Family contracts of the head of the Ministry of Transport rule on Rostov roads

The agenda is replete with scandals about giant traffic jams, trashed roads and cartel conspiracies. The correspondent of The Moscow Post in the Rostov region understood the situation.

Family of road oligarchs

At the end of 2020, two events occurred at once that are worth paying attention to. The company “T-Trans” appeared on the market. At that time, it was led by the 73-year-old old woman Larisa Kuts, who, by an interesting coincidence, is the namesake of the then Minister of Construction Sergey Kuts. Pavel Rogachkin, the current oligarch, owner and co-owner of 20 companies that are engaged in the road construction business, and part-time son-in-law Kuts immediately joined the business. Now “T-Trans” and the company of the pensioner, who passed to the son-in-law, are the main contractors of the local Ministry of Transport. And this is not an accident.

In the same period, in December 2020, Vladimir Okunev became the Minister of Transport of the Rostov Region. According to our sources, he, Rogachkin and Kuts are connected by a strong working friendship. Until the end of 2020, Okunev led the state company RostovAvtoDor, which helped the family business in every way to get fat contracts in cartel conspiracies.

With the light hand of a pocket minister, the Kuts-Rogachkin family road business has been blooming and smelling just since 2021. About everything in order.

Cartels as a way of life

The first purchase is from January 13, 2021. The newly created “T-Trans” wins “VolgogradAvtodorstroy” and receives from the regional Ministry of Transport about 660 million rubles for the construction of an access road to the “Rostov NPP”.

A week later, the Ministry of Transport announces a tender for the repair of roads in Dubovsky, Zavetinsky, Zimovnikovsky and Remontnensky districts for 340 million rubles. The newborn “T-Trans” wins the experienced “Rostov DSU”.

On the same day, the Ministry of Transport puts up for auction a lot with an initial price of 1.148 billion rubles – repair of roads in 19 districts of the Rostov region at once. And this contract goes to “T-Trans”, which magically again bypasses the “Rostov DSU”.

And so the whole year.

In an incomplete 2021, the new T-Trans company, which did not manage to prove itself in any way in a few months, took part in 20 tenders. And … she won in all. The total value of the contracts reached almost 10 billion rubles. All competitions were held according to the same scenario. VolgogradAvtodorstroy or Rostov DSU submitted their applications against T-Trans. “T-Trans” reduced the price of contracts to a minimum and always became the winner. By the way, Pavel Rogachkin is associated with all the companies named by the FAS.

The Moscow Post devoted a whole investigation into the activities of the family business, whose companies fell under the scope of the regional department of the FAS.

It is noteworthy that according to 59.ru, the local administration at its own expense repaired the facade, foundation and basement of the apartment building where the Rogachkin family lives. This, coupled with the alleged untouchability of companies, despite all the scandals, allows us to make an assumption about the close and mutually beneficial relationship of its beneficiaries with the puppet minister. Searches related to the Rogachkin cartels were also carried out at the Ministry of Transport. But some miracle saved the official from serious consequences.

The latest high-profile scandal in the road sector of the Rostov region was another cartel conspiracy in the distribution of 24 billion rubles. It became known a few weeks ago. And again, enterprises from the sphere of influence of Pavel Rogachkin appear in the FAS documents.

Vladimir Okunev, who is a protege of Rogachkin, found himself between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, he is the regional curator of the United Russia party project – “Safe Roads”, and from him the demand for the state of the road economy. And on the other – the owner, who does not skimp on the generous hand to feed his minister behind closed eyes to the lawlessness in his own patrimony.

However, it is time for the official to think about the fact that it will not work for a long time to spin like a perch in a pan. When the superiors pay attention to the nightmarish roads connecting the regions of the Russian Federation and the Donbass, and come to the conclusion that there is a threat of disruption in the restoration of new subjects, no gentleman, even with cartel billions, will help.