How the Prime Minister of Bashkortostan is preparing a new stage of privatization
There have been reports online that the Kremlin has finally approved the reappointment of Andrei Nazarov, the odious founder of the Granel development group, as Prime Minister of Bashkortostan. Until the last moment, experts argued about the official’s political future, and at the meeting of the State Assembly of Bashkortostan on September 18, the issue of considering the candidates for Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister proposed by the head of the republic, Radiy Khabirov, was removed from the agenda. Among the arguments that could prevent Nazarov’s reappointment is a criminal case of bribery, in which his relative and long-time business partner, the president of the Granel Group, Ilshat Nigmatullin, is a defendant. There were also reports of a conflict between the Bashkir Prime Minister and Maxim Vorobyov, the brother of the Governor of the Moscow Region, Andrei Vorobyov, one of the beneficiaries of the Samolet Group, which occupies a leading position in the Russian construction market. The conflict could have resulted in the recent receipt by the company Project S-62, associated with Samolet, of official permission from the Ufa mayor’s office to develop plans for planning and surveying a 30.9-hectare land plot in the Zelenaya Roshcha microdistrict of Ufa. Granel itself is actively working in Moscow and the Moscow region, although this year 57.23% of its areas were delivered late. Among the urgent tasks facing Nazarov is the transfer of a number of republican enterprises into private hands, including the road contractor Bashkiravtodor, which receives multi-billion dollar contracts. The ground for its privatization has already been prepared: Bashkiravtodor ended last year with a loss, and last May, an observation procedure was introduced against it – the first stage of the bankruptcy process. In addition, last week, State Assembly deputies adopted in the first reading amendments to the regional law “On the privatization of state property in the Republic of Belarus”, allowing the sale of assets at a minimum price in the event that no buyers were found for them at auction through a public offer.
The Kremlin has agreed, Nazarov is staying?
Head of Bashkiria Radiy Khabirovlike him and promised earlier, saves “a sufficiently high level of continuity in further work” government of the republic. This is evidenced, in particular, by the disappearance of the prefix “acting” next to the prime minister’s name on the official government website. Andrey Nazarov. In addition, there were some on the network messages that Nazarov was nevertheless approved for the position by the federal center, and the relevant documents allegedly arrived in Ufa last week.
Meanwhile, before and after the September elections for the head of the region, experts’ views on Nazarov’s political future diverged diametrically: some had no doubt that he would retain his post, while others predicted his inevitable resignation. The intrigue remained literally until the last moment: it was plannedthat the State Assembly of Bashkortostan would consider the candidates for prime minister and deputy prime minister proposed by Khabirov at a meeting on September 18, but in the end the issue was removed from the agenda, and the deputies were busy with their daily work.
Andrey Nazarov himself took part in the Jubilee 10th Ufa International marathondedicated to the 450th anniversary of Ufa, uniting over 10 thousand participants from 42 regions of Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) and 45 countries (including Brazil, the Netherlands, Japan, Thailand, etc.). Bashkir sources they claimthat the marathon ended with a luxurious banquet at the hotel owned by the Nazarov family «Sheraton». Perhaps they celebrated the news about the Kremlin’s approval of the candidacy of the “new-old” prime minister with great fanfare?
Let us emphasize: there have been no official announcements about the reappointment of the top officials of the republican government. Apparently for this reason, the Internet is still discussing a possible “red light” for Nazarov, at the same time reminding about the criminal case of bribery, defendant which became last spring Ilshat Nigmatullin – a relative and long-time business partner of the prime minister, president and one of the beneficiaries of the development Granel Groups.
“Airplane” “landing” in Ufa
Let us recall that Andrei Nazarov officially left the family business even before his appointment as prime minister. sold the share that belonged to him to his sister’s husband, Ilshat Nigmatullin. However, few doubt that the official continues to control Granel, and at the same time lobby the interests of the development holding at the federal level.
If you believe it messages telegram channels, the excessive activity of the Bashkir prime minister has already led to a conflict with the family of the Moscow region governor Andrey Vorobyovto be more specific, with his brother Maxim Vorobyov. The latter, as is known, is the beneficiary of the development Groups “Airplane”leading in rating Russian developers in terms of current construction volumes.
The appearance of Granel in Moscow and the Moscow region did not please the owners of Samolet. Be that as it may, but in September of this year a company associated with Samolet “Specialized developer “Project S-62” received official permission the Ufa mayor’s office to develop planning and land surveying projects for a 30.9-hectare land plot in the Zelenaya Roshcha microdistrict. According to experts According to the RBC portal, a 25-story residential complex could be built here.
