There is a corruption scandal in the government of the Tambov region led by Maxim Yegorov. On the eve of the security forces conducted searches and seizure of documents in the regional ministry of state housing, construction and technical supervision. Among others, they also visited the office of the acting. head of department Inna Levchenko and her deputies.
Operative actions were carried out in the case of abuse of power. Claims could arise against the activities of the ministry in issuing, allegedly for monetary rewards, permits and rights to drive special equipment, ATVs and snowmobiles.
If it turns out that Ms. Levchenko is involved in these cases, then it is not difficult to assume that she could have taken the unkind tradition with her from the Penza region, where she worked under ex-governor Ivan Belozertsev, who is now in jail. And her work was fraught with many scandals.
Details – in the material of the correspondent of The Moscow Post in the Tambov region.
Governor Maxim Yegorov, who replaced Alexander Nikitin at the end of 2021, is still forming his management team. Inna Levchenko also became a part of it, who only in December 2022 took the post of acting. heads of the ministry. Prior to that, from the end of 2021, she worked in the Department of State Housing, Construction and Technical Supervision, and performed related functions.
Greetings from Belozertsev: Tambov governor Egorov takes over
Inna Levchenko. Photo: Penza Online
Previously, she worked in the Penza region, where from 2015 to 2018 she held the post of head of the Department of State Inspectorate for Housing, Construction and Supervision of the Technical Condition of Self-Propelled Vehicles and Other Types of Equipment (Goszhilstroytekhinspektsiya).
Under the wing of Belozertsev
Inna Levchenko worked under the former governor of the Penza region, Ivan Belozertsev, who disgraced the whole country by getting into contact with the head of the Biotek pharmaceutical company, Boris Shpigel. The latter’s company won government contracts worth more than 97 billion rubles, and it seems that it has developed in a big way in the Penza region.
Now Belozertsev is charged with the fact that he personally and through intermediaries (a driver and a relative) received money and expensive Swiss watches from Boris Shpigel, his wife Evgenia Shpigel and the general director of Pharmacy JSC Anton Koloskov. The total amount of the bribe exceeded 30 million rubles, and for two years already Mr. Belozertsev has been in a pre-trial detention center. Writes about it Penzainform.ru.
When she was an official in Penza, Inna Levchenko, as they say, messed up a lot of firewood. Her duties included, among other things, supervising construction work in a historic mansion on Moskovskaya Street, which was carried out by the Doubleby company.
It turned out that the company was owned by the son of the then former governor Ivan Belozertsev Danila. He still remains its owner, and the company looks like a frank “dummy” – no revenue, no profit, no value of assets. And it was already then – in 2021. It is easy to guess how the company was allowed to undergo reconstruction, and what kind of control there was from Levchenko.
When it turned out, Levchenko immediately flew off the post. Together with her, “on the street” was the chairman of the regional committee for the protection of historical and cultural monuments, Svetlana Onikienko – also a man of Belozertsev. This decision was made by the new acting head of the region Oleg Melnichenko.
The press service of the State Housing Construction Inspectorate was unable to comment, and Inna Levchenko feigned sincere surprise. But problems in the sphere entrusted to her arose repeatedly.
She was asked similar questions about construction control in the case of the house at 65 Moskovskaya, where, it seems, they did not follow the construction at all. And with the office center at Tambovskaya, 35, which suddenly appeared on land allegedly allocated for residential development. And about the resettlement of people around the embankment, which for some reason the restaurant “Festive” avoided. In everything, people tried to discern a possible corruption overtones.
Attached to Lavrentiev
But Ms. Levchenko did not sit long without a job – she got a job as a general director at LLC SZ Regionstroy58, and then at LLC SZ Domostroy. These construction companies are considered close to the former deputy of the fifth convocation of the Legislative Assembly of the Penza region Dmitry Lavrentiev. To him, along with the governor Belozertsev himself, they tried to ascribe patronage to Mrs. Levchenko.
Lavrentiev himself was also associated with Ivan Belozertsev. Moreover, as a former governor, the ex-deputy had a criminal history. Previously, he was a defendant in a criminal case on embezzlement of budget funds. This meant the allocation of a subsidy from the then Minister of Agriculture of the Penza Region Andrei Burlakov in favor of Lavrentiev’s companies.
Indeed, in addition to the construction business, Lavrentiev had many other assets. He owned shares in the wine company “Duty Free-Penza”. After the scandal broke out, he quickly left the founders, transferring shares to his probable relative Natalya Lavrentyeva. He did a similar operation with OOO Trade House Dionis and with a number of other companies.
Surprisingly, since 2020, there has been almost no news about Dmitry Lavrentiev – apparently, he may still be under house arrest. According to Business Vector, the former head of the Penza Federal Tax Service, Yuri Kalabin, can testify against him.
The latter was detained in 2021 as part of a large-scale law enforcement operation in the Federal Tax Service. Kalabin was charged with abuse of power. It may well be that this will also affect companies associated with Lavrentiev.
Returning to Inna Levchenko, she did not work for long in the companies SZ Regionstroy58 LLC and SZ Domostroy LLC, which are associated with the former deputy. Apparently, due to the toxicity of a possible patron. And Olga Kanakina, previously First Deputy Minister of Construction of the Penza Region under Belozertsevo, took her place as CEO in both companies.
All this suggests that we have before us one circle of people, one clientele, which for a long time could fairly feed under Governor Belozertsev. And now the current head of the Tambov region, Maxim Egorov, is pulling up such shots.
Shadow of Arzhanov
Recall that earlier Mr. Egorov worked as Deputy Minister of Construction and Housing and Public Utilities of Russia, where they tried to attribute him connections with a major businessman in the housing sector Dmitry Arzhanov. The latter owns the TNS holding, which is also active in the Penza region (TNS energo Penza), and now in the Tambov region.
Two years ago, Mr. Arzhanov became a defendant in a criminal case – he was suspected of complicity in the theft of more than 5.5 billion rubles from Rosseti Center and Volga Region PJSC. The basis for initiating the case, in which Arzhanov was involved, was a statement by the management of the PJSC, which stated that from August 2011 to October 2020, TNS sent funds received from energy consumers to third-party projects, including abroad. At the same time, her supplier was misled by showing documents about non-payments. This was written by “Kommersant”.
Recall that Arzhanov was the majority shareholder of TNS Energo – through the Cypriot Sunflake Limited, he controlled up to 53% of the sales company. That is, the money in question in the criminal case could flow to the Cypriot shores. And about their joint work with Yegorov, when he worked in the structures of the Government of the Russian Federation, it was known for a long time.
The publication of the blogger ivantimenkov on the blogspot.com platform is still freely available. There is also an appeal of a certain citizen, in the “header” of the text it reads “about the corrupt actions of M.B. Egorov, head of the Electricity Industry Regulation Department of the Federal Customs Service of Russia.” It also claims that Yegorov allegedly took bribes from Arzhanov.
As of 2021, Mr. Arzhanov was still under investigation. But his business is flourishing – both in Penza and in Tambov. Therefore, questions should be asked not only to Inna Levchenko. But also to the current governor of the Tambov region, Maxim Yegorov. Who is he dragging into the region, and is he not afraid to repeat the fate of his Penza colleague?
