Sheriff (company)

Sheriff (russian: Шериф) is the second-largest company in the unrecognised breakaway state Transnistria. It is based in the city of Tiraspol. Formed in the early 1990s by Viktor Gușan and Ilya Kazmaly, former members of the special services, Sheriff has grown to include nearly all forms of profitable private business in the unrecognised country, and has even become significantly involved in local politics and sport, with some commentators saying that company loyalists hold most main government positions in the territory. Anatoly Dirun, director of the Tiraspol School of Political Studies, stated that "Viktor Gușan is the person with the most influence here, both in politics and economics."

Company

Sheriff owns a chain of petrol stations, a chain of supermarkets, a TV channel, a publishing house, a construction company, a Mercedes-Benz dealer, an advertising agency, a spirits factory, two bread factories, a mobile phone network, the football club FC Sheriff Tiraspol and its home ground Sheriff Stadium, a project which also included a five-star hotel.

Political dealings and corruption

Due to Transnistrian government policies that have isolated the region from the rest of Moldova, Sheriff holds a monopoly in multiple industries in the unrecognized state.Solovyev, V. & Zygar M. (19 September 2006)
''The Old Guard Wins in Transdniestria.''Kommersant: Russia's Daily Online
. Retrieved 2006-11-08. In the early years, this has also led to corruption between the government of Igor Smirnov and Sheriff. Where the company would support Transnistrian government policy and in return, the customs service, which was headed by the president's son, Vladimir, gave Sheriff an unfair reduction on taxes and import duties and is also said to be a major silent partner among the leadership of the company. Some media sources have also claimed that Oleg Smirnov, who was another son of Igor Smirnov, was a part of top leadership of Sheriff company, though these claims have never been directly proven and following after 2006 the leadership of Sheriff have publicly opposed Smirnov's politics. Mysteriously following the 2011 Transnistrian presidential election which Igor ended up losing, allegations of Smirnov's clan involvement in Sheriff disappeared from articles about Transnistria.McCracken, Patti (12 February 2006)
"''A place the world chooses to forget: Moldova's breakaway region is a pawn in its fight with Russia.''"The San Francisco Chronicle.
Retrieved 2006-11-17.Jahn, George (18 January 2004)
The Washington Times.
Retrieved 2006-11-17.

Over the years, Transnistria's indeterminate status has slowed the growth of Sheriff.''"Moldova's Future Uncertain."''
(PDF)
International Crisis Group.
Retrieved 8 November 2006. When a new party, Renewal, was formed in 2000 which had the goal of Transnistrian independence from Moldova and also supported big business interests, Sheriff supported them,Protsyk, Oleh
"Moldova's Dilemmas in Democratizing and Reintegrating Transnistria."
(PDF)
International Policy Fellowships.
Retrieved 8 November 2006.pridnestrovie.net.
Retrieved 8 November 2006.Botan, Igor (17 January 2006)
''"Democracy and governing in Moldova."''E-Democracy.
Retrieved 2006-11-16. Sheriff co-founder IIya Kazmaly, as well as the company's Human Resources Director, Ilona Tyuryaeva, were elected to serve in Transnistrian parliament as members of Renewal.

Sheriff has used its economic clout to sway elections in Transnistria, by virtue of their ownership of the country's mobile/landline phone network and of TSV, a local television station. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, the Sheriff-supported Renewal party gained an absolute majority in Transnistrian parliament, winning 23 of 43 seats. This victory ousted the long-time Speaker of Parliament Grigori Maracutsa, who was replaced with Renewal leader Evgeny Shevchuk, who also had strong ties to Sheriff.

Following this electoral win, the government of president Smirnov later accused Shevchuk and Sheriff of plotting a coup d'état in Transnistria, claiming that Sheriff was plotting to reintegrate Transnistria with Moldova, in return for profitable business conditions for the company there. The claims were later denied by Sheriff, which maintained that they also desire independence from Moldova. Following multiple attacks between the two parties, Smirnov ended received the support of the Russian government against Sheriff, and Shevchuk disappeared almost entirely from the media despite being the president of Transnistria, and did not register to be a candidate in the 2006 Transnistrian presidential election. However, in the 2011 Transnistrian presidential election, Shevchuk beat both Igor Smirnov and Renewal's new leader Anatoliy Kaminski to become president. On 29 December 2012, Shevchuk issued a decree abolishing all preferences previously granted to Sheriff by Igor Smirnov and which ending the period of the company's unfair market position in Transnistria's economy.

In 2015, it was alleged that roughly one third of all the money from the Transnistrian budget was paid out to companies owned by Sheriff.

Notes and references

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheriff (Company)
Companies of Transnistria
1993 establishments in Moldova
Companies established in 1993