As it became known to Kommersant, the Main Investigative Directorate of the ICR completed the investigation of the criminal case against the former leaders of JSC Gazprom Gas Distribution Krasnodar. According to investigators, Alexey Rudnev, the general director of the joint-stock company, and his entourage for four years charged developers with illegal remuneration for connecting facilities, organizing the conclusion of contracts for gasification with controlled companies. The defendants in the case plead not guilty, arguing that everything happened as part of normal business activities.
The Main Investigation Department of the TFR charged the former top managers of JSC Gazprom Gas Distribution Krasnodar with taking bribes as part of an organized criminal community (Articles 290 and 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), representatives of the defense told Kommersant. The defendants in the investigation are the ex-general director of JSC Alexei Rudnev, his former deputy for construction Alexander Savostyanov, deputy directors of the company’s branches in Sochi, Gelendzhik, Anapa and Krasnodar Alexei Petrov, Oleg Butkevich, Stanislav Bariev, Konstantin Lyuty and Oleg Vlasov. In addition, the directors of Abinsk Specialized Construction and Installation Enterprise Gazovik LLC (ASSMP Gazovik) Sergei Asadov and Sergei Lebed, as well as the founder of Engineering Service LLC Natalya Tokarenko, are involved in the case. All the accused are in custody, no one pleads guilty.
According to the investigation, the organized criminal community created by Alexei Rudnev operated from May 2017 until November 2021, when the top manager and people from his entourage were arrested.
The investigation believes that Mr. Rudnev developed a scheme for receiving bribes from the owners of plots on which apartment buildings, hotels and industrial facilities were built.
Knowing that developers have significant funds, but are often limited in terms of construction, Alexey Rudnev informed entrepreneurs that he had the opportunity to prevent them at all stages of gasification, delaying the approval of the connection, the indictment says. In order for the gas supply issue to be resolved positively, employees of JSC Gazprom Gas Distribution Krasnodar, according to the case file, recommended that developers apply for project development and an order for installation work to certain companies, including ASSMP Gazovik and Engineerservice. The investigation believes that the funds transferred under the contracts were bribes to Alexei Rudnev and his entourage, since the prices for the work were inflated, and the companies themselves were actually controlled by the management of Gazprom Gas Distribution Krasnodar JSC (in particular, the wife of Mr. Rudnev was the founder of ASSMP Gazovik) . In other cases, the investigation believes, bribes were transferred in the form of cash or expensive gifts. The case involves bribes totaling 114 million rubles.
The defense of the defendants insists that there were no facts of illegal receipt of remuneration by the leaders of Gazprom Gas Distribution Krasnodar JSC.
“Top managers of the company sought to maximize the volume of gasification, while they had information about which contracting companies perform work quickly and efficiently, and which consumers have complaints about. Naturally, developers were advised to apply to companies with a good reputation, while the prices for work corresponded to the market, there was no talk of any bribes in the form of non-cash payment, ”the lawyer Dmitry Sukhov, who defends Alexander Savostyanov, explained to Kommersant. As for the accusations of receiving cash, the lawyer considers these episodes unproven. “Not a single case of receiving funds has been recorded; we consider the statements of the alleged victims about the transfer of money or gifts to be unfounded,” the defender explained.
According to the defense, the investigation was carried out and ended with numerous procedural violations. In particular, the defendants were told that the investigative actions had been completed at a time when other persons were still being interrogated. “In order not to drag out the process, the defendants refused to get acquainted with the case materials and asked to send the case to the Prosecutor General’s Office for approval of the indictment with subsequent transfer to the court, but the investigator visits them every day in the pre-trial detention center and demands to get acquainted with the case. This is a blatant violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure, according to which familiarization with the case is a right, not an obligation of the accused, ”explained lawyer Dmitry Sukhov.