The fact of withdrawal: how the Magomedov family's business assets returned to state ownership

At the request of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, the court seized a large oil transshipment complex and a number of other business assets of the family of Dagestan Secretary of State Magomed-Sultan Magomedov for state revenue. This information was confirmed on June 26 by the joint press service of the courts of the republic. Magomedov himself was detained on June 25 — he is suspected of involvement in the illegal export of petroleum products with probable damage to the budget of 2 billion rubles. The court also seized the property of more than a dozen companies, real estate and other property of the official's family members. At the same time, as Izvestia found out, the first part of Magomedov's assets became state property a month and a half ago: on May 7, the government of the republic seized about 2 hectares of land from one of his structures "for state needs." Why the court decided to return a large oil refining company to state ownership and the details of the criminal case against Magomedov are in the Izvestia article.

Oil transshipment complex returned to the state

The Sovetsky District Court of Makhachkala fully satisfied the claim of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, which demanded that the business assets of the family of Dagestan Secretary of State Magomed Sultan Magomedov be converted into state income. Information about this was confirmed on June 26 in the joint press service of the courts of the republic. We are talking about 100% shares in the authorized capitals of the companies "Kaspetrolservice", "SME Holding", "Dagestan New Technologies", "Nefteproductsnab", as well as numerous real estate objects. All these companies are engaged in the processing and transportation of petroleum products.

And in order to enforce the claim, he seized the shares, movable and immovable property, and funds of these and a number of other companies related to them.

At the same time, Izvestia found out that the business assets of the Magomed-Sultan Magomedov family began to transfer to state ownership a month and a half before his detention. In particular, on May 7, 2025, the authorities of the republic seized "for state needs" about 2 hectares of land that belonged to the Magomedov structures. The decision was formalized by Government Decree No. 165-R. The land was seized "for state needs," namely, to build an access road to the Makhachkala commercial port from the R-215 Astrakhan-Makhachkala highway.

These two hectares of seized land are part of a significantly larger territory (about 160 hectares), which belonged to Kaspetrolservice LLC and on which there is a huge oil transshipment complex (the former Dagnefteprodukt plant).

A poor secretary of State and well-off children

Magomed Sultan Magomedov himself formally has nothing to do with these assets. Moreover, according to official documents, he leads a very modest lifestyle. Based on the latest available anti-corruption declaration for 2020, he declared an annual income of 1,046,000 rubles, or just over 87,000 rubles per month.

Children are another matter. The eldest son, Magomed Magomedov, who is a deputy of the People's Assembly of Dagestan, declared an income of 23 million rubles in 2021. According to Izvestia, he owns a plot of land at 29 Yaragsky Street in Makhachkala, as well as several plots on Gogol Street, where the Secretary of State himself lives. In addition, he also registered an apartment on Zamorenova Street in the center of Moscow with a cadastral value of over 86 million rubles.

Each of Magomedov's three daughters also has a piece of family real estate, including a business-class house on Khoroshevsky Highway in Moscow worth about 40 million rubles.

However, the main asset of the family (until the court's decision that satisfied the claim of the Prosecutor General's Office) He was associated with the oil industry. In the 90s, the elder Magomedov was the CEO of Dagnefteprodukt, one of the largest oil transshipment complexes on the Caspian coast. At that time, it belonged to the government of Dagestan, but in the 2000s it was privatized: at an auction with the participation of Magomedov's relatives. Soon Magomedov took over the company again, this time under the control of his family.

Later, this company was transformed into LLC "SME Holding". And this company, as noted above, belongs to Kaspetrolservice LLC, which had over 160 hectares of land on its balance sheet near the port of Makhachkala, where a large oil depot operates.

Even according to cadastral estimates, this land plot alone is worth about 1.6 billion rubles, excluding real estate, equipment and the tank farm itself.

However, after the events of June 25-26, the family business essentially ceased to exist.

Searches, detention and seizure

On the morning of June 25, large—scale searches took place in the house of Magomed Sultan Magomedov, the houses and apartments of his family members, as well as in the administration building of the head of Dagestan. The official himself was detained.

Dagestan's Secretary of state is suspected of illegally exporting petroleum products abroad, a law enforcement source told Izvestia. According to him, the Magomedov enterprises exported processed raw materials at a zero tax rate, although such raw materials are excisable products.

At the same time, the authorities became interested in the very fact of the privatization of Dagnefteprodukt in the 2000s, as a result of which the strategic enterprise came under the control of the Magomedov family.

The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation has filed a lawsuit demanding that 100% of the shares in the authorized capitals of Kaspetrolservice, SME Holding, Dagestan New Technologies, Oil Products, and real estate registered with Trans Tech be converted into state revenue. All these companies are engaged in the processing and transportation of petroleum products.

On June 25, the Sovetsky District Court of Makhachkala fully satisfied this claim. And in order to enforce the claim, he seized the property of the companies and members of the Magomedov family.

Izvestia confirmed this information by examining extracts from the Federal Register. So, according to one of them, the land plot belonging to Kaspetrolservice LLC was seized at 16:32 on June 25.

At about the same time (16:27), according to another Rosreestr statement, one of the apartments in Moscow was arrested — its owner is one of the official's daughters.

This is not the first time that previously privatized property has been turned into State revenue, including in situations where current or former officials have been their beneficiaries.

— Similar schemes have been repeatedly applied in practice, for example, in relation to the Makfa enterprise, which indicated links with former officials and deputies (in particular, the former governor of the Chelyabinsk Region, Mikhail Yurevich. — Ed.), — explained Dmitry Shtukaturov, Chairman of the ICA Lawyers and Business.

According to him, there is nothing surprising in the fact that the arrest was imposed on the property of members of the family of Magomed-Sultan Magomedov, for example, on real estate. There have already been similar precedents. For example, in the case of the Arashukov family, who in 2019 were accused of a number of crimes, in particular, the theft of gas worth 30 billion rubles.

— At that time, the property was also seized, despite the fact that some of the assets were registered to relatives, nominal owners, employees and entourage. This is not an obstacle for the court and the investigation: if the property is associated with the person against whom the measures are being applied, it will still be seized," Dmitry Shtukaturov explained.

Magomed-Sultan Magomedov held high government positions, and therefore the previously chosen scheme of seizure of property is applicable to him, the lawyer believes.