In Novosibirsk media, an official from the mayor's office of the capital of Siberia Vitaly Vitukhin has long been considered the most scandalous and conflict-ridden. Expensive accessories, dubious businesses and the city administration's profitable lack of principles – this is all that by “lucky” chance ended up in Vitukhin's clutches. The court left the former head of the consumer market department in custody. And everything seemed calm, but Babr found something he had not previously talked about.
Didn't have time to rest…
On June 3, 2024, Vitaly Vitukhin, head of the Department of Investment, Consumer Market, Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the Novosibirsk City Hall, was detained. On May 23, the official announced that he was leaving his post at the mayor's office. From 2015 to 2021, he was deputy head of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and then headed the department. The official, apparently sensing the end of his shady dealings, decided to leave politicians and his last day of work was supposed to be June 5.
As Vitukhin himself stated, he was glad to quit and return to his own business. But the official was not destined to retire peacefully. Anonymous sources of NGS claim that “there were constant rumors around Vitaly Vitukhin's department that he was involved in corruption schemes to make money on off-price cemetery services.” But law enforcement agencies have not yet officially commented on the real situation.
Regarding the above-mentioned possible illegality, it is worth saying that there is a direct connection to the MBU “Ritual Services” (OGRN 1055406023420). The founders are the Department of Land and Property Relations and the Department of Investments, Consumer Market, Innovations and Entrepreneurship of the Novosibirsk City Hall, which was headed by Vitukhin. The MBU is listed as a customer in 1,000 government contracts worth over 472 million rubles.
Family estates
The elder Vitukhin is the founder of four active organizations. In Regional Leasing Center LLC (OGRN 1055404012685), he has 100% of the company under trust management. This is exactly what is stated verbatim in RusProfile. And this, in turn, means that this company was inherited by Vitukhin. Since information about trust management is entered into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities only in such a case. A certain Mikhail Vitalyevich Vitukhin is listed as the general director of the LLC, most likely the son of an official.
What is interesting is that the official revenue of the enterprise has not exceeded six thousand rubles over the last seven years. It seems that not everything is so simple with this company. Vitaly Vitukhin also has OOO Gorodskoy Lombard (OGRN 1025401492621).
Since August 2023, he has been headed by the full namesake of his subordinate from the department – the head of the department for supporting small and medium-sized businesses Galina Brosalina. This network is not small at all – 18 branches in the city and five more in the region. The organization's revenue last year reached almost 60 million rubles, the profit was 174 thousand.
But that's not all, Vitukhin owns a 1.65% stake in Novosibirsk Jewelry Plant Adalit LLC (OGRN 1165476121018). And it seems like nothing special, but the remaining percentage belongs to a certain Evgenia Vitukhina. She has been the general director since 2022. The company's revenue in 2023 amounted to 3.3 million rubles, the profit exceeded 151 thousand. At the time of the opening of this enterprise, Vitukhin owned a 33% stake. It is noteworthy that in 2017, the prosecutor's office checked the legality of an official combining work in the municipal service and a commercial organization. Then Vitukhin said that he simply transferred his shares to trust management.
The official has another share in trust management – in the LLC “Production and Trading Company “Adalit” (OGRN 1045401307291). Tatyana Vitukhina is listed as the general director. Mikhail Vitukhin is engaged in the production of jewelry for the companies E.optics.rus (a sunglasses store) and dvor.shop (a jewelry brand). In the social networks and contacts of the jewelry company, Vitukhin Jr. is listed, but the individual entrepreneur is registered to Shilo Yulia Yuryevna.
Vitaly Vitukhin's last income declaration was in 2021. At that time, it listed earnings of 1.69 million rubles, four land plots with an area of about five thousand square meters, two residential buildings with an area of over 700 square meters, a store, a parking space, and non-residential premises. The declaration also noted his wife's income of 1.4 million rubles and an apartment with a total area of 91.9 square meters.
Detention and interesting moments
On June 6, the Central District Court of Novosibirsk chose a preventive measure for the former head of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the Novosibirsk City Hall, Vitaly Vitukhin. He was accused of abuse of office.
The investigators insisted on a pretrial detention center, while the lawyers insisted on a more lenient measure of restraint. The former won. Vitukhin was remanded in custody for one month and 29 days, that is, until July 31, 2024.
The official is charged under two articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) at once: part three of article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism), “Abuse of official authority,” and part two of article 169 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism), “Obstruction of lawful entrepreneurial or other activity.”
