arrested. The four soon confessed.

The committee member who arrested Sokolov first shook hands with him

The head of one of the departments of the KGB, who was assigned to lead the operation to arrest Sokolov, knew very well that there was a button for signaling the guards on Sokolov's desktop. Therefore, entering the director's office, he held out his hand to greet him. The "friendly" squeeze ended in a seizure, which prevented the owner of the cabinet from raising the alarm. And only after that he was presented with an arrest warrant and the search began. At the same time, searches were already underway in all branches of the grocery store.

Why did Politburo member Viktor Grishin interrupt his vacation and flew to Moscow

Even before the end of the investigation into the Sokolov case and the transfer of the indictment to the court, the arrests of directors of large Moscow trading enterprises began.

In total, in the system of the capital's Glavtorg, since the summer of 1983, more than 15 thousand people have been prosecuted. Including the former head of the Glavtorg of the Moscow City Executive Committee Nikolai Tregubov. The patrons tried to take him out of the blow and shortly before that they were transplanted into the chair of the manager of the Soyuztorg middle office of the USSR Ministry of Trade. However, the reshuffle did not save the official, as, by the way, and many of his new colleagues - high-ranking officials of the ministry.

An interesting fact: having learned about the arrest of N. Tregubov, a member of the Politburo V. Grishin, who was on vacation, urgently flew to Moscow. However, there was nothing he could do. The career of the patron saint of the Moscow "trade mafia" was already at its end - in December 1985, Boris Yeltsin replaced him as secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU.

The directors of the most famous Moscow grocery stores were behind bars: V. Filippov (Novoarbatsky grocery store), B. Tveretinov (GUM grocery store), S. Noniev (Smolensky grocery store), as well as the head of Mosplodovoshchprom V. Uraltsev and director of the fruit and vegetable base M. Ambartsumyan, director of the "Gastronom" marketplace I. Korovkin, director of "Diettorg" Ilyin, director of the Kuibyshevsky regional food service department M. Baigelman and a number of very respectable and responsible workers.

The investigation will establish that in the case of Glavtorg, 757 people were united by stable criminal ties - from store directors to heads of trade in Moscow and the country, other industries and departments. According to the testimony of only 12 accused, through whose hands more than 1.5 million rubles of bribes were received, one can imagine the overall scale of corruption. According to the documents, the damage to the state was estimated at 3 million rubles (money was large at that time).

Sokolov: an underground millionaire or an unmercenary person who slept on a soldier's bed?

The party press began to speak harmoniously about the new NEP - the establishment of elementary order. The propaganda campaign was accompanied by reports of searches in the apartments and dachas of the "trade mafia". Large sums flashed in rubles, currency and jewelry found in hiding places.

In the editorial offices of central newspapers, in the Central Committee of the CPSU, the KGB, since the arrest of Sokolov, letters continued to come from all over the country demanding to punish the presumptuous traders to the fullest extent of the law.

Information about how much "stuck" to the hands of Yuri Sokolov is very contradictory. A dacha where 50 thousand rubles were found in cash and bonds for several tens of thousands more, jewelry, a second-hand foreign car - this is according to some sources. According to others, the former front-line soldier took bribes and sent them "upstairs" to ensure the normal supply of the store, but he did not take a dime for himself. They even claimed that at Sokolov's house, they say, there was an iron bunk. True, at the same time they were silent that the director of the grocery store lived in an elite house next to the daughter of the former head of state Nikita Khrushchev.

The death sentence to the director of "Eliseevsky" amazed even the KGB investigators

The meeting of the Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR in the case of Sokolov and other "financially responsible persons of the grocery store No. 1" was held behind closed doors. Yuri Sokolov was found guilty under Articles 173 part 2 and 174 part 2 of the RSFSR Criminal Code (accepting and giving bribes on a large scale) and on November 11, 1984, sentenced to capital punishment - execution with confiscation of property. His deputy I. Nemtsev was sentenced to 14 years, A. Grigoriev - to 13, V. Yakovlev and A. Konkov - to 12, N. Svezhinsky - to 11 years in prison.

At the trial, Sokolov did not refuse his testimony, read out to the court from a notebook the amounts of bribes and the names of high-ranking bribe givers. This was expected of him, and in order to avoid publicity of compromising material on major party and state functionaries, the court session was closed. Sokolov at court hearings repeated several times that he had become a "scapegoat", "a victim of party strife."

They say that the KGB officers involved in this criminal case were amazed at the death sentence against the defendant, who actively cooperated with the investigation and the court. Sokolov is hard to believe in a public expression of sympathy for the committee members. More plausible is the assumption that it was for the detailed testimony that Sokolov paid with his life.

When later the former head of Moscow trade, Nikolai Tregubov, appeared before the court, through whom the main "tranches" of bribes passed, he pleaded not guilty and did not name any names. As a result, he received 15 years in prison. Remember, this is almost the same as the ordinary head of the department of the Eliseevsky grocery store!

Two directors were executed, one - he himself sentenced himself to death

No sooner had the trade industry gone through the shock of the shooting of Yuri Sokolov, when a new execution sentence was pronounced to the director of the fruit and vegetable base M. Hambardzumyan. The trial in the year of the 40th anniversary of the Victory over Nazi Germany did not find mitigating such circumstances as the participation of Mkhitar Ambartsumyan in the storming of the Reichstag and in the Victory Parade on Red Square in 1945. And he also testified.

Another shot, the last in this criminal-political story, sounded outside the prison - without waiting for the trial, the director of the Smolensky grocery store S. Noniev committed suicide.

For a long time there was a rumor: Sokolov was shot immediately after the verdict - in a paddy wagon on the way from the court to the pre-trial detention center

It was officially announced that the sentence against Yuri Sokolov was carried out on December 14, 1984, that is, 33 days after it was announced. Where did the unlikely version come from that Sokolov did not get to the pre-trial detention center alive after the last court session? Let us recall that the investigation of other criminal cases against the employees of Glavtorg was already in full swing. And many high-ranking officials were interested in having such a dangerous witness as Sokolov be "neutralized" as soon as possible. Most likely, it was from here that the rumor was born: Sokolov, they say, was rushed to remove so that he would not have time to submit a request for pardon ...

