The case against the director of the Moscow grocery store No. 1 (Eliseevsky) Yuri Sokolov is still the most striking example of Andropov's fight against corruption in the USSR. It was with this case that the KGB made it clear in the early 80s that there were no more untouchables in the Soviet Union, and anyone could get into Lefortovo (the KGB's special prison). And, like any high-profile case, Sokolov's case today has overgrown with many rumors and speculation, from which we will try to get away by setting out the whole story as impartially as possible.
The dizzying career of a previously convicted taxi driver
The future almighty director of the nation's largest deli was born in 1923. Participated in the Great Patriotic War, had several military awards. After the war, he worked as a laborer, loader, driver, and eventually got a job in a taxi company as a taxi driver. And here the first inconsistencies in Sokolov's biography begin.
According to a widespread version, at the end of the 50s, Sokolov was detained red-handed by officers of the OBKHSS (Department for Combating theft of Socialist Property) for giving a ride to a passenger and receiving money outside the counter. For which he received a term of 1.5 years, which he served completely. But here's the paradox, for some reason Sokolov was not deprived of military awards, although in those days it was a common practice. And in general, 1.5 years is too short a period for an "economic" article, where the terms in those days started from five years.
There is another version, according to which Sokolov was simply “framed”. His replacement left a certain amount in the glove compartment of the car. Which was found by the staff of the OBKHSS. Sokolov could not explain the presence of this money (which was much more than the counter showed), and he was convicted, deprived of awards. However, after a couple of years, Sokolov's replacement was caught red-handed and admitted, among other things, that he had “framed” his colleague. Sokolov was acquitted, released from the colony and the awards returned.
This version explains how a previously convicted person was able to get a job as a seller in the largest grocery store in Moscow. Moreover, Sokolov was able not only to work as a seller, but also to enter the Institute of National Economy (the famous Plekhanovka) at the correspondence department. But the competition for this institute in those days was very selective.
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From 1963 to 1972, Sokolov was able to go from a salesman to a store director. And it was a dizzying career. Which shows that the future director was strongly promoted by someone. And if you remember that it was in those days that the same notorious trading mafia was born, with which Yuri Andropov tried to fight in the early 1980s, then it is easy to guess that Sokolov was already at the level of the seller, as they say, in the cage. After all, thieves and robbers at key posts needed their own people. Which will work not for the country, but for the welfare of specific people.
Andropov's choice
At the same time, people who knew Sokolov note that the almighty "king of scarcity" (as he was popularly called) was actually a good person. Attentive to its employees, responsive, always ready to help. One of the KGB investigators who worked on this case would later say about Sokolov:
“We knew that Sokolov was a thief, which are few, and millions of rubles passed through his hands.
And yet it was amazing to hear the testimonies of how good and, most incredibly, not greedy person he was. It seems like two absolutely opposite sides, but they somehow managed to combine in one person …"
When Andropov began his "crusade" against the Moscow trade mafia, it was not by chance that he chose Eliseevsky. It was through this store that the bulk of bribes passed, which the directors of stores, wholesale centers, restaurants, catering establishments, markets “sent” to the Glavtorg of Moscow and further to the City Party Committee and the Ministry of Trade. It was in it that deficits (in addition to nomenclature rations) were purchased by the Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Nikolai Shchelokov, his deputy Yuri Churbanov and even his wife (and also the daughter of Leonid Brezhnev) Galina. And it was this trinity that Andropov considered the main patrons of corrupt officials and bribe-takers not only in Moscow but throughout the country.
It all began with the arrest of Viktor Avilov, director of the Beryozka foreign exchange store. This store had nothing to do with Glavtorg, let alone Eliseevsky. But Avilov's wife worked as Sokolov's deputy and kept a large amount of money in foreign currency in a work safe.
According to the most common version, Sokolova's deputy never gave any evidence, for which she was sentenced to a maximum term of 15 years in prison. But if Avilova did not say anything about the business at Eliseevskoye, why did the KGB grab hold of the store with a stranglehold? After all, the case began while Leonid Brezhnev was still alive, and if the KGB did not have iron evidence, then the secretary general could well cut from the shoulder, remove Andropov from the Presidium of the Central Committee and remove him from the leadership of the KGB. And since this did not happen, it means that at least the investigators had operational information.
