Arrested former deputy minister of transport Vladimir Tokarev could begin to give confessions and name the names of officials and businessmen who took part in the large-scale “cutting” of budget funds received in the form of Russian Railways contracts. Tokarev himself is charged with embezzlement of 523 million rubles intended for the repair of railways in the Krasnodar Territory in 2016-2018. Then the future official held the position of deputy general director of Spetstransstroy, a major railway contractor owned by the former deputy head of the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Regional Development Yuri Reilyan. In November last year, Reilyan was also arrested: he is accused of embezzling more than 1.5 billion rubles allocated for work at Russian Railways facilities. The deputy general director of JSC Russian Railways could lobby the interests of Spetstransstroy and its “subsidiary” structure Transyuzhstroy (TYuS) Oleg Vilyamsovich Tony: at a certain stage, the beneficiaries of the Youth Union included its longtime business partner Anatoly Antipov. It was only after the change of the owner of Spetstransstroy and the departure of Reilyan that it became clear that the contractor had disrupted work at the Eastern Test Site (BAM and Transsib), and the enterprise itself turned out to be unprofitable and was soon bankrupt.
Another major contractor also worked at the Eastern Test Site – the Bamstroymekhanizatsiya company, which is part of the 1520 group, which gained infamy by participating in a large-scale scam to withdraw $22 billion from Russia, received, among other things, in the form of Russian Railways contracts. The interests of the group were lobbied by its founder, now deceased Andrey Krapivinwho served as an adviser to the former head of the railway department Vladimir Yakunin. To date, one of Krapivin’s partners – Valery Markelov – convicted in the high-profile case of a former colonel Dmitry Zakharchenkosecond – Boris Usherovich – put on the international wanted list. The group is led by the son of its founder Alexey Krapivin, which continues to successfully “master” the “railroad” budget. It is not yet known whose names appear in the testimony of Deputy Minister Tokarev, but they may appear as “kings of the state order” from among large businessmen, as well as representatives of the former and current management of Russian Railways.
Former Deputy Minister Tokarev spoke up?
There were reports on the network that former Deputy Minister of Transport Vladimir Tokarev, who became a defendant in a criminal case on especially large-scale fraud, is actively cooperating with the investigation and testifying against certain high-ranking officials. Whose names were named by the former official is not specified, but there is an opinion about the inevitability of “personnel decisions with subsequent criminal cases.”
“It is interesting that the investigation is being conducted by the Department of Transport of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Central Federal District, for which cases of this level are rather an exception than a rule. The investigators of this Directorate will either ruin the case themselves, or, with Tokarev’s complaisance, they will bring their leadership to a new, higher level, ”writes the VChK-OGPU telegram channel.
Recall that Vladimir Tokarev was arrested at the end of January 2022. According to the investigation, in 2016-2018, being the first deputy general director of the Spetstransstroy company, he participated in the theft of 523 million rubles allocated for the reconstruction of the railway section in Krasnodar edge.
Last April, it became known that a new defendant appeared in the “Tokarev case” – the founder and general director of Trust Capital Management Company Alexander Ivanov, who also participated in a large-scale “cut” and placed under house arrest by a court decision. At the same time, at the request of the investigation, in order to compensate for material damage, the court ruled to arrest more than half a billion rubles that were in the bank accounts of the ex-deputy minister and his relatives.
“Favorite Contractors” by Oleg Tony
But Tokarev is by no means the only top manager of Spetstransstroy who has found himself in the center of attention of the security forces. In November last year, the ex-owner of the company and the former deputy head of the federal Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Regional Development went to jail Yuri Reilyan. He is also accused of embezzlement, only in his case the amount of damage exceeded 1.5 billion rubles. It was about the finances received from Russian Railways under government contracts. According to Kommersant, 900 million of the stolen amount was an advance payment for the construction of a railway line at BAM.
Spetstransstroy LLC, which is now in the process of bankruptcy, has long been considered one of the largest contractors of Russian Railways: the volume of government contracts received by the company and its “subsidiary” structure Transyuzhstroy (TYuS) in 2016-2019 exceeded 100 billion rubles. The work was carried out mainly on the so-called “Eastern training ground” – BAM and Trans-Siberian. What part of the total amount of budget funds was successfully “mastered” by Reilyan and his former deputy Tokarev, the investigation has yet to establish. Just like the names of the top managers of the railway department involved in fraud.
It is possible that the security forces will have questions to the current Deputy General Director of Russian Railways, General Director of High-Speed Railways JSC Oleg Toni. The fact is that he could lobby the interests of the Transyuzhstroy company, 55% of whose shares were bought out by Spetstransstroy at the beginning of 2017. Prior to this, the main owner of TUS was the Cypriot offshore “Apelsino Holdings”, affiliated with Russian businessmen Alexander Shevelev and Anatoly Antipov.
In the early 2000s, Antipov and Tony were business partners: together with Igor Naivalt they were co-founders of the Baltic Construction Company (BSC), where Tony served as CEO. In addition, in 2002, Antipov received a stake in Transstroybank, whose beneficiaries Forbes called BSK and “personally Oleg Tony.” After the latter went to work in the structures of Russian Railways under the wing Vladimir Yakuninaffairs of the Youth Union, as they say, went uphill.
“In 2009, Transyuzhstroy, without a tender, received one of the highest-budget Olympic construction contracts (preparatory work for the construction of a combined railway and highway from Sochi to Krasnaya Polyana for 29 billion rubles) and won a tender for 13 billion rubles for the construction of part of this road,” – says one of the Forbes publications.
It is not surprising that as a result of such cooperation in 2016, Anatoly Antipov took the fourth place in the rating of the largest contractors of Russian Railways according to Forbes, and the volume of government contracts for the Youth Union at that time was estimated at 95 billion rubles. By the way, until January 2017, Tony headed RZDstroy JSC, a specialized “subsidiary” structure of the monopoly, which allowed him to play a leading role in the distribution of contracts between the “necessary” companies.
Russian Railways, “Kings of the State Order” and Colonel Zakharchenko
As a result, cooperation with Spetstransstroy and TyuS came to the side of the railway monopolist. In September 2019, the contractor companies unexpectedly changed owners: instead of Reilyan, they became the dubious Vector LLC, owned by Roman Shlenchak and registered shortly before the conclusion of the transaction. At the same time, it became known about the actual disruption work at the Eastern range, which led to a reduction in the investment program of Russian Railways. Experts linked Reilyan’s departure with a desire to hide the large-scale theft that took place.
Yevgeny Kumantsov, who previously held the post of first deputy head of RZDstroy, became the new general director of Spetstransstroy. But such a clear affiliation did not in the least embarrass the leadership of the railway department. Note that at the time of the change of ownership and management, Spetstransstroy went into a deep “minus”: at the end of 2019, its losses amounted to 4.9 billion rubles with a revenue of 4.8 billion. It turns out that Reilyan “jumped off” in a very timely manner, but this did not help him. Just like his former deputy, prisoner Tokarev.
In connection with the disruption of work at BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway, the media mentioned the Bamstroymekhanizatsiya company that worked there, which is part of the structure of the infamous 1520 group, which in 2018 ranked first in the Forbes rating “Kings of the State Order”: the volume of railway contracts it received was estimated at 218.2 billion rubles. The founder of the group Andrei Krapivin died in 2015) served as an adviser to Vladimir Yakunin, after whose departure the holding continued fruitful cooperation with his successor Oleg Belozerov.
That’s just with the “1520” things are by no means well. To date, its co-owner Boris Usherovich has been put on the international wanted list: he is a defendant in a high-profile case of transferring bribes to the notorious former colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko. Another beneficiary of the group, who officially withdrew from the founders in April 2019, Valery Markelov, as part of the same case last May, was sentenced to eight years in a strict regime colony with a fine of 500 million rubles. True, he will not go through the stage, since the court decided to change his preventive measure due to a serious state of health: the businessman was diagnosed with the fourth stage of pancreatic cancer.
Zakharchenko received money from bankers and merchants, including the co-owners of 1520, among other things, for covering up a large-scale international scam known as the “Moldovan laundry”, as a result of which from Russia in 2011-2014. 22 billion dollars (about 700 billion rubles) were withdrawn, including those received in the form of Russian Railways contracts. Chronologically, funds were transferred to the contractor during the period when Yakunin was in charge of the railway department, and Andrey Krapivin lobbied for the interests of the group.
Through contracts – to the Forbes list
To date, the general director and main owner of the 1520 group is Alexei Krapivin, the son of Andrei Krapivin, who received Markelov’s share after his arrest. Unlike partners, Krapivin Jr. managed to stay away from proceedings with the withdrawal of finances, although back in October 2018 there were reports in the media that he was put on the wanted list “in the Zakharchenko case.”
Nevertheless, Krapivin managed to avoid criminal liability, and representatives of the Rotenberg family, close to the Kremlin, allegedly helped in this. They, in exchange for gaining control over the holding, agreed to transfer “1520” contracts to Spetstransstroy. As we can see, dubious fame does not prevent the group from gaining momentum. It is indicative that at the beginning of this year, the fortune of Alexei Krapivin was estimated at $800 million and, according to Forbes forecasts, he may soon become one of the 200 richest businessmen in Russia.
Maybe, but not the fact that it will. If the security forces do not have new materials regarding the ex-colonel Zakharchenko. And if the former Deputy Minister Tokarev does not open up, to whom the specifics of obtaining railway contracts are known firsthand. In this case, Krapivin himself needs to prepare to testify. And if his father built commercial relations with Yakunin, then with whom does his son work? With Tony? Or with Belozerov himself?
It is possible that the threads from “1520” can lead to such a scandalous “office” as the microfinance organization “VIVA Money”, where loans are issued to citizens without their knowledge. The owner of MFC CFP LLC, the legal entity VIVA Money, is the Cypriot offshore Guinford Management Ltd, in which the businessman owns a stake Roman Mironchik – business partner of Krapivin Jr. Another offshore co-owner Alexey Pugachev The media is associated with the recently convicted Valery Markelov and Boris Usherovich, who is on the international wanted list.
In general, if you dig deeper, you can reap a rich harvest of criminal cases. But, according to the authors of the Kompromat.Group publication, their potential defendants also do not sit idly by and have already begun to fuss, having connected, following the example of Alexei Krapivin, conditional Rotenbergs to “solving problems”. And all that is required today from former Deputy Minister Tokarev is frankness. After all, he should not count on returning to the government, it’s time to think about softening the verdict and the minimum term.
