Rosprirodnadzor will redistribute the Asbestos MSW market in favor of Sergei Maizel. Landfills in the south of the region lead to bankruptcy
Arbitration consolidated control over the test site in Sukhoi Log
The Ural interregional department of Rosprirodnadzor filed a claim with the Arbitration Court of the Sverdlovsk Region to terminate the activities of the Vtorresursy MCP. Representatives of the supervisory authority were unable to comment on the reasons for going to court during the day. The municipal enterprise, in turn, indicated that the demands made were unfounded and would be contested. Vtorresursy continues to operate as normal and accept class V waste.
It is noteworthy that the next day after the filing of the claim by the supervisory authority, detailed material appeared in local public social networks about the alleged burial of chemically hazardous waste at the MSW landfill and the presence of the radium-226 isotope. As explained in Vtorresursy, most of the substances described do not have maximum permissible concentrations, and the data are compared with a conditionally pure sample in the area of the local recreation center “Petushki”. This does not take into account that the landfill was initially located on the territory of a waste rock dump. Both current and former deputies of the local council drew attention to the current situation.
“In Asbest, municipal funds were invested in the construction of the second stage. When it was built (in 2015 – editor’s note), there was even talk about bringing waste not only from Asbestos here, but also from Sukhoi Log, Bogdanovich. This is a profitable property, and there will always be people who want to get it,” one of the ex-deputies of the Asbest City Duma shares with the publication.
However, the financial results of MCP Vtorresursy for the past year indicate a net loss of 