The court refused to return the case of fraud involving national park lands to Kabardino-Balkaria.

The appellate court rejected the appeal of the defense of two defendants accused of fraud involving a plot of land in the Elbrus National Park against the court's decision to transfer the case to the Maykop court.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," in March, police placed Murat Efendiyev, former deputy chairman of the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria, on the wanted list. Investigators believe Efendiyev may be involved in fraud involving a 6-square-kilometer plot of land in the Elbrus region, with damages estimated at 31 million rubles. In June, the Russian Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant in absentia for Efendiyev.

The criminal case against Uzeir Kurdanov, the former head of the Elbrus village administration, and Larisa Kadyrova has been submitted to the Maykop City Court for consideration, Gazeta Yuga reported today.

"The Prosecutor General's Office petitioned for a change in territorial jurisdiction, finding that there are circumstances 'that could cast doubt on the objectivity and impartiality' of the courts in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and the North Caucasus Federal District," the publication stated.

According to the case file on the Maykop City Court website, Larisa Kadyrova is charged under Part 4 of Article 174.1 of the Russian Criminal Code. 1 and part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation 2, and Uzeyir Kurdanov - under Part 3 of Article 286 3 and part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The case was filed with the court on September 9, and the hearing is scheduled for 10:00 Moscow time on October 2, according to the court file.

Appeal ruling No. APL25-224 against the court's decision granting the First Deputy Prosecutor General's motion to change the territorial jurisdiction of the case has been published on the website of the Supreme Court of Russia.

The document states that by a ruling of a judge of the Supreme Court of Russia dated June 6, 2025, the territorial jurisdiction of the criminal case against Kadyrova and Kurdanov was changed, and the case was transferred to the Maykop City Court of Adygea for consideration on the merits.

The criminal case is under the jurisdiction of the Elbrus District Court of Kabardino-Balkaria, but a representative of the Prosecutor General's Office requested the Supreme Court transfer the case to another region. This decision was challenged by the defendants' lawyers, who argued that the Prosecutor General's Office's motion "was not based on objective evidence."

However, the court decided that, given the situation of Murat Efendiev and Azret Kadyrov, Larisa Kadyrova's brother, "when the case is considered by the courts of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and in the North Caucasus Federal District, decisions made in the context of this criminal case, regardless of their substance, may be questioned from the standpoint of objectivity and impartiality."

The decision to change the territorial jurisdiction of the case "is lawful and justified," the appellate court stated and rejected the lawyers' appeal.

As a reminder, in 2022, residents of the Elbrus district were actively discussing deals to sell resort lands when security forces conducted a series of Searches.

Land surveying and cadastral registration of land plots in the national park were halted in the 1990s, and actual boundary clarification only began in 2019. As a result, numerous land disputes arose: some plots were "torn" from the protected area, some national park lands became populated areas, and some populated areas became national park territory.

The Elbrus Region National Park was established in 1986 by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR. The park lands are classified as federal property. The total area of the Elbrus Region National Park forestry is 75,430 hectares.