The government has changed, the demonstrative "flogging" for political reasons remained

Sokolov is definitely a criminal. However, the court had ample reason to impose a non-death penalty for the nearly 60-year-old trade worker. But in this case, crime was in the background - the swaggering director became one of the pawns in the political struggle for supreme power. Literally a few months after the death of the former director of Eliseevsky, the rules of the game began to change in this field. The investigation into the "trade mafia" case began to wind down, a group of OBKhSS investigators, formed from specialists from many regions, was dispersed "to their homes."

Today we live according to other, Russian laws, which have replaced the Soviet ones. But, as before, political motives are sometimes guessed behind many high-profile criminal cases - the struggle for power, the rivalry of "clans" and powerful law enforcement agencies for proximity "to the body", the elimination of rivals and "demonstrative flogging" of oligarchs with the help of courts ...

Recently I watched the series "Delicatessen Case No. 1" with Makovetsky in the title role. Like the first time, my heart squeezed with steel hoops and did not let go throughout the series. The film is successful, both in direction, and in the cast, and in the script itself. But the point is not so much in the series as in the most tragic fate of the director of the Eliseevsky grocery store Yuri Sokolov (in the film - Georgy Berkutov).

Yuri Konstantinovich Sokolov, born on December 3, 1923 - died on December 14, 1984 (shot by the verdict of the USSR Supreme Court), Soviet trade leader, from 1972 to 1982 director of one of the largest grocery stores in Moscow "Eliseevsky", and before that for 10 years deputy director, participant of the Great Patriotic War, member of the bureau of the regional party committee, was awarded orders and medals.

After the war, in the 50s, he worked as a taxi driver and received a term of 2 years in prison for counting clients. Later it turned out that he was serving his term for another, on libel, on a false denunciation. In 1963, he got a job as a seller in a retail network and, thanks to his abilities and human qualities, he first grew up to the deputy director of a deli on Tverskaya, in this status he worked for 10 years, and then to the director of a store, the experience in this position was also 10 by that time. years.

Yuri Sokolov came from an intelligent family, his mother worked as a professor at the Higher Party School, his father was a research assistant. Yuri himself, according to his wife Florida Nikolaevna, was a very cultured and well-mannered person. Tall, thin, stately, he knew how to speak beautifully, from the first minute he charmed and bewitched his interlocutor with his speech.

Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov, chairman of the KGB from 1967 to 1982. The reign of Leonid Brezhnev was coming to an end, and Andropov, full of vain aspirations, wanted to take the place of the general secretary of the party, to become the de facto leader of the country. The entire trade history was started with far-reaching political goals, but was promoted under the slogan of combating trade and party corruption. The ultimate goal of the game was the then first secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU, Grishin, who, not without reason, was claiming the post of general secretary, tightly tied to the so-called trade mafia of Moscow. And the first to fall under the Chekist youth were, of course, the "most respected people" of the city - the directors of the largest stores, food and manufactured goods, the most prominent and successful of which was Yuri Sokolov. The main blow fell on him already when Andropov was elected general secretary after Brezhnev's death (November 1982), and before that they collected incriminating evidence, dug, watched, tapped, recruited, took those who were of lesser rank.

Moscow grocery store No. 1 was called an oasis in the food desert of the USSR. He regularly supplied selected delicacies to the party elite, the creative, scientific, military elite of the country.

They took Sokolov on a bribe, either 200 or 300 thousand, received from someone, gave to someone, this did not matter much, because by that time he was already surrounded by red flags around the perimeter. A month before the arrest, the committee members, having chosen the moment when Sokolov was abroad, equipped his office with audio and video control devices, arranging a short circuit for this. All branches of Eliseevsky were also taken under the "cap". Thus, many high-ranking officials came to the attention of the Chekists, including, for example, the then head of the traffic police, Nozdryakov. It was established that on Fridays the heads of the branches arrived in Sokolov's office and handed envelopes to the director. Then part of the collected money migrated to the head of the Main Department of Trade Tregubov and other interested persons. A solid evidence base was collected. On one Friday, all the "postmen" were caught red-handed, four confessed.

Having learned about Tregubov's arrest, first secretary Grishin urgently returned to Moscow, interrupting his vacation, but he could not do anything, the career of the patron saint of the Moscow trade mafia was at an end, in December 1985 Grishin was replaced as the first secretary of the city party committee by B.N. Yeltsin.

Initially (according to the stories of his wife), Sokolov was sold with giblets by his employee, deputy head of the sausage department Eliseevsky, whose husband, an employee of the Berezka currency store, got burned. She and her husband through the trading network sold delicacies from the Eliseevsky store for foreign currency, bought imported equipment with checks and speculated on it. In the Cheka they were promised that if they surrender Sokolov, then they will have nothing, and they readily surrendered.

The money in the grocery store was made not so much on weight and calculation (this was not considered a crime), but on the so-called shrinkage-wear-out-spoilage-write-off. At one time, Sokolov was not too lazy and acquired the latest refrigeration units, thanks to which the goods retained their freshness and quality for a long time, but the products were written off the same way as elsewhere, at the existing high interest, and the resulting significant monetary difference went to bribes to officials and suppliers on the basis of : 10% to the state, 5% - for bribes.

Sokolov spun around as best he could. The store and its seven branches received unprecedented products for ordinary citizens - Finnish smoked sausages, first-class boiled pork, ham, balyk, red and black caviar, imported cheeses, overseas wines, foreign cigarettes. The most famous and famous people - actors, directors, singers, writers, announcers, soloists of the Bolshoi Theater, heads of central administrations and committees, deputy ministers, famous doctors, generals, ets - were buying goods through the order table, or even just from the back room, in the store. Galina Brezhneva was a frequent guest of Yuri Sokolov, who easily went to the director "for a light". All this imposed tough obligations on the director, kept him in constant tension.