Still, Sokolov's arrest required irrefutable evidence. Otherwise, the whole thing could have ended in one big puff. Sokolov was surrounded from all sides. His phone was tapped around the clock, all his movements were carefully recorded, the latest audio and video equipment was installed in his office and apartment.
The KGB officers managed to obtain video recordings of how the directors of the Yeliseevsky branches bring puffy envelopes to Sokolov every week. Which the director of the grocery store №i, having carefully closed the office, sorts them, putting them in other envelopes. Then he goes to Glavtorg, Ministry of Trade, city committee. Returning from there already without envelopes.
Still, Sokolov was arrested only after several directors of the branches, in exchange for leniency, agreed to testify against the boss about giving bribes. Sokolov was arrested in broad daylight on November 1, 1982. Moreover (according to one version, on the personal order of Andropov), they were handcuffed through the entire store. Where, as usual, thousands of buyers crowded. And within a couple of days this demonstrative arrest was discussed not only in Moscow, but almost throughout the country.
The investigation is at an impasse
Sokolov was in no hurry to admit, firmly stood his ground that the money confiscated from him was his personal savings. And in the envelopes that were given to him by his subordinates from the branches (the fact of the transfer was recorded on video), there were … reports on the activities of the branches and applications for the supply of products. (The most interesting thing is that the KGB officers did find the envelopes with the aforementioned reports and applications.) Well, the testimony of some branch directors is nothing more than a slip of the tongue.
The accusation began to pour in, by and large there was practically nothing to show Sokolov. During searches at the apartment and dacha of the director of "Eliseevsky", huge amounts and valuables were not found. And the money that was seized in his office, he really could save. The KGB officers needed the director's recognition, which Andropov ordered to achieve at any cost.
Sokolov held out for a long time, but then suddenly he spoke. And again, around the confessions of the director of "Eliseevsky" riddles have formed. According to the most common version, Sokolov was strongly influenced by the suicide of Interior Minister Shchelokov. And also a firm promise almost from Andropov himself that in case of confessions Sokolov will receive the minimum of the possible sentence. According to another version, less known, the KGB technicians assembled from different pieces the speeches of Grishin and the head of Mosglavtorg Nikolai Tregubov at the party conference, where they stigmatize Sokolov and demand that he be expelled from the party. And it was these performances that influenced Sokolov, who felt that his patrons had written off him.
Sincere confession
Sokolov's confession shocked even the KGB investigators, who seemed to be already in the subject. The director of Eliseevsky told in detail how millions of rubles passed through his store, to whom and how they were distributed, how an artificial shortage was created and much more.
For example, in Soviet times, there were standards for the storage of perishable food. In the "Eliseevsky" back in the 70s, the latest Finnish refrigerators were installed, which kept food much longer than Soviet ones. However, the food write-off rates did not change. Because Sokolov sent the envelopes to the right people on time. Likewise, only through bribes, supplies of products to other stores were carried out. If you do not enter the envelope, then you are shipped low-quality goods, and the revenue plan remains the same. And the obstinate director, who did not want to live like everyone else, flew from his post for not fulfilling the plan. It's the same with restaurants and cafes. If the director brought in an envelope, then he will be shipped high-quality meat, scarce brandy, chocolates, fresh vegetables and fruits. If you don't bring it in, they will ship the bad, and at the same price as the quality product.
A separate method of money laundering was order tables. Any Soviet citizen could order a certain amount of food through the order table in advance. The goods were paid through the order table through the cashier. But “theirs” understood that they had to pay more for quality products. That is why, for example, yuo paid for goods with a nominal value of 25 rubles. The "friends" received their orders through the back door, the rest - in turn. And the corresponding "cost" of the condition …
Handed over his own?
Sokolov told so much that, on the basis of his testimony, more than 15 thousand employees of Moscow trade were dismissed, were put on trial, demoted, etc. However, as it turns out a little later, Sokolov was silent for too long. His trial took place after Andropov's death, when Konstantin Chernenko came to power.
According to the main version, Sokolov was not forgiven for surrendering "his" people. Those who were involved in corruption did everything possible so that the “corrupt official number 1” was sentenced to death. And so that it will be carried out as soon as possible. According to another version, after Andropov's death, the KGB officers simply "forgot" about their guarantees and promises …
