“Biryulyovo disorders had a purpose of hostile takeover”

Interview by Musa Musayev, Makhachkala. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

The disorder at Moscow’s Biryulyovo was not a spontaneous protest by local residents, but a carefully-planned act to engage football fans in order to carry out a hostile takeover of a vegetable market belonging to Dagestani businessmen, said Dagestani MP Murad Payzulayev in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza.

- Are you monitoring the situation inspired by the events in Biryulyovo? Are the events being inspired by someone or is it really a sign of grievance by the local residents over the uncontrolled crime caused by migrants?

- The situation is heated about around the vegetable warehouse, most shareholders of which come from our republic. The crime committed five kilometers away from the base, which resulted in the death of a young man, must have legal recriminations and the criminal responsible for the murder should be punished. But it would be logical to have all other criminals responsible for murders of innocent citizens, including Caucasian, Middle Asian, natives of other states and peoples, caught in the same manner. Everyone should be equal before the law and it would be best to have murderers and those people found as timely and take them to the office of the Russian interior minister. Otherwise it seems as though the suspect was found under pressure of certain people stressing on the ethnic aspect.

Through the lens of the Biryulyovo events, we can see that some members of the authorities try to form a crossing line between law-abiding and successful businessmen of non-Slav origin and illegal residents from other states working in the capital of our country. Despite the fact that the crime and the criminal had nothing to do with Novye Cheremushki, part of the pogrom-makers under the leadership of provokers broke into the vegetable warehouse of the company and damaged the Biryuza Trade Center. It was later revealed that most of the pogrom-makers (70%, according to some data) were not residents of Biryulyovo. They were young people from other areas and under control, part of them were football fans. Many of them later admitted that they were promised financial rewards that have never been given.

It turns out that there were not that many pogrom-making residents of Biryulyovo supposedly tired of outrageous behaviour of the so-called natives of Caucasian and Middle Asian appearance illegally living on the territory of their district and working at the Pokrovskaya Base. Special grievance is provoked by the fact that, instead of calming and neutralizing the pogrom-makers, the police started catching illegal migrants. About 1200 people were caught. They learned later that almost all of them were living and working in the capital legally. At the same time, we must remember that officials of state and municipal structures are fully responsible for the so-called illegal migrants in Moscow. State authorities often engage in close ‘cooperation’ with business structures using those illegal migrants, instead of following civilized methods strictly according to international norms and national laws.

Now we are seeing how everyone is trying to wash their hands of the affair and lay the blame on the businessmen and natives of Dagestan. Everyone understands that the authorities of the warehouse had nothing to do with the events in Biryulyovo. According to some sources, there was an order to detain the owners of the Pokrovskaya Base, Aliaskhab Gajiyev and Igor Isayev, and keep them under arrest until the problem of sales of the base is solved.

It becomes clear that the events were pre-directed by someone. There is just one goal – hostile takeover of Novye Cheremushki and its assets. It must be said that the Pokrovskaya Base was named the best among similar fruit and vegetable centers. The Novye Cheremushki joint-stock company is a major logistical center. The company is the leader of the Moscow vegetable market. According to Forbes, the Pokrovskaya Base owns 70% of the Moscow market in certain categories of vegetable products. The annual turnover of the company, according to some data, is worth tens of billions of rubles. So it is evident that the assets of Dagestani businessmen are of great interest for the competitors. This is why is becomes clear that the situation was regulated by puppeteers trying to carry out a hostile takeover of assets and take control of them on the background of the fuss.

- Are the investigators going the wrong way?

- The law enforcers handled the job without gloves, using illegal actions against staff and chairman of the board of Novye Cheremushki, Magomed Churilov. Lawyers say that he was questioned by one-after-another investigators without food, sleep and rest. As a result, he passed out. Only then, a doctor was called. What kind of barbaric methods are they, when they are used against the law by those who are supposed to protect the law? What country do we live in? This should not be allowed in a civilized society and should be reacted to.

It would be fair to note that practically no reaction to the events came from the Dagestani office at the Russian president. Over a thousand Dagestanis work at the said base. They may all lose opportunity to maintain themselves their their families, as well as many relatives in the republic. The deputy corps of the Russian State Duma and People’s Assembly need to finally take measures to stop illegal actions against natives of our republic. We are all part of one great country and attempts to separate us via our ethnic features may result in serious repercussions.

- What do MPs plan to do in response to LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s statements offending Caucasians?

- The situation around natives of Dagestan in the republic and different regions of the country is intentionally aggravated by people and sometimes by some state structures and members of political parties. At the Poyedinok show, TV watchers could again see Mr. Zhirinovsky making nationalistic slogans. He is openly urging the Russian population to hate and oppose natives of the Caucasus Region of the country. Why does Zhirinovsky get away with that? Is this not an attempt to provoke interethnic tensions, so dangerous in our multinational society, and who gave him the right to offend peoples?

I do not understand why there is no proper reaction to the said facts from state officials who are supposed to prevents such acts, capable of shattering the fundament of our multinational and multi-religious state, according to the law? It should be punished by law and investigators should have initiated a criminal case against Mr. Zhirinovsky. The same goes to some mass media sources that, unfortunately, lack impartial descriptions of events, often fulfilling someone’s prepaid order. Members of the Dagestani People’s Council ask the political authorities of Russia to strip Vladimir Zhirinovsky of his parliamentary mandate.