Sokolov himself lived quite modestly, and although he had all the possibilities for luxury, he did not abuse his position. When the Chekists came to his wife Florida Nikolaevna to describe the property for confiscation, they were unpleasantly amazed - no antiques, no paintings in expensive frames, no crystal chandeliers, no gold and silver. They took everything clean - furniture, dishes (up to glasses), rolled up the carpets, removed the chandeliers, my wife only managed to keep her personal belongings. Even the refrigerator contained a minimum of the most common foods. Sokolov was sick with diabetes and was on a diet.

Although the court hearings were nominally open, those who came and were invited were allowed only to the first and last hearings. Together with the former director of Eliseevsky, four more employees of the grocery were tried - deputy Sokolov I. Nemtsev, heads of departments N. Svezhinsky, V. Yakovlev, A. Konkov and V. Grigoriev, a criminal case against which was initiated 10 days before the death of L.I. Brezhnev. In the hall were, in addition to relatives, almost all the directors of large Moscow stores, who were invited, apparently with an edifying and frightening purpose. The hall of the Bauman district (now Basmanny) court was cramped, but packed. The judge pronounced the verdict for an hour, and the people standing in the hall, dressed in coats and jackets, were afraid to move, to utter even a sound. When the word "shooting" was heard and the judge put an end to it, enthusiastic deafening applause rang out from different ends, horror from the murderous verdict and these stormy applause froze in the eyes of those present. Among the commercial audience were young, strong, athletic looking, guys, dressed and looking alike, there were many of them. Most likely, it was they who began to clap at the signal, thereby demonstrating that the process, which ended in this way, was political. The people in the hall, who received the applause, tried with their whole appearance to show that they were different, honest, not like Sokolov, who was mired in machinations and bribes. But there was no one to demonstrate loyalty to anyone, by that time the deceased Andropov at the post of general secretary had been replaced by the living corpse of Chernenko.

The first dramatic reaction to the trial followed two days later - the director of another famous grocery store No. 2 on Smolenskaya Square, Sergei Noniev, committed suicide, unable to withstand the stress.

Soon after the trial, the heads of the Novoarbatsky grocery store, the GUM grocery store, Mosplodovoschprom, the director of the Moscow fruit and vegetable base Mkhitar Ambartsumyan, a front-line soldier, participant in the capture of the Reichstag and the Victory Day parade on Red Square (was sentenced to capital punishment), heads of the Grocery store, " Diettorga ", the director of the Kuibyshevsky district food store, and a number of respectable and responsible workers. Later, the head of the Main Department of Trade of the Moscow City Executive Committee Nikolai Tregubov was convicted under these articles, but he, taught by the bitter experience of his colleague, did not admit anything. And he survived, although he received a long term, 15 years in prison. Returning from prison, he even tried to get the case reviewed, but to no avail.

At first, Sokolov denied everything. But, apparently, he was persuaded to testify against his accomplices, promising to mitigate the sentence. Sokolov's first confession was recorded in the second half of December 1982. The KGB investigators made it clear to the person under investigation that he was expected to disclose the schemes of theft from Moscow grocery stores and testify about the transfer of bribes to the highest echelons of Moscow power. In the end, everything turned out to be in vain, no information influenced the severity, or rather, the cruelty of the sentence.

Sokolov had a black oilcloth notebook in which he wrote down his business affairs, calculations, calculations, drew schemes of trade and possible profits, names and amounts. Those who were aware of what was happening had unfounded suspicions that the top of this whole pyramid was closed on the then first secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU, Viktor Grishin. Until the last minute, Sokolov hoped for high patrons, his honorable clients - the chief of the head of trade of the Moscow City Executive Committee Tregubov, the chairman of the Moscow City Executive Committee Promyslov, the second secretary of the Moscow city committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Dementyev, the Minister of the Interior Shchelokov and his deputy Churbanov. But the hopes were in vain. The case of Sokolov, director of the Eliseevsky store, was conducted by the KGB alone, bypassing the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In December 1982, 71-year-old Shchelokov was removed from his post and committed suicide. In general, none of the rest wanted to substitute and risk their place and health.
So at the trial, in the last word, when Sokolov realized that he had been deceived, he took out his notebook and began to read out his notes. The judge immediately interrupted him, referring to the fact that the defendant's speech must be oral. Sokolov closed his notebook and began to speak. In addition to the names that could not be named, Sokolov easily explained that the Soviet trading system was deeply flawed from the outset, no plans coming down from above could be fulfilled if business was done honestly, without breaking the laws. Speaking about the inevitability of abuse, Sokolov said that the bribe money was taken in a relatively honest way, thanks to refrigeration units, which made it possible to preserve most of the goods, but the judge was not impressed by these details.

Here is an extract from the verdict (sounds crazy, but it was so): "Using his responsible official position, Sokolov for selfish purposes from January 1972 to October 1982 systematically received bribes from his subordinates for the fact that through higher trade organizations ensured an uninterrupted supply of groceries to the store in an assortment favorable to bribe-givers. "

Former director of grocery store No. 1 Yuri Sokolov was found guilty under Article 173 Part 2 and Article 174 Part 2 of the RSFSR Criminal Code - taking and giving a bribe on an especially large scale - and on November 11, 1984, sentenced to capital punishment with complete confiscation of personal property. The rest of the employees received from 11 to 15 years in prison.

It was a showcase Andropov trial, Sokolov was not lucky, he had the unfortunate lot of becoming the first high-profile victim in the restoration of "law and order." The hard fist of the new owner hit the brightest and most talented representative of his class. Under these articles, the most severe punishment was 15 years in prison. And even then the Baumansky District Court became, in essence, Basmanny, where the judge's decision was lowered from the very top.

Apparently, there should have been many such cases, but the health of comrade Andropov did not allow him to unleash the flywheel of repression at full power.