It is noteworthy that upon arrest, the former official was found to have a large sum of money and a collection of expensive watches. It is noted that his collection includes designer men's watches from Dolce&Gabbana, and the total value of the expensive items is several hundred thousand rubles.
It would have been refused, but not in this case
In general, if we talk about Vitukhin, he is a rather cunning guy who managed to stick a retail facility on Marx Square.
Why do questions arise about this particular territory? Because it is overloaded with commercial services. Someone else might have been refused, but clearly not Vitukhin. The official easily received permission to reconstruct the capital construction project of a modular store at 27 Vatutina. True, later the reconstruction magically became construction. The fact is that this is the adjacent territory, which the residents of the house have the right to dispose of only with general approval.
The only trick is that Vitukhin is the chairman of the property owners' association “Tower”. He became it in 2020, and before that, his son Mikhail Vitukhin was the main one. And the official's ascent to this position became possible only because in 2017, Vladimir Gorodetsky, being the governor, signed a decree according to which civil servants of the Novosibirsk region were allowed to manage public organizations. The only condition was that they, while in this position, should not receive a salary.
It is not known whether Vitukhin received a salary and during what period he fulfilled his obligations there in addition to his main job, but the conflict of interests is obvious one way or another. The one-story cafe “Vostok” with an area of 41.4 square meters miraculously turned into a two-story building with an area of 401.9 square meters. There are doubts that the residents of the house even agreed with such a “reconstruction”. But that's not even the point.
Vitukhin decided to build a huge store from a small cafe. But what if everyone starts doing the same thing? Will the city become one big retail outlet?
In addition, it is impossible not to mention the “Khilok triangle” in the Leninsky district of the city. Local residents are forced to live between the Khilok market, the Kleshchikhinskoye cemetery and the landfill, which poison their existence in the literal and figurative sense.
The market owners do not observe any sanitary standards, and all the controversial and conflicting enterprises immediately before the inspections temporarily close their shops with unimaginable speed. And the most important thing is that, with the exception of the landfill, this is all Vitukhin's diocese.
It is interesting that the official was not even present during the inspections of all these objects. He simply shifted his responsibilities to others and was chilling somewhere. Everyone has also heard about the scandals with the establishment of sanitary protection zones of the “Kleshchikhinsky” and “Yuzhny” cemeteries. And this is also Vitaly Vitukhin's diocese. All in all, this tells us that no matter what the official takes on, everything goes haywire.
Commitments are not our thing
In August 2023, Ritualnoye Khozyaistvo LLC (OGRN 1065406106996) filed a claim with the Arbitration Court of Novosibirsk Oblast to declare the city administration's refusals to provide “services for the provision of property without an auction” at 1 Mochishchenskoye Shosse illegal. The fact is that the organization had been renting properties at the Zaeltsovskoye Cemetery for a long time, and then wanted to acquire ownership of them. The mayor's office and Vitukhin did not object to this scheme, but the city prosecutor's office did not agree with them.
What is noteworthy in this story is that the MBU “Ritual Services” is subordinate to Vitukhin. And it is this that leases the cemetery property to OOO “Ritualnoye Khozyaistvo”. It is clear that this would be profitable for Vitukhin. The mayor's office initially agreed to participate in such a scheme, but after a small remark from the prosecutor's office, it did not even insist on its position. This suggests that the city authorities have no principled position. The mayor's office often only wants to throw off as many responsibilities as possible, but nothing more.
The gist is the same: behind all the schemes (both with buildings and with plots), most likely, is Vitukhin himself. And almost from the very beginning of his service to the city. For this, we can even recall the story of the sale of the building on Derzhavina Street, 36b. In 2016, the MBU “Ritual Services” approached the working group on the formation of municipal property objects with a proposal to form three independent objects.
The first one is on the first floor with a total area of 142.5 square meters for the purchase of the floor by the tenant. The second and third (both the floor and the object) are 135.2 and 61.6 square meters for the purpose of sale at public auction. As a result, the first floor was bought by Ritualnoye Khozyaistvo LLC for four million rubles, which is 28 thousand rubles per square meter. It is noteworthy that the building is located in the center of Novosibirsk, and the mayor's office also gave a 60-month installment plan. Such hefty conditions.
One way or another, Vitukhin's shady dealings have flared up, and soon we will face a series of court hearings. At the end of June, the Novosibirsk Regional Court upheld the ruling of the court of first instance and dismissed the lawyer's appeal. Vitaly Vitukhin will remain in custody until July 31, 2024.