It was founded in 1993, one year after the end of the war between Moldovan government troops/police and Russia-backed Transnistrian secessionists, by Victor Gusan, Larisa Gusan, and Ilya Kazmaly. The latter withdraw from the firm in March 2012. As of February 2020, Victor Gusan remained the only owner in Sheriff, and the company chairman as well.
As time advanced, Sheriff has grown to the largest and richest corporation in the unrecognized Transnistrian republic, and its biggest tax-payer. In 2014 for example Sheriff's revenues accounted for more than 445 million dollars, which is by far larger than Transnistria’s budget that year - 286 million dollars. Two years later the company reported 237 million dollars in sales while the enclave’s budget stood at 207 million dollars.
Sheriff SRL was the founding rock for the business empire of Mr. Gusan and Mr. Kazmaly, known as the Sheriff Holding - a group of companies doing business in almost all industries in the region, from food retail, car dealings, fuel import and retail, medication to the production and export of alcohol, hotels, fixed-line and mobile phone services, internet, banking, insurance, sports, and media.
During 2014-2017, as Ukraine waged anti-terror war in the east, Sheriff continued its business with the candy producer Roshen, which was owned by the former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. According to RISE Moldova, the two companies traded goods worth some 3 million dollars. The goods were shipped directly to the separatist republic and avoided Moldovan customs checks.