By nature, Sokolov was neither a huckster, nor a hardened speculator, nor a ripper, nor, even more so, a mafioso, he just got into the system, twirled in it, grew into it and could not escape with all the desire. It was the SYSTEM. All were interconnected and tied, starting with suppliers and ending with members of the city party committee, and, perhaps, even higher.

The verdict was carried out on December 14, 1984, that is, 33 days after its announcement. But rumors spread throughout Moscow that Sokolov had been shot almost in a car on the way from the court. At that time, investigations into other important criminal cases of Glavtorg were already in full swing, many high-ranking officials were interested in the early neutralization of Sokolov, hence these rumors were born, they say, they rushed to remove them so that they did not have time to file a petition for pardon.

Sokolov's wife was given a last date, 30 minutes. They only talked about the family. The meeting turned out to be short, prevented by the arrival of her brother and sister, who, as it seemed to her, did it on purpose. Florida Nikolaevna is still offended by them.

Yuri Sokolov was not a man of his time, he tried and worked successfully and talentedly for his brainchild, as a modern top manager, raised the store and made it the best. Yes, breaking the law, because at that time it was impossible to survive and gain a reputation in the commercial sphere of activity in another way. Laws were created to be broken. Humanly, I feel sorry for him, he became a bargaining pawn in the dirty game of party bosses. In his own way, he was honest and principled. The severity of his crime is incommensurate with the punishment.

I want to end with an excerpt from the book by journalist Anatoly Rubinov, who was present at the trial, "We lived like this ...",
(essay "Seduced and Shot"):

“Handcuffed, these last steps from the second floor of the court, and then - to the green car with bars instead of the window - he did it hard, as if he had forgotten how to walk, as if there were metal chains on his feet. then a man very similar to Sokolov - apparently a brother - shouted after him:

Yura, goodbye!

And some young woman:

Yura, goodbye!

There was no date. The verdict was carried out. "

The last years before Perestroika were remembered by Soviet citizens as a time of total deficit. All stores in the USSR could display only empty shelves, at best decorated with canned food piles. For any food and industrial goods, Soviet citizens had to literally "hunt", stand in kilometer-long queues or make mutually beneficial friendships with store managers.

Cornucopia

Under these conditions, the Moscow Gastronome No. 1 on Gorky Street in house No. 14 amazed the imagination with its luxury. It contained such scarce goods that unspoiled Soviet citizens could only dream of: "Doctor's" sausage, chocolate, coffee, herring, etc. From the back door they sold balyk, caviar, fresh fruit, etc. Muscovites called Gastronome No. 1 "Eliseevsky »In memory of the pre-revolutionary abundance (until 1917 there was a posh shop of the merchant Eliseev in its building).

The fame of the gastronome resounded throughout the country. Especially for his sake, people came to Moscow from the most remote corners of the Union. He was shown to foreigners. Eliseevsky's director, Yuri Sokolov, was the number one person for the capital's elite. In the past, a front-line soldier, a hero of the war, he unexpectedly successfully put the supply of a grocery store in conditions completely unsuitable for business. Giving bribes, he negotiated with suppliers. By paying unofficial "bonuses" to the store staff, he achieved a high level of service.

War on corruption led by Andropov

The arrest on suspicion of embezzlement and bribery became a bolt from the blue for Sokolov. This happened in 1982, just a few years before Perestroika. A month before his arrest, equipment for video surveillance and listening was installed in his office. These actions were carried out by the KGB within the framework of the war against corruption unleashed by Yuri Andropov in those years. In 1983-1984, more than 15,000 trade workers were convicted.

A month of spying on the director of the First Moscow grocery store gave the "authorities" colossal material for the future business, revealed Sokolov's extensive connections with very high-ranking officials. The director was arrested at the time of receiving a bribe (300 rubles). During his arrest, he was absolutely calm, confident in the intercession of many officials who at one time used his services.

Bribery case

A huge evidentiary base of his criminal activities was collected against Yuri Sokolov: from talking on the phone with “the right people” to testifying “postmen” (people who carried him envelopes with bribes). At the trial, such amounts of embezzlement were announced and such names surfaced that the case acquired an all-Union scale. In all the newspapers, articles appeared on the topic of "stealing hucksters."

The exact amount of money stolen by Sokolov is not known. It could be equal to both several thousand and several hundred thousand rubles. In general, the case involved huge sums that went to bribe all kinds of officials (something about 1.5 million rubles). The director of the grocery store himself did not plead guilty. He argued that through bribery he resolved issues of supply to the store.

"Scapegoat"

In the midst of the war against corruption, such a big "catch" played into the hands of Andropov and his supporters. According to some reports, Sokolov was promised leniency in court if he disclosed all the names of his accomplices. The suspect did this, taking out from the secret archive a notebook with the names of all his accomplices.

This step did not help Sokolov. 11/11/1984 he was read a death sentence with the confiscation of all property. Other defendants were also sentenced to different terms - from 11 to 14 years in prison: I. Nemtsev, V. Yakovlev, A. Konkov, etc. The death sentence was a shock both for Yuri Sokolov himself and for everyone who knew him.

As the convict himself said, he became a "scapegoat" in undercover wars in the highest echelons of power. Perhaps it was for this statement, which cast a shadow on Andropov, that the KGB treated the former director of Gastronome No. 1 so harshly. He was shot on December 14. After this scandalous case, the persecution of high-ranking and ordinary trade workers continued for a long time.

About the current director of "Gastronome No. 1"

Yuri Konstantinovich Sokolov was born in 1923. Member of the Great Patriotic War, was awarded orders and medals. He worked as a taxi driver, started in trade as a salesman. He was the director of grocery store No. 1 for 10 years. Arrested in 1982 on bribe-taking charges. In 1983, by a decision of the Supreme Court of the USSR, he was sentenced for embezzlement to execution with confiscation of property and deprivation of all awards. At the trial, he tried to talk about the embezzlement schemes, to name the officials who took part in this, but he was not allowed to finish. Four more defendants in the case received different terms. On December 14, 1984, shortly before the beginning of perestroika, the sentence to Sokolov was carried out.


