The Tushinsky District Court of Moscow passed a sentence on Nikolai Mirny, the former general director of Trest Moselectrotyagstroy JSC, until recently one of the largest construction organizations. The person involved was accused of especially large-scale fraud during the construction of a sports and recreation center in the Pushkinsky district of the Moscow region. As the court established, 13 million rubles were stolen during the work. The ex-general director pleaded not guilty and received three years probation.
A criminal case against the former General Director of Trest Moselectrotyagstroy JSC Nikolai Mirny was initiated by the Main Investigative Directorate of the ICR for the Moscow Region on March 15, 2019 under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (large-scale fraud). The reason for this was the statement of the leadership of the Pushkin municipality, who considered that during the construction of a “sports and recreation center with a swimming pool” the district budget suffered material damage.
Trust “Moselectrotyagstroy” is one of the oldest construction organizations in the country, founded in 1949 for the electrification of the Moscow railway junction. Participated in the construction and restoration of many important facilities – the building of the Federation Council, the Leningrad and Kazan stations of the capital, the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater, the stage area of the Bolshoi Theater, the Lenkom Theater, etc. At one time, Forbes included the company in the list of the largest state contractors. In November 2018, the Moscow Arbitration Court declared Trest Moselektrotyagstroy JSC bankrupt and began bankruptcy proceedings. The amount of claims of JSC creditors at that time was 17.9 billion rubles. Mykola Mirny headed the organization in 2016–2017. He was awarded the medal of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland” of the second degree.
During the investigation of the criminal case, the only person involved in which was Mr. Mirny, the investigation established that in 2014 a contract was signed between the leadership of the Pushkinsky District and Moselectrotyagstroy for the construction of a turnkey health center.
The initial cost of the contract – materials, work and equipment – amounted to 181 million rubles. Construction began in 2014 and should have been completed by the end of 2015.
According to investigators, Mr. Mirny committed the theft of municipal funds allocated for the project in 2014. He did this, according to the materials of the case, by introducing deliberately false information into the documentation, in accordance with which the payment for the work performed was made. In addition, according to the investigation, in the papers, Mr. Mirny indicated that the equipment provided for by the contract was installed at the facility, but in fact another, cheaper one from other manufacturers was used. In addition, as the investigation established, in the course of construction work, their cost, as well as the supplied equipment, increased from 181 million to 228 million rubles.
However, the damage caused to the municipality, the investigation and the injured party was estimated at 13 million rubles.
In court, the defense and Mr. Mirny insisted on his innocence, pointing out the mistakes, in their opinion, committed by the investigation. So, according to the lawyer Irina Chekasina, in 2014, in the midst of the construction of a health center, “force majeure” occurred. In particular, the lawyer recalled, against the backdrop of the imposition of sanctions, the dollar exchange rate has risen sharply, which has significantly increased the cost of imported equipment and components for it. This circumstance led to an increase in the cost of construction. In addition, according to Ms. Chekasina, under these conditions, suppliers have switched to prepayment conditions, and delivery times have increased significantly. All this, the lawyer told the court, led to the fact that appropriate adjustments were made to the project documentation. In addition, according to the defense version, the replacement of equipment during construction was agreed with both the customer and the designer, and it is fully consistent with the project documentation. In addition, Chekasina’s lawyer pointed out that in 2017 the state Mosoblexpertiza gave a positive opinion on these changes, confirming the validity of the excess of the cost of the concluded municipal contract by 40 million rubles. And even earlier, according to the lawyer, in December 2015, the Main Department of State Construction Supervision of the Moscow Region issued a conclusion on the compliance of the object with the project.
Nevertheless, the Tushinsky District Court found Nikolai Mirny guilty of fraud, giving him a suspended sentence of three years in prison and the same probationary period. Civil lawsuit for 13 million rubles. was redirected to civil litigation.
When asked by Kommersant whether Mr. Mirny would appeal the verdict, Ms. Chekasina answered vaguely: “The decision will be made after we receive the full text of the verdict.” The lawyer added that the wellness center has been operating normally since the end of 2015, does not require repairs and brings profit to the municipality.