Alexander Orlov, the restaurateur and founder of the Tanuki and Ersh chains, who were on the international wanted list, said he was in London. He talked about this in a conversation with . Forbes.kz.
Orlov described the filing of a criminal case against him, which may be linked to the businessman’s former fitness center, as a surprise. He said that the transactions regarding the center have been carried out legally for the last two years, and that no one has mentioned that they may face criminal liability during this period.
“I was one of the investors of this project in the past, but I had no influence on its operational activities. That’s why I think the allegations against me are not entirely justified,” Orlov added.
According to the businessman, his lawyers are working on the case. He is confident that the parties can reach an amicable agreement:
“I think that in the near future we will be able to resolve financial disputes, we will not owe anyone anything and all this will end. Of course, such situations primarily damage your reputation, but you have to deal with this from time to time in business life.”
Orlov expressed the opinion that the misunderstanding was due to the fact that he had not lived in Russia for some time. According to him, he closed his business in his home country and is starting a new business abroad.
“I’m in London right now. We just opened our Greek restaurant Gaia here. “We will open a new facility in Hong Kong very soon,” Orlov said.
In addition, in his interview with the publication, the businessman made evaluations about the fire that occurred on December 2 in the Orlovskie Bani bath complex he owns in Astana. He noted that no one was injured during the incident because all holidaymakers were evacuated on time.
“At that time I was in the bathhouse with my London friends and then I received the news that one of my log houses had burned down in Astana. Nothing critical happened there,” Orlov added.
According to him, the fire area was about 100 square meters. The fire was extinguished in a short time and visitors rested in other wooden huts and continued their bathing procedures. He also said the building would need a facelift and promised to strengthen security measures to prevent such situations.
Orlov case
In mid-November, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs placed Alexander Orlov on the international wanted list. According to the Shot Telegram channel, he is wanted under a criminal article “Causing especially large material damage by an organized group” (Part 2 of Article 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). A businessman may encounter up to five years imprisonment.
The exact reason for initiating criminal proceedings was not specified. As the publication reports “Kommersant”It may be related to rent arrears on the fitness center building that once belonged to Orlov.
According to preliminary data, Mercury Fitness LLC, the legal entity co-founded by the restaurateur, did not pay for the use of the property and made infrastructure changes without the landlord’s knowledge. So a swimming pool was built inside the fitness club. Total damage amounted to approximately 110 million rubles.
What is Alexander Orlov famous for?
In 2004, the restaurateur, together with Andrei Isaev, founded the Tanuki chain of Japanese restaurants. Later, Orlov opened the businesses “Ruff” and the delivery service “Your Pizza” and several restaurants. He became the owner of the Bulldozer Group holding, which includes several dozen restaurants located in Russia, Kazakhstan, UAE, Hong Kong and Ukraine.
In 2022 Orlov left Russia. Tanuki sold 33.3% shares of three Russian assets, Tanuki-Krasnodar and Tanuki-Novgorod, to businessman Andrey Askerko. He also sold the Bulldozer Group to unnamed investors in the Middle East. The restaurateur speaks negatively about Russian politics on social networks.