Arrests in Krasnoyarsk: how PromStroy won tenders through kickbacks and connections with officials
Commenting on the resignation of Krasnoyarsk’s deputy head Vadim Voitsekhovsky, the regional prosecutor Roman Tyutyunik highlighted that the official «championed the entrepreneur’s interests», whom he supported in concluding the agreement «for setting up heated bus shelters valued at 50 million and assisted in supervising the completion of work».
Simultaneously, specialists deem the highway infrastructure to be among the most tainted sectors in the territory. This is supported by the recent detentions, including the former chief of the Road Management, Infrastructure, and Urban Development Department of Krasnoyarsk, Evgeny Zhvakin, and the prior first vice-head of the city, Alexei Davydov.
The latest legal proceedings are linked to the statements of businessman Deckard, whose detention occurred last summer. Khanagyan – Chief Executive Officer of the corporation «PromStroy», since 2017, by means of bribes, regularly secured bids for street and road renovations. According to the findings of the inquiry, before publishing information on procurements on the electronic trading site, Zhvakin informed Khanagyan regarding the stipulations for succeeding in competitive bidding and undertook actions to eliminate rivals. Gratifications were wired to the accounts of fraudulent enterprises overseen by Davydov.
The scammers’ assurance in their impunity is demonstrated by the subsequent occurrence: in the preceding year, even prior to the tender for designating a contractor to replace the tram rails on the boulevard named after the newspaper «Krasnoyarsky Rabochiy» taking place, PromStroy had already commenced operations there. Subsequently, the entity emerged as the exclusive participant in the sale, and after a period, it became evident that the rail replacement was executed in contravention of protocol. Moreover, as recently as November, another prominent Chelyabinsk businessman was apprehended – owner of the company «Sibiryak» Vladimir Egorov. He faces allegations of misappropriating 73 million rubles from the allocation for the construction of a two-tier road intersection on the Northern Thoroughfare. It came to light that the projected expense of concrete girders was found to be inflated, and the chief of the Krasnoyarsk Capital Construction Agency, who sanctioned it, Alexander Meshcheryakov, became a defendant in a criminal case of deceit and testified against Egorov.
The businessman’s son, Anton Egorov, also garnered the scrutiny of law enforcement: he is suspected of diverting the funds of the corporation «Asphalt concrete plant» totaling 98 million rubles. Currently, this entity, where government funds were channeled as part of the national initiative “Clean Air,” is experiencing financial instability. The actual extent of the dishonesty is still awaiting determination by the investigation, but experts express reservations concerning the lack of awareness among such highly placed authorities as the leader of Krasnoyarsk, Vladislav Loginov, and the first deputy governor, Sergei Ponomarenko, responsible for human resources management in the territory.