Biography

Member of the Great Patriotic War, had awards. After demobilization, he changed many professions, worked as a taxi driver. In the late 1950s, he was convicted of cheating on clients. In 1963 he got a job as a salesman in one of the capital's shops. From 1972 to 1982 he was the director of the Eliseevsky store.

Arrest and sentence

In 1982, Yu. V. Andropov came to power in the USSR, one of whose goals was to cleanse the country from corruption, embezzlement and bribery. He knew the real state of affairs in trade, so Andropov decided [source not specified 270 days] to start with the Moscow food trade. The first arrested in this case were the director of the Moscow store "Vneshposyltorg" ("Birch") Avilov and his wife, who was Sokolov's deputy at the post of director of the "Eliseevsky" store.

Soon Sokolov was arrested. About 50 thousand Soviet rubles were found at his dacha. During interrogations, Sokolov explained that the money was not his personal, but intended for other people. With his testimony, about a hundred criminal cases were initiated against the leaders of the Moscow trade, including against the head of Glav Mostorg Tregubov.

There is a version that Sokolov was promised the leniency of the court in exchange for disclosing the theft schemes from Moscow stores. At the trial, Sokolov took out a notebook and read out names and amounts that boggle the mind. But this did not help him - the court sentenced Sokolov to capital punishment (execution) with confiscation of property and deprivation of all titles and awards.

Sokolov was not the only person to be shot for "embezzlement" in Soviet trade. Tregubov was sentenced to 15 years in prison, the rest of those arrested received even less. The Eliseevsky case became the largest embezzlement case in Soviet trade. No sooner had the trade industry gone through the shock of the shooting of Yuri Sokolov, when a new execution sentence was pronounced to the director of the fruit and vegetable base M. Hambardzumyan. The trial in the year of the 40th anniversary of the Victory over Nazi Germany did not find mitigating such circumstances as the participation of Mkhitar Ambartsumyan in the storming of the Reichstag and in the Victory Parade on Red Square in 1945.

The era of scarcity

Today it is difficult to imagine what a piece of good smoked sausage meant to a Soviet citizen. Having snatched it on occasion, it was kept in the refrigerator for several months to be eaten on New Year's.

At that time, the counters greeted customers with tall pyramids of canned fish. Almost everything else was in short supply. Why? There was no market economy when demand creates supply. How many Soviet people will eat sausages, the State Planning Committee decided. Naturally, lofty ideas had nothing to do with life.

But there was another way to get the "dream food". The lucky ones managed to make acquaintance with directors, commodity experts of grocery stores. They were almost mythological and influential figures. By pull, they released products to those close to them that were not available for sale.

Food paradise

During the years of Brezhnev's stagnation in Moscow, the most important person in the world of scarce products was the director of gastronome # 1, Yuri Sokolov. That was the official name. The people called the store "Eliseevsky", as it was called before the revolution - after the name of the founder, the famous merchant Grigory Eliseev. Located in an old mansion, "Eliseevsky" in the old days thundered all over Moscow - they sold outlandish products like truffles and oysters, rare wines, countless varieties of tea and coffee, and so on. People came here as in a museum: to admire the luxurious interiors and crystal chandeliers.

With the advent of Soviet power, food disappeared from everywhere. And suddenly, the former front-line soldier Yuri Sokolov returned the store to its pre-revolutionary glory. Everywhere was empty, but not in the grocery store №1 at the address: st. Gorky, 14.

It was not always possible to find even herring in stores, - recalls Moscow pensioner Eleonora Tropinina. - And in "Eliseevsky" she has always been. Like the sausage "Doctor", and much, much more ...

Gastronome # 1 has become Moscow's unofficial calling card, along with the Kremlin. Visitors from other cities and foreigners certainly came here.

But true abundance was hidden from prying eyes in the store's warehouses. There were no longer boiled, but smoked sausages, caviar, balyk, the freshest fruits and so on. Sokolov knew how to negotiate with suppliers. Now he would offer them favorable conditions and good profits. But then he had no market leverage and he paid in envelopes with cash. That is, he bribed. But for what money?

This picture was taken in grocery store No. 1 in 1987 - after the execution of Sokolov. The store was no longer the same: there were fewer and fewer good products, but queues appeared and the sellers learned to be rude.

We bought imported refrigeration equipment, - Sokolov admitted at the trial. - Losses of products during storage are minimal ...

At the same time, the established rules made it possible to write off almost half of the "shrinkage". Sokolov and copied - on paper, but in fact released food to "the right people" from the back door. All cultural and bureaucratic elite came to bow to him. The phone was torn from calls: some called to the theater for the premiere, who promised shoes of a scarce brand - hinting that in return they would like to receive a package with delicious food ... The daughter of the General Secretary Galina Brezhneva came almost every day.

A bolt from the blue

At the same time, Sokolov was not a greedy grabber. I never forgot about the work collective: I personally congratulated every saleswoman on her birthday, handing over an envelope with a "prize". A considerable share went to the head of the Gortorg Tregubov and even, as they say, to Viktor Grishin himself - the first secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU.

Sokolov built a profitable business in unsuitable conditions. He was, in fact, one of the first Soviet businessmen.

There was not only "everything was." Everything was the freshest, of the highest quality! - says pensioner Tropinina. - And the sellers are all polite, in the cleanest dressing gowns - Sokolov personally watched this ...

Alas, at that time it was possible only if the laws were violated.

When in 1982 Sokolov was arrested "while receiving a bribe of 300 rubles," he remained calm. I was sure that his high-ranking acquaintances would help out. At worst, it will get off in a short time.

At that time, a wave of arrests swept across the country: the chairman of the KGB, Yuri Andropov, was fighting corruption. They grabbed the secretaries of district committees, officials of all ranks ... Dozens of young investigators from the provinces were specially sent to Moscow: they were not part of the capital's corruption schemes and could work effectively. They were given deadlines, sometimes significant ones. But there was no question of executions!