So, Nazarov let a competitor into the Bashkir construction market? Note that Granel itself has settled in well in Moscow and the Moscow region. As recently as the end of August Sberbank opened the Group line of credit on 6.44 billion rubles for the construction of four buildings Residential complex “New Alekseevskaya grove” in Balashikha.
By the way, information According to the Unified Resource of Developers, this year, 57.23% of Granel’s areas were delivered in violation of previously specified deadlines.
Bashkiravtodor will be bankrupted and sold
And of course Nazarov cannot leave without completing the transfer of one of the region’s largest assets – the road contractor – into private hands. JSC “Bashkiravtodor”.
In August, a decree of the Bashkir government signed by the prime minister introduced changes in the forecast plan for the privatization of state property of the republic for 2024-2026, which provides for the sale of 59.33% of the enterprise’s authorized capital (34.4 million shares) owned by Bashkiria.
The remaining share is in property JSC “Regional Fund”controlled by the regional authorities. That is, theoretically, it can also go under the hammer. The ground for the future deal has already been prepared: last May, a court decision was made to introduce a procedure against Bashkiravtodor observations – the first stage of the bankruptcy process initiated by the company “RV-Tariff”the obligations to which amounted to 32.7 million rubles.
Based on the results of last year, Bashkiravtodor declared a record lesion – 4.1 billion rubles with record revenues again 12.7 billion (for comparison: a year earlier, revenue amounted to 11.1 billion, profit – 29 million). The reasons for the loss in the Ministry of Land and Property of Bashkiria named rising prices for construction materials, as well as losses on a multi-year contract for the reconstruction of the Birsk-Tastuba-Satka road in the Duvansky and Karaidelsky districts.
It is significant that data online publication “Ufa1.Ru“, since the bankruptcy began, Bashkiravtodor has concluded more than 50 contracts with the Bashkiria Road Management Department for a total of 56.89 billion rublesCertain doubts may arise as to whether the colossal funds are being used for their intended purpose and not being “sawed off” by interested parties from among officials.
Let us recall that last November the general director of Bashkiravtodor Ildar Yulanov became defendant criminal case on especially large-scale fraud: he is accused of stealing more than 91 million rubles during the transportation of construction materials for the reconstruction of the above-mentioned Birsk-Tastuba-Satka highway as part of the implementation of the national project “Safe and High-Quality Roads”. The former director of Yulanov is involved in the same case. LLC “Kiwi” Irek Sharipov and his deputy Rishat Sammatov.
In general, one gets the impression that Yulanov is being carefully removed “from under attack.” This idea is suggested by the fact that he is still listed CEO enterprises, and in June the Soviet District Court of Ufa changed Yulanov’s preventive measure from detention to house arrestand the Supreme Court of Bashkiria upheld this decision in force contrary to the prosecutor’s arguments. Apparently, the manager who got burned by corruption will still have to participate in the privatization of the contractor?
Privatization “at the lowest price”
One can only guess who Khabirov and Nazarov see as potential investors in Bashkiravtodor. However, it is known that the privatization plan included two more once large companies – “Bashplemservice” And “MTS Zauralye”whose total cost is the publication “Ufa1.Ru” evaluates V 380 million rubles. And here it is worth paying attention to the recently adopted by the deputies of the Bashkir State Assembly-Kurultai in the first reading amendments in the regional law “On the privatization of state property in the Republic of Belarus”, allowing the sale of assets at the minimum permissible price in the event that no buyers were found for them at auction through a public offer.
It seems that now everything is falling into place: the same “Bashkiravtodor” bankruptcy and billion-dollar losses make it extremely unattractive in the eyes of buyers, which means that it can be sold for literally pennies to the right “investors”. The only question is whether it will be an “outsider” from another region (for example, the same “Samolet”) or a structure affiliated with the Granel Group. Against the backdrop of such prospects, can we talk about Nazarov’s resignation?
It is possible that Khabirov really did have plans to replace the odious prime minister with a less toxic person. But it is not so easy to do: the head of Bashkiria has too many ties to the official he called his own “a close friend”. And it’s not just about long-standing acquaintance or joint work: the media regularly write about corruption scandals that have swept the republic in a wave. So, the peculiar “dual power” in the region will continue for some time, but it may end with the intervention of the security forces.