Kim Alexander Romanovich

Biography

Born in 1987 in the city of Kapchagai (Kazakh SSR). In 2006 he entered the Faculty of Mathematics of St. Petersburg State University, began to live in St. Petersburg. He received diplomas in programming and economics at St. Petersburg State University and graduated from the magistracy of ITMO.

In 2012, he founded the Sputnik company, which develops the service of the same name for searching and booking excursions around the world. In 2013, as part of the Start Fellows program, he received a grant of $25 thousand from Pavel Durov. In 2022, according to the database of legal entities Kontur.Fokus, "Sputnik's revenue amounted to 454.6 million ​rubley with an increase of 167%.

2023: Arrest in criminal excursion case

On August 23, 2023, the Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow arrested Alexander Kim, general director and co-owner of Sputnik. He is involved in the case of the death of eight people during a tour of the Neglinka collectors. Alexander Kim was arrested until October 21. Together with him, another defendant, Nikita Dubas, was arrested in the same case. Both of them do not admit their guilt^[1].

An excursion to Moscow underground collectors, which ended tragically, took place on August 20, 2023. During it, a heavy downpour hit Moscow - about a third of the monthly rainfall fell in the capital. Due to heavy rain, several shopping centers, the Maryina Roshcha metro station and many roads were flooded. Streams of water rushed into the collectors, where at that time people were on an excursion. One of the victims was Dmitry Markushkin, who for several years headed the press service of Lanita and was involved in the PR of the group of companies.

According to investigators, participants purchased tickets on three sites: in the Sputnik aggregator, in the Avangard excursion bureau and in the Tripster service. The general director of the Avangard company shortly after the tragedy in August 2023 was put on the wanted list by^[2].

2024: Extension of the term in the pre-trial detention center in a criminal case

On January 18, 2024, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow, at the request of the investigation, extended the preventive measure in the form of detention to Alexander Kim, general director and co-owner of Sputnik, which is developing a service for searching and booking excursions, as well as Nikita Dubas. They were left in jail until April 21, 2024.

The criminal case was previously initiated under Part 3 of Art. 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (provision of services that do not meet safety requirements). The maximum punishment provided for in this part of the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is forced labor for up to five years or imprisonment for up to ten years.

As of January 2024, the accused are in jail for about 6 months. During the meeting on January 18, the investigator announced the appointment and conduct of the examination. This, among other things, is due to the extension of the investigation period and the need to extend the preventive measure for the accused.

The defense continues to insist on the innocence of Alexander Kim, referring to the fact that Sputnik is a service for searching and booking excursions, which aggregates data on excursions from guides, and the organization and provision of services posted on the platform are carried out by performing companies. In court, the defense side petitioned for a mitigation of the preventive measure, the defense of Alexander Kit, including offering a bail of 5 million rubles for him, Business FM reports^[3]

2025: Sentence - 5.5 years in prison for excursion in the collector in which a Lanita employee died

On April 28, 2025 Moscow , the Meshchansky court sentenced in the case of organizing a tour of the Neglinka River collector, during which eight people died, including Dmitry Markushkin, an employee Cheek of "." The founder of the corresponding tourist service LLC "" Satellite Alexander Kim received 5.5 years in prison.

In addition to Kim, Nikita Dubas, the compiler of the announcement of the excursion, which turned into a tragedy, became a defendant in the criminal case. According to the investigation, they were not convinced of the safety of the event and did not cancel it due to an unfavorable weather forecast. As a result, due to heavy rain in Moscow, the water level rose sharply, and people drowned in the collector, not having time to get out of it.

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Фото: Ivan Vodopyanov/Kommersant

The prosecutor's office demanded to sentence Kim to six years in prison, Dubas - to nine. Kim did not admit his guilt, saying that he was only the creator of the Sputnik platform with announcements of excursions, but did not organize them. The Russian Union of Travel Industry also spoke in his defense, emphasizing that Sputnik acts as an aggregator, providing "services for informing citizens and ensuring communication between consumers and the organizer of the excursion." The platform is engaged in the promotion of excursions and the sale of tickets for them.

We believe that the company should not be held responsible for incidents that may occur during the excursion itself, - said in a letter from the Russian Union of Travel Industry sent to the head of the Ministry of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov and the chairman of SKAlexander Bastrykin.

Nevertheless, the court found Kim and Dubas guilty of providing services that do not meet security requirements (part 3 of article 238 of the Criminal Code). They received 5.5 and 8.5 years of imprisonment respectively in a general regime correctional colony.^[4]

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