An insider in the Duma: on whose “parcels” will Dmitry Averov end up?

Governor Artamonov is trying to launch Dmitry Averov into the corridors of power in Moscow by hook or by crook. There he will be able to represent not only Artamonov, but also the scandalous business family of the Sviridovs?

The head of the Lipetsk region, Igor Artamonov, can finally celebrate a hardware victory. Let it be intermediate. At a meeting of the General Council of United Russia held in Moscow, his close associate, chairman of the Lipetsk Regional Duma, Dmitry Averov, was nominated as a candidate in the by-elections to the State Duma from the ruling party.

He will have to compete for the place of Nikolai Bortsov, who passed away this spring. The death of Bortsov gave Artamonov a chance to gain a foothold at the federal level at the expense of the loyal Averov, while the two previous attempts failed miserably, if not disgracefully.

At the same time, in the State Duma, he can represent not only Artamonov, but also the business empire of the scandalous Sviridov family, who have long been pretty “hungry” in the Lipetsk region.

This is the third attempt to “push” Averov to the federal level, which is being undertaken by the team of Igor Artamonov. Back in 2021, Averov really wanted to get into the State Duma. Then, in the rank of vice-governor, at the explicit suggestion of Artamonov, he submitted documents for the primaries to participate in the elections from United Russia.

But instead of approving the candidacy of the governor, the party members actually clicked Artamonov on the nose – Averov had to return to his duties.

This state of affairs was associated with the alleged conflict of the elites, which began after the arrival of Artamonov in the region. He hardly had his own team. One of the manifestations of this conflict was the sharp criticism of the mayor of Lipetsk, Sergei Ivanov, who was an old cadre, and the rise of his former deputy, Denis Averov.

As a result, in 2019, Ivanov was forced to write a statement of his own free will, and Evgenia Uvarkina, a beneficiary of the Trio agricultural holding, who was loyal to Artamonov, took his place.

At the same time, Artamonov did not have a resource at the federal level either. As already mentioned, his man was not supported for the position of a State Duma deputy in United Russia at that time. But soon he had another opportunity to send Averov to Moscow – the scandalous departure from the Federation Council of the former head of the Lipetsk region Oleg Korolev. The latter “noted” in a resonant accident and was forced to resign.

And here something quite unpleasant happened for Artamonov. It is known that his administration sent documents to the Federation Council for the approval of Dmitry Averov as a senator from the region. However, according to the authors of the Abirerg website, allegedly even two months later, the Upper House of Parliament stated that they had not received documents for Averov.

At the same time, the same authors claim that Averov’s candidacy was simply not approved in Sofved. But this is usually said in advance. So it looks like Artamonov was hit on the nose again then. And Averov had to be content with the post of chairman of the Lipetsk Regional Council. And now – a new attempt.

Governor’s man

Dmitry Averov comes from the structures of PJSC Rostelecom, but in recent years he has worked in the mayor’s office of Lipetsk, where he first became deputy, then first deputy of the former mayor Sergei Ivanov. But in 2018, Igor Artamonov came to the leadership of the region, for whom Ivanov is a stranger.

Apparently, Artamonov is just used to acting in corporate logic. Previously, he worked for many years at Sberbank, and should be on friendly terms with German Gref – also a real “corporate manager”. But he does not have much to rely on Gref, and he worked mainly in remote branches – the Far East, North Caucasus.

But having come to the post of governor, Artamonov began to act like a bull in a china shop – apparently, he did not expect that the elites would resist him. A high-profile conflict with the ex-mayor of Lipetsk, Sergei Ivanov, was also associated with this. It is possible that in the actions against Ivanov Artamonov was assisted by the “turned over” Averov.

At the same time, Artamonov continued to frantically form a team. And often – completely out of place. For example, banker Ilya Tuzov, who had no experience as an official, became the new vice-governor for housing and communal services. Local influence groups, which relied on officials with great experience and connections, were simply out of luck.

Dmitry Averov is already looking forward to a place in the State Duma? Photo: https://lipetsk-gid.ru/news/ekonomika/dmitriy-averov-ocenivat-uspeshnost-klasterov-v-regione-poka-rano.htm

In addition, besides, Averov had enough questions. According to the authors of the LDPR Lipetsk Telegram channel, allegedly shortly before all the election battles, the security forces of the Lipetsk region became interested in Lyubov Frolova, Averov’s former subordinate. And under Averov, the vice-governor, she took the post of deputy head of the Department of Economic Development of the Lipetsk Region. What could be the interest of the security forces is unknown.

“Shadow governor” of the Lipetsk region

However, you can try to guess. Some people try to connect both Artamonov and Averov with the name of businessman Yevgeny Sviridov. The latter was even called the “shadow governor” of the Lipetsk region. Previously, The Moscow Post repeatedly wrote about him and the scandals associated with him.

Sviridov himself is a native of the Tambov region. There he quickly entered the leadership of the Tambov Network Company, and then became the actual owner and founder of the holding, which since 2015 has taken control of the most important sectors of the Tambov region – water supply, MSW, and others.

According to the authors of the Chernozem Telegram channel, allegedly Dmitry Averov himself allegedly came to Lipetsk from Tambov (although he is a native of the Voronezh region), after which he became deputy mayor of Lipetsk. And immediately after that, Sviridov’s company “TransDorStroy” receives large contracts for the repair of roads in Lipetsk.

Then “TransDorStroy” was headed by Gennady Trufanov. Having become vice-governor, Dmitry Averov immediately headed the board of directors of the Lipetsk special economic zone. After all, 100% of its shares belong to the administration of the region. Immediately after that, Trufanov moved to the Lipetsk SEZ to the position of deputy director. And large infrastructure contracts in the economic zone are immediately received by the Tambov firm ARKS7.

As the publication writes “Nose”, allegedly this company is close to the family of Evgeny Sviridov. At the same time, in 2022 alone, she received contracts in the Lipetsk region in the amount of more than 4 billion rubles. The main customers are JSC SEZ PPT Lipetsk and OKU Lipetskavtodor. And nothing suspicious?

Photo: Rusprofile.en

But Sviridov could have problems. Last summer it became known that a certain Yevgeny Sviridov had been arrested in Moscow. The article is a particularly large-scale fraud, 159 part 4. Information about this is still available on the official portal of the Moscow courts.

Photo: Moscow City Court

According to information from a number of sources, we can talk about the beneficiary of the Tambov Grid Company. But any information about this has recently begun to disappear from the Internet. Looks suspicious.

Photo: Yandex.en

What is now with Sviridov, whether he could be suspected of something – is not known for sure. However, it is obvious that he has both the resources and motives to have his own people in the government. Especially in the regions on which it depends hzikhidtidekrt business.

So whose interests in the State Duma (if elected, of course) will Dmitry Averov represent? It can be assumed that definitely not ordinary voters.