A prominent Moscow bar owner’s business partner was arrested as part of an investigation into a car bomb attack that injured the owner and his six-year-old son this week, authorities and Russian media reported early Wednesday.
CEO and co-founder of the Shaker Group, Viktor Mishachev, his son and his neighbor were hospitalized after an explosive device attached to the hood of his SUV detonated in southwestern Moscow Tuesday morning.
Investigators launched a criminal probe into attempted murder, saying they believe Mishachev, 44, may have been targeted over a business or personal dispute.
Around midnight Wednesday, the Moscow branches of Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office and the Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, announced the arrest of Mishachev’s business partner. Law enforcement officials did not reveal the man’s name, saying only that he is 50 years old.
Investigators released videos of what they said was a weapons cache discovered and seized during a search of the man’s apartment.
The news broadcaster RTVI, without citing sources, reported that the arrested man is Shaker Group co-founder and Belarusian citizen Vitaly Slobodyanik.
State media, citing open corporate data, reported that Slobodyanik and Mishachev founded 12 companies together in Moscow, St. Petersburg, as well as the Sverdlovsk region and the republic of Tatarstan.
The business partners reportedly each own 25% stakes in three of those companies, including Shaker Group — which operates the popular bars Coyote Ugly, Humans Seafood Bar, True Cost and Govyadina — where Mishachev is listed as CEO.