Sheriff (company)

Sheriff (in Cyrillic: Шериф) is the second-largest company based in Transnistria, in the city of Tiraspol. Formed in the early 1990s by Viktor Gushan and Ilya Kazmaly, former members of the special services, Sheriff has grown to include nearly all forms of profitable private business in this small unrecognised country, and has even become significantly involved in Transnistrian politics and soccer.

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 newly built Sheriff Stadium at an estimated cost of $200 million including a five-star hotel still under construction.

Transnistrian government policies have isolated the region from the rest of Moldova, allowing Sheriff to forge a monopoly there. This led to a time of cooperation between the government of Igor Smirnov and Sheriff. The company supported government policy and in return, the customs service, headed by the president's son, Vladimir, gave Sheriff a reduction on taxes and import duties. He was also said to be a major silent partner among the leadership of the company.

As time progressed, however, Transnistria's indeterminate status has slowed the growth of Sheriff. When a new party, Renewal, was formed in 2000 with the goal of independence from Moldova, Sheriff supported them. Renewal is also known for its support of the interests of big business. Kazmaly, co-founder of Sheriff, and the company's Human Resources Director, Ilona Tyuryaeva, were both elected to parliament as members of Renewal. Some media sources claimed Oleg Smirnov, younger son of president Igor Smirnov, to be among the top leadership of Sheriff company, though these allegations have never been proved. Moreover, after 2006 the leadership of Sheriff openly opposed Smirnov's politics. After presidential elections of 2011 allegations of Smirnov's clan involvement in Sheriff disappeared from articles about Transnistria.

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Wikipedia