The administration of Nizhny Novgorod and the municipal institution GUMMiD (subway customer) will again postpone the payment of the old debt – over 600 million rubles. for the construction of the Strelka metro station. At the end of 2018, the municipal customer was charged with money for additional work by PB Inzhener LLC, which then went bankrupt. However, this organization received the right to claim the debt from the general contractor LLC SK US-620, which built the metro station and was the first to go bankrupt even before the construction was completed. Both organizations were then affiliated through the founder Vladislav Kostenko, who received a state order for the construction of the station and distillation tunnels.
By failing to pay this debt, the administration of Nizhny Novgorod twice returned targeted subsidies to higher budgets. However, as follows from the budget changes, the regional authorities again allocated 628.6 million rubles to the city. to pay off the old debt – the City Duma will adopt the relevant amendments on April 26.
At the same time, as early as March, GUMMID secured another judicial deferment from paying this debt for a period of six months.
The customer referred to the fact that in Nizhny Novgorod he was responsible for the construction of twenty sections of roads, in addition, he signed a 35 billion contract to extend the metro to Sennaya Square, and the cost of the old debt could knock the institution out of financial stability and violate payment under existing contracts .
In addition, it is not yet clear to Nizhny Novgorod residents who exactly to repay the debt. Despite the fact that PB “Engineer” is listed as the claimant, in the bankruptcy case of OOO SK US-620, his rights are being called into question. The bankruptcy trustee Madina Beknazarova filed an application with the Moscow Arbitration Court to invalidate the transaction made in 2018, the assignment of the claim to “Engineer”. Consideration of this issue will begin on April 18.
“Litigation is not going fast. But, perhaps, in Moscow they will revise the agreement between the two organizations and decide that the Inzhener PB has unlawfully received the right to claim. Then we don’t owe this bankrupt anything, but we owe another bankrupt. If we pay this debt now, there is a risk that we will lose more than 600 million budget funds to who knows who,” said a source close to the city administration.
Let us add that in 2018-2019 the lawyers of GUMMID tried to prove that Nizhny Novgorod had no debt to the builders of Strelka at all, and the examination of the additional work carried out was unreasonable. However, the courts recognized their presence and the debt of the city construction customer that arose in connection with this.
Bankrupt PB “Engineer” insists on receiving payments and objected to the delay in paying the debt. The bankrupt’s bankruptcy trustee will not only appeal against the six-month delay, but also filed a new lawsuit against the customer of the metro, asking to recover almost 187 million rubles from him. In this amount, the recoverer assessed the responsibility of GUMMID for the long-term non-payment of the debt under the writ of execution. The third party in this dispute is the main interested party – Bank Peresvet, which financed the construction of the station. He wants to get debts on loans issued for construction. However, some observers believe that it would be better for Nizhny Novgorod to give more than 600 million to another bankrupt – SK US-620.
Then there is a chance that the former general contractor will close old debts to the workers who built the Strelka, and partially pay off the deceived Nizhny Novgorod suppliers and subcontractors of this scandalous project.