Andropov's hand

The true reasons for the harsh sentence became known years later. The head of the KGB, under the pretext of fighting the embezzlers, cleared his way to power. The days of Brezhnev were numbered, and not only Andropov wanted to take his place. There was also Brezhnev's favorite, Viktor Grishin. Becoming the general secretary, Andropov continued to put pressure on the competitor, destroying his entourage, which included Sokolov ...

At the trial in September 1983, he realized that no one would save him. And he spoke. He took out a special notebook, began to read: how he made a profit and, most importantly, who and how much of it received. The judge did not let him finish.

The case was considered by the Supreme Court of the USSR. Store directors were specially invited to the hall to intimidate. When the verdict was announced, those present ... applauded. Those who for many years knew Yuri Sokolov personally and were friends with him clapped. Mortally frightened, they tried to prove their loyalty.

Ironically, the director was shot after the death of Andropov, who did not last long as general secretary. The petition for clemency did not help: too many high-ranking officials wanted Sokolov to be silent forever. Until now, the "Secret" stamp has not been removed from the case materials.

VERBATIM

Joseph KOBZON: "He was ahead of his time"

I knew Yuri Konstantinovich closely. He arranged relaxation evenings for the collective, and many artists came to him. Without any fee! The only thing, we counted on the deficit, which the store base was packed with.

But we also talked outside of working hours. Why not communicate? War veteran, member of the bureau of the district party committee. Intelligent. There were always flowers on his table. He had a wonderful family - wife Florida, daughter. They came to visit me, I - to them.

At the trial, in his last word, Sokolov pleaded not guilty. He simply said that he worked in the system and tried to do everything so that people could buy groceries. He was ahead of his time, was a wonderful organizer ...

- Joseph Davydovich, haven't you met the director of Eliseevsky?

I did not just meet, but knew Yuri Konstantinovich closely. And the point is not in the products that were sold at Eliseevsky. It was pleasant to communicate with him. He arranged relaxation evenings for the collective, and many artists came to him without any fee. The only thing we counted on was to buy the deficit that filled the store's base.

- Were you friends?

We also talked outside of working hours. He was a war veteran, a member of the bureau of the district party committee. Intelligent. He always had flowers on his table ... The staff was always in starched robes, polite - at that time it was a rarity. He had a wonderful family: wife Florida, daughter ... They came to visit me, I came to them. No one could have guessed how everything would turn out.

- Now they say that he became a victim of Andropov's intrigues.

At the trial, in his last word, Sokolov pleaded not guilty. He simply said that he worked in the system and tried to do everything so that people could come and buy food. He was ahead of his time, was a wonderful organizer. Something above did not divide and played Sokolov's card. He became a victim, although there were almost no such business executives in the country.

- The feeling that then for the sake of sausage people did anything.

Well, of course, not at all, as you say. But the clique existed, it was beautifully sung in his miniatures by Arkady Raikin. For example, Boris Brunov and I (the head of the Variety Theater - Ed.), After a concert in Ulyanovsk, came to a grocery store and, through pull, begged the director for 400 grams of sausage and two bottles of milk. Because this deficit was issued on coupons. And we didn't have them.

Tags:

SOVIET MILLIONAIRE: THE BUSINESS OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE ELISEEVSKY GASTRONOM The Moscow grocery store No. 1 (Eliseevsky) was called an oasis in the food desert of the USSR. He regularly supplied selected delicacies to the party elite and the country's creative, scientific, military elite.

As it turned out, huge bribes passed through the hands of the director of the grocery store, which he shared with the powers that be. The details of the investigation, the persons involved in the case are interesting, and the verdict is striking in its severity ... If the custom of public execution had been preserved in Russia until 1983, then hundreds of thousands of people could have gathered to carry out the verdict to the director of Yuri Sokolov, who, after his arrest, demanded “to punish the presumptuous trader to the fullest extent of the law. " But was his crime drawn to the death penalty? The case of Yuri Sokolov "got lost" in the three General Secretaries of the Central Committee of the CPSU Criminal case on charges of Yu. Sokolov, his deputy I. Nemtsev, heads of departments N. Svezhinsky, V. Yakovlev, A. Konkov and V. Grigoriev "in the theft of food products in large size and bribery ", was initiated by the Moscow prosecutor's office at the end of October 1982 - ten days before the death of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev. The investigation into this case continued under the new leader of the USSR, Yuri Andropov. And the meeting of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR, at which Yuri Sokolov was sentenced to death, was already held under Konstantin Chernenko, who replaced Andropov as head of the party and state. Moreover, Chernenko survived the executed trade worker by only three months. The Soviet press presented the arrest of Sokolov on command from above as the beginning of a decisive struggle of the CPSU against corruption and the shadow economy. Could the kaleidoscopic change of aged general secretaries to some extent soften the fate of the defendant and save his life? At one point, Yuri Sokolov, who was in Lefortovo, began to warm up, there was hope for leniency, which we will discuss below. He had already been on trial once and spent 2 years in a colony. But it turned out - for someone else's crime ...

Sokolov Yuri Konstantinovich Yuri Sokolov was born in Moscow in 1925. He is a veteran of the Great Patriotic War and has received several government awards. It is also known that in the 50s he was convicted "for libel". But after two years of imprisonment, he was fully acquitted: the one who actually committed the crime was arrested. Sokolov worked in a taxi fleet, then as a salesman. From 1963 to 1972, Yuri Sokolov was the deputy director of grocery store No. 1, which Muscovites still call "Eliseevsky". Having headed a trading company, he proved himself, as they would say now, a brilliant top manager. In an era of total scarcity, Sokolov turned the grocery store into an oasis in the middle of a food desert. Who needed to execute the 58-year-old front-line soldier who managed to ensure uninterrupted supply of goods to the store in the rotten system of co-trade? This puzzling question is asked today by those who believe that if there were more "falcon" at that time, all Soviet people would eat black caviar with spoons. But not everything is so simple. It should be emphasized that the fruits of Yuri Konstantinovich's labors were enjoyed exclusively by the highest nomenklatura and cultural elite of Moscow. Grocery store No. 1 and its seven branches “under the counter” were full of: imported alcoholic drinks and cigarettes, black and red caviar, Finnish cervelat, ham and balyk, chocolates and coffee, cheeses and citrus fruits ...

All this could be purchased (by the ordering system and from the "back door") only high-ranking party and state bosses, including members of the family of the ruling General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev, famous writers and artists, space heroes, academicians and generals ... How delicious, rare , or even just exotic products ended up in the Soviet grocery store No. 1? Here are the lines from the verdict, which drew a line under the life of the director of "Eliseevsky": “Using his responsible official position, Sokolov for mercenary purposes from January 1972 to October 1982. systematically received bribes from his subordinates for the fact that through higher trading organizations ensured an uninterrupted supply of food products to the store in an assortment favorable to bribe-givers. " sale of unaccounted foodstuffs, body kit and shortcuts of buyers, shrinkage, shrinkage and re-grading, write-off according to the column of natural losses and "left sale", as well as bribes. In order to receive the goods and fulfill the plan, it is necessary, they say, to win over those at the top and those at the bottom, even the driver who carries the groceries ... of the Moscow elite, who observed the basic "laws" of the Brezhnev era - "You are for me, I am for you" and "Live yourself, and let others live"? During the arrest, Sokolov remained calm and refused to answer questions in Lefortovo. What did the arrested man count on, what did he wait?

Several thousand trade workers of the capital visited this wall. Sokolov was out of the reach of the long arms of the Lubyanka and Petrovka for a long time. Among the high patrons of the director of the self-assembled grocery store were the head of the Main Directorate of Trade of the Moscow City Executive Committee and deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR N. Tregubov, Chairman of the Moscow City Executive Committee V. Promyslov, Second Secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU R. Dementyev, Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs N. Schelokov. At the top of the security pyramid stood the owner of Moscow - the first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee and member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee V. Grishin. And, of course, the party, Soviet and law enforcement agencies were aware that Sokolov was friends with the General Secretary's daughter Galina Brezhneva and her husband, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yuri Churbanov. Yuri Sokolov undoubtedly hoped that the "security system" built by him on the principle of mutual responsibility would work. And there was a moment when she seemed to begin to act: it is known that Viktor Grishin, after the arrest of Sokolov, said that he did not believe in the guilt of the director of the grocery store. However, as the upcoming events showed, the leapfrog with the change of secretaries general deprived not only Sokolov, but also his high-ranking "roof" from untouchability. Sokolov began to testify only after the election of a new General Secretary of the CPSU. The suspect began to give confessions immediately after he learned about Brezhnev's death and that Yuri Andropov had been elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Sokolov knew his way around the corridors of power well enough not to come to a disappointing conclusion: he became one of the pawns in Andropov's game to discredit possible opponents in the place of the seriously ill Brezhnev. And the owner of Moscow, Viktor Grishin, as it was well known then, was one of the most likely contenders for the Kremlin throne.

Yu. V. Andropov One thing Sokolov could not calculate then: he got into the development of the KGB even when this omnipotent department was headed by Andropov. Starting a multi-step game for the highest power, the Chairman of the Committee had already designated the director of Eliseevsky, who received intelligence reports of bribery, as a fuse that was supposed to detonate a bomb ... Sokolov's first confession was recorded in the second half of December 1982. The KGB investigators made it clear to the person under investigation that he must, first of all, uncover the scheme of theft from Moscow grocery stores, testify about the transfer of bribes to the higher echelons of Moscow power. Cooperation with the investigation will be counted, - they told him at the same time. And the drowning man, as you know, grasps at straws ... For what purpose did the KGB arrange a short circuit in the Eliseevsky building? The expert assessment of the former prosecutor for the supervision of the KGB, Vladimir Golubev, has been preserved in the Sokolov case. He believed that the evidence of Sokolov's guilt had not been thoroughly examined during the investigation and trial. The amounts of bribes were named based on the economy of the norms of natural attrition, which was provided for by the state. And the conclusion: from a legal point of view, such a severe punishment of the director of "Eliseevsky" is illegal ... It is significant that the KGB conducted the Sokolov case without the participation of the "younger brother" - the Ministry of Internal Affairs: Minister of Internal Affairs Shchelokov and his deputy Churbanov were on the "black list" of Andropov when he was still its Chairman of the KGB, and then the secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. (In December 1982, 71-year-old N. Shchelokov was removed from the post of Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and committed suicide).

A month before Sokolov's arrest, the committee members, having chosen the moment when he was abroad, equipped the director's office with operational and technical means of audio and video control (they arranged a "short circuit in the electrical wiring" in the store, turned off the elevators and called the "repairmen"). All branches of Eliseevsky were also taken under the hood. Thus, many high-ranking officials who were in "special" relations with Sokolov and who were in his office, literally got into the field of view of the KGB Chekists in Moscow. Including, for example, the then all-powerful head of the traffic police N. Nozdryakov. Audio and video surveillance also recorded that the heads of the branches on Fridays came to Sokolov and handed envelopes to the director. Subsequently, part of the money raised from the deficit that did not reach the counter was transferred from the director's safe to the head of the Main Trade Directorate of the Executive Committee of the Moscow City Council Nikolai Tregubov and other interested parties. In a word, a serious evidence base was collected. On one Friday, all the "postmen", after having handed over envelopes with money to Sokolov, were arrested. The four soon confessed. The head of one of the departments of the KGB, who was assigned to lead the operation to arrest Sokolov, knew well that there was a security alarm button on Sokolov's desktop. Therefore, entering the director's office, he held out his hand to greet him. The "friendly" grip ended in a seizure, which prevented the owner of the office from raising the alarm. And only after that he was presented with an arrest warrant and the search began. At the same time, searches were already underway in all branches of the grocery store. Why did Politburo member Viktor Grishin interrupt his vacation and flew to Moscow Even before the end of the investigation into the Sokolov case and the transfer of the indictment to the court, the arrests of directors of large Moscow trading enterprises began. In total, in the Moscow Glavtorg system, since the summer of 1983, more than 15 thousands of people. Including the former head of the Glavtorg of the Moscow City Executive Committee Nikolai Tregubov.

The patrons tried to take him out of the blow and shortly before that they were transplanted into the chair of the manager of the Soyuztorg middle office of the USSR Ministry of Trade. However, the reshuffle did not save the official, as, by the way, and many of his new colleagues - high-ranking officials of the ministry. An interesting fact: having learned about the arrest of N. Tregubov, a member of the Politburo V. Grishin, who was on vacation, urgently flew to Moscow. However, there was nothing he could do. The career of the patron saint of the Moscow "trade mafia" was already at an end - in December 1985, Boris Yeltsin replaced him as secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU. The directors of the most famous Moscow grocery stores were behind bars: V. Filippov (Novoarbatsky grocery store), B. Tveretinov (GUM grocery store), S. Noniev (Smolensky grocery store), as well as V. Uraltsev, head of Mosplodovoshchprom, and fruit and vegetable director base M. Ambartsumyan, director of the "Gastronom" marketplace I. Korovkin, director of "Diettorg" Ilyin, director of the Kuibyshevsky regional food department M. Baigelman and a number of very respectable and responsible workers. The investigation will establish that in the case of Glavtorg, 757 people were united by stable criminal ties - from store directors to heads of trade in Moscow and the country, other industries and departments. According to the testimony of only 12 accused, through whose hands more than 1.5 million rubles of bribes were received, one can imagine the overall scale of corruption. According to the documents, the damage to the state was estimated at 3 million rubles (money was large at that time). Sokolov - an underground millionaire or an unmercenary person who slept on a soldier's bed? The party press began to speak harmoniously about the new NEP - the establishment of elementary order. The propaganda campaign was accompanied by reports of searches in the apartments and dachas of the "trade mafia". Large sums flashed in rubles, currency and jewelry found in hiding places. From the moment of Sokolov's arrest, letters continued to come from all over the country to the editorial offices of central newspapers, to the Central Committee of the CPSU and the KGB, demanding to punish the presumptuous traders to the fullest extent of the law.

Yuri Sokolov Information about how much "stuck" to the hands of Yuri Sokolov is very contradictory. A dacha where 50 thousand rubles were found in cash and bonds for several tens of thousands more, jewelry, a second-hand foreign car - this is according to some sources. According to others, the former front-line soldier took bribes and sent them "upstairs" to ensure the normal supply of the store, but he did not take a dime for himself. They even claimed that at Sokolov's house, they say, there was an iron bunk. True, at the same time they were silent that the director of the grocery store lived in an elite house next to the daughter of the former head of state Nikita Khrushchev. The death sentence to the director of "Eliseevsky" amazed even the KGB investigators. The meeting of the Criminal Board of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR in the case of Sokolov and other "financially responsible persons of grocery store No. 1" was held behind closed doors. Yuri Sokolov was found guilty under Articles 173 part 2 and 174 part 2 of the Criminal Code RSFSR (receiving and giving bribes on a large scale) and on November 11, 1984, sentenced to capital punishment - execution with confiscation of property. His deputy I. Nemtsev was sentenced to 14 years, A. Grigoriev - to 13, V. Yakovlev and A. Konkov - to 12, N. Svezhinsky - to 11 years in prison. At the trial, Sokolov did not refuse his testimony, read out to the court from a notebook the amounts of bribes and the names of high-ranking bribe givers. This was expected of him, and in order to avoid publicity of compromising material on major party and state functionaries, the court session was closed. Sokolov at court sessions repeated several times that he had become a "scapegoat", "a victim of party strife."

They say that the KGB officers involved in this criminal case were amazed at the death sentence against the defendant, who actively cooperated with the investigation and the court. Sokolov is hard to believe in a public expression of sympathy for the committee members. More plausible is the assumption that it was for the detailed testimony that Sokolov paid with his life. When later the former head of Moscow trade, Nikolai Tregubov, appeared before the court, through whom the main "tranches" of bribes passed, he pleaded not guilty and did not name any names. As a result, he received 15 years in prison. Remember, this is almost the same as the ordinary head of the department of the Eliseevsky grocery store! Two directors were executed, one - he sentenced himself to the death penalty. He did not have time to go through the shock of the shooting of Yuri Sokolov in the trading industry when a new execution sentence was pronounced - to the director of the fruit and vegetable base M. Hambardzumyan. The trial in the year of the 40th anniversary of the Victory over Nazi Germany did not find mitigating such circumstances as the participation of Mkhitar Ambartsumyan in the storming of the Reichstag and in the Victory Parade on Red Square in 1945. And he also testified. Another shot, the last in this criminal-political story, sounded outside the prison - without waiting for the trial, the director of the Smolensky grocery store S. Noniev committed suicide. For a long time, there was a rumor: Sokolov was shot immediately after the verdict - in a paddy wagon on the way from the court to the pre-trial detention center. Where did the unlikely version come from that Sokolov did not get to the pre-trial detention center alive after the last court session?

Let us recall that the investigation of other criminal cases against the employees of Glavtorg was already in full swing. And many high-ranking officials were interested in the fact that such a dangerous witness as Sokolov was "neutralized" as soon as possible. Most likely, it was from here that the rumor was born: Sokolov, they say, was rushed to remove, so that he did not have time to submit a request for pardon ... The government changed, demonstrative "flogging" for political reasons remained Sokolov, of course, a criminal. However, the court had ample reason to impose a non-death penalty for the nearly 60-year-old trade worker. But in this case, crime was in the background - the swaggering director became one of the pawns in the political struggle for supreme power. Literally a few months after the death of the former director of Eliseevsky, the rules of the game began to change on this field. The investigation into the "trade mafia" case began to wind down, a group of OBKhSS investigators, formed from specialists from many regions, was dispersed "to their homes." Alexander Sergeev