It’s not a big deal to fly with Tkachev no more
The case of the ex-official of the Federal Air Transport Agency Maxim Kostylev can lead to the head of the department Alexander Neradko and the family of the former Minister of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev. The Investigative Committee opened a case against unidentified persons from among the management of the largest Russian charter company Azur Air for giving Vyatka a tour package to the former head of the flight operation department of the Federal Air Transport Agency Maxim Kostylev.
Rosaviatsia, in response to the dissemination of this information to the media, stated that it regards publications about criminal cases against ex-officials of the agency as “heat traps” that are used to divert public attention from the problems of the industry that really require solving at the present time.
It is possible that the officials decided to inflict such a “preemptive strike” because they fear that the Kostylev case could lead to other participants in such schemes, among which may be the head of the department Alexander Neradko and the family of the ex-Minister of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev.
Two families – already a clan
As for the “unidentified persons” among the management of Azur Air, it has already been established that the vouchers were issued through Anex Tourism (Anex Tour). In addition to the business class flight, the trip included accommodation in the Turkish premium hotel Lujo Hotel Bodrum, which belongs to the chairman of the supervisory board of Azur Air and co-owner of Anex Tour, Serhat Kochkar. A criminal case is unlikely to bypass this businessman.
In addition, Serhat Kochkar has an older brother – Neshet Kochkar, who founded Anex Tour. Surely, the affairs of Serhat Kochkar did not take place without the prior approval of his brother. In 2021, an operator for organizing tours to Turkey for VIP clients, Joy Travel Market LLC, which Serhat Kochkar had a hand in creating, entered the market. It is quite possible that through him he organized expensive flights, including to persons from among the officials of the Federal Air Transport Agency.
In 2019, Neshet Kochkar bought the Intourist tour operator from the British Thomas Cook Group, which announced its liquidation due to financial problems. Earlier, there were reports in the media that Roman Batalov, the son-in-law of former Minister of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev, also showed interest in this deal. Each of the entrepreneurs expected to receive a 50% stake in Intourist. As a result, only the purchase of the company by Kochkar was officially announced. The reason for Batalov’s refusal of the deal was not disclosed. Maybe he didn’t refuse?
Now “Intourist” is 100% owned by the Turkish offshore “AKS GIRISHIM DANYSHMANLYGI ANONIM SHIRKETI A.S.” Perhaps a shadow is seen behind him, including Mr. Batalov?
The latter, as Pavel Shaposhnikov, general director of the Krasnodar company Basis-S, told Forbes, did not pay either him or other contractors for the construction of a 30-story hotel with a casino near Anapa. In addition, its structures have huge debts. On the market, Batalov is associated with the business interests of Tkachev himself. The Moscow Post has repeatedly written about his entrepreneurial inclinations.
It turns out that the interests of the Tkachev family can be traced in the business of the Kochkarov brothers. Did Batalov have a hand, among other things, in establishing ties between the latter and the bureaucratic elites, who could help the Kochkars to receive business preferences for bribes? State contracts with the same “Azur Air” for 173 million rubles. Even Roskosmos ordered from them.
Thus, the circle of potentially corrupt acts through the company is noticeably expanding, and not only the officials of the Federal Air Transport Agency may find themselves in the hands of law enforcement officers. The first, most likely, will come to the Kochkarovs themselves and the Tkachev family. But the officials of the Ministry of Health of the Krasnoyarsk Territory (Azur Air’s largest customer) may start to get nervous.
By the way, it is possible that Krasnoyarsk officials are also tied to Tkachev. Batalov’s father, businessman Alexander Batalov, was working in the Krasnoyarsk Territory when he was detained in 2013 for taking a bribe to a representative of the Krasnoyarsk administration for resolving the issue of allocating a plot of land in the regional center for the construction of a logistics center. In 2014, Batalov Sr. left the pre-trial detention center. Not otherwise, how did an influential relative help?
Reached “unsinkable”
There is reason to believe that the arrests may also affect senior officials of the Federal Air Transport Agency, which hastened to translate everything that happened into the plane of “ugly conversations.” More recently, Alexander Matyushkin, deputy head of the digital transformation and security department of the Federal Air Transport Agency, was detained – according to the classics, for a bribe from a merchant for assistance in concluding a state contract.
At the same time, rumors spread that searches were carried out, including in the office of the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, Alexander Neradko, who appointed Matyushkin as his deputy no later than in November of this year. This information has not been officially confirmed, but, according to The Moscow Post, he personally saw the investigators in Mr. Neradko’s office.
It seems that a high-profile corruption case is being prepared against the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, and reports of a bribe from Azur Air to Maxim Kostylev may be another milestone in this “celebration of life”, but not for Neradko.
The piquancy of the situation is given by the fact that, despite the heap of claims against the head of the department, he managed to maneuver in positions for many years, and even almost obviously losing criminal cases against his subordinates miraculously fell apart.
A striking example is that in August last year, the court released the former head of the legal department of the Federal Air Transport Agency Vladimir Mnishko, the head of the Mezhregion Bar Association Sergei Yuryev (formerly the head of Mnishko), and lawyer Viktor Yevkin, who were accused of embezzling 1.2 billion rubles. Despite the fact that the latter admitted his guilt during the investigation and repented of his deed!
Other officials escaped differently – Igor Moiseenko, who headed the FSUE State Air Traffic Management Corporation, suddenly resigned from his post shortly before the anti-corruption audit, which was associated with the losses incurred by the FSUE in recent years.
Our current “hero” Maxim Kostylev did the same, but they still found a trail behind him. Recently, Neradko was severely criticized in the Government, and after that, one might say, he was given a warning: Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev advised the official to leave his post.
But it seems that the suggestion did not reach the ears of the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, for which he risks soon paying not only for his position, but also for his freedom.
