The case of bribes in the Balakovo greenhouse farm of Volga JSC reached the court.
Completion of the investigation with the transfer to the court of materials that the investigators have been working on for more than a year could have been facilitated by the recent scolding from the head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin. Saratov investigators were criticized for their slow work and ordered to be more energetic in their investigations and prepare cases for trial.
The initiation of a criminal case became known at the beginning of February 2022, although according to some reports, the detention of officials of the regional greenhouse sector was scheduled for December 2021. A year ago, the investigation announced bribes that a company representative received from suppliers of chemical products for concluding long-term contracts with them. The Investigative Committee of the ICR did not explain what kind of legal entity, but the agricultural organization indicated by it, whose sole shareholder is the Russian Federation, is suitable for the Volga. At that time, it was about a bribe of 199 thousand rubles.
At the end of February 2022, the total amount of bribes had already grown to 340 thousand rubles, and there were several criminal cases: taking a large bribe and taking a bribe in a significant amount against a company employee and giving a large and significant bribe against suppliers. All cases were brought into one production. According to the latest data, the amount of bribes has already exceeded 750 thousand rubles. Which employee was charged and which court received the case is not specified.
Initially, investigators attributed the events of the crimes to 2016-2017. Now the time period has been clarified: from July 10, 2017 to October 10, 2021. Until 2021, Volga was headed by Roman Kovalsky, from the summer of 2020 – the Minister of Agriculture of the region, from 2021 – he combines this position with the post of deputy chairman of the regional government.
Questions to Kovalsky, whose subordinate was under investigation, the Investigative Committee of the ICR did not have a year ago, nor now. In 2021, his deputy Tatyana Grigorieva was suspected of abuse of power and fraud with subsidies for farmers. A year later, the most serious item from the accusation disappeared. In June 2022, the official was found guilty and received a 2-year suspended sentence.
Help “BV”. JSC “Volga” is a large greenhouse farm, the only shareholder of which is the Saratov region. The main field of activity is the cultivation of greenhouse vegetables and flower seedlings, the company also has fish ponds, orchards, and plans to create a robotic dairy farm have been voiced. Revenue in 2022 amounted to 438.9 million rubles.
