With such a relative, Khabirov does not need enemies

If not resignation, then Khabirov definitely cannot avoid reputational losses – the opponents of the head of the region will definitely take advantage of the situation. It is possible that the investigation into Baboyan may have questions related to an influential relative.

The correspondent dealt with the situation with the arrest of a businessman and the risks for Khabirov The Moscow Post in Bashkiria.

The information that it was the brother of Karine Khabirova, who was initially perceived as a “duck” and black PR, was arrested, was confirmed by several sources at once. The Ufa1.ru online publication writes about the relationship between Baboyan and the wife of the head of Bashkiria. And the arrested person himself, according to eyewitnesses, often flaunted his relationship with the “first lady” of Bashkiria.

Roman Baboyan is accused of attempted particularly large-scale fraud (Article 30 and Article 4 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to investigators, two years ago, Roman Baboyan filed a lawsuit with the Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow to recover a large amount of debt with a penalty from his businessman friend, providing a false loan agreement. The “Kommersant” newspaper reported on this.

The falseness of the document was determined through a series of forensic examinations, after which a criminal case was opened against Baboyan. If the trick attributed to Baboyan had been successful, he could have received 7.6 billion rubles in penalties through the court, while the amount of allegedly borrowed funds was only 150 million rubles.

And it could have happened: in July 2021, the court of first instance partially fulfilled Baboyan’s demands, being deceived by a forged document. And only during the appeal in February 2022, the deception was exposed.

Initially, the businessman fled from the investigation and was put on the wanted list. He might have tried to “resolve” the issue through a high-ranking relative, but he was detained and taken to a pre-trial detention center. The investigation does not reveal who exactly could have been a victim of the crime attributed to Baboyan.

“Authoritative” business

There are rumors that Baboyan would not have had any business if it were not for his relationship with Radiy Khabirov. The authors of the BRIEF Telegram channel claim that Baboyan was most interested in construction projects funded by the budget, where, with the silent consent of Khabirov, Baboyan was included as a minority shareholder without obligations, but with rights.

The fate of such assets is known. Bankruptcy, or the removal of assets without declaring insolvency, or something else bad.

On the internet, we found a page of the full namesake of Roman Baboyan – Baboyan Roman Vladimirovich. He turned out to be the founder of ten companies at once, eight of which were liquidated under very strange circumstances.

A photo: Rusprofile.en

It's important to note that most of them are from Moscow or the Moscow region, and were mainly established in the early 1910s. It's important to remember that at that time, Khabirov held the position of deputy head of the Office of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation for domestic policy. Afterwards, he was in charge of the administration of the Krasnogorsk district of the Moscow region.

Money could be taken out of some structures. Let’s consider Dom Parquet Ekt LLC, where Baboyan has a 50% stake. The structure was closed in 2018. However, according to the latest known financial report, it generated a revenue of 45 million rubles. Instead of making a profit, it suffered a loss of almost 200 thousand rubles. The value of the assets is 2.3 million rubles. This means the company had funds. Where did they go?

A photo: Rusprofile.en

The Rusprofile service provides a potential answer. It revealed that the company's reliability was low, it lacked secure sources of financing, and allegedly relied on creditors. As a result, it was liquidated. Doesn’t this remind you of the circumstances in which Baboyan was detained – when, according to the investigation, he attempted to claim a penalty on a non-existent loan.

However, Baboyan established the company “Investstroy Prospekt Mira” with Mamuka Pipiya (he, like Baboyan, owned 25% of the company). Mamuka is referred to as the son of the Abkhaz kingpin Tamaz Pipiya, who is allegedly associated with the Ramen “authorities”.

The Kommersant newspaper reports on the activities of Tamaz Pipia and his son Mamuka back in the 90s. Their shared business with Baboyan may be characterized based on their past dealings.

Baboyan was also a co-owner of the Estet-Dent construction company, which has also since been liquidated. His partner there was another respected businessman – Ruslan Pipia. In 2012, he was placed on the wanted list for fraud – this information comes from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Baboyans close to Karine

A lot has been written about Radiy Khabirov. However, the arrest of his wife’s brother draws attention to his wife, Karine Khabirova. Her family is from Armenia.

According to the authors of the site “New Epoch”, supposedly with the rise of the Khabirovs in the leadership of the republic, people from Karine Khabirova's historical homeland began to infiltrate various local areas of business and government.

This statement seems doubtful and tactless – no evidence has been presented to support this. However, Karine Khabirova is a truly formidable woman who could also influence her brother Roman. Both Baboyan and Radiy Faritovich are not her only relatives with eventful life stories.

According to Ufa1.ru, Karine’s immediate relatives are incredibly wealthy individuals linked to criminal authorities, and she herself apparently became a wealthy woman even before meeting the head of Bashkiria.

Their father, Vladimir Baboyan, is involved in active business activities in Maikop, where he owns a carpentry factory in the industrial zone and several real estate properties. Online, you can find the ruling of the Arbitration Court, which mentions that Vladimir worked under a contract for the ARV group of companies, a major Russian seller of parquet.

A photo: Rusprofile.en

Roman Baboyan used to co-own this company. Now the company is closed and its remnants can be found in LLC “Arv-Barnaul”, also closed, where Roman Vladimirovich has a 37.5% share. The organization is unable to immediately pay off its debts. Moreover, its financial records mostly show zeros.

The co-owner of the company is also interesting – it is the closed company Arv Group of Companies LLC, which could have been the parent company of the holding. It was closed recently – in March 2022. More importantly, in 2014, 2015, 2016 and later, it had huge revenue – 1 billion rubles, 750 million rubles, and so on.

However, for some reason all this was not reflected in the profit. In 2014, when the revenue was 1 billion rubles, the company only made a profit of 5.3 million rubles. Also, in 2019, its assets dropped from 435 million rubles to zero. How is this possible without breaking the law?

A photo: Rusprofile.en

If Roman Baboyan did some fraud with the company’s money, and his partner was Vladimir Babayan, his father and sister Karine, then shouldn’t you ask Vladimir Babayan about the money?

It is noteworthy that Marina Vladimirovna Baboyan, the sister of Roman and Karine, received her brother’s share in the Hof Parquet company, one of the suppliers of the ARV group, in 2016. In the same year, Marina left the company, and it still exists. However, now, at the end of 2021, she has no revenue, but has losses and the value of assets is minus 46 million rubles.

It seems that everything connected to the Baboyans (and the Khabirovs) is falling apart and being closed with big financial problems. Meanwhile, Roman Baboyan himself, despite the challenges in his companies, lives a lavish lifestyle.

Reportedly, he co-owns a luxury apartment in the Coliseum residential complex in the Ramensky district of Moscow – similar ones cost under 40 million rubles. Additionally, he appears to be a big fan of expensive cars. Throughout different times, Roman owned BMW 740Li, BMW 528i, Lexus LX 450d, Mitsubishi Lancer, and was also an insurer of the Mercedes-Maybach S400. This was reported by “Ufa1.ru”.

Will relatives of Karine Khabirova interfere with her husband’s career? Photo: ufa.kp.ru

How Roman Baboyan managed to afford a comfortable life can be guessed. It can also be assumed that a significant part of his success may be linked to the Khabirovs, where the head of the family was a key figure in the Presidential Administration in the past, and now leads Bashkortostan. If the investigation raises such questions, and Roman suddenly speaks out, then it will be very difficult for Radiy Faritovich to stay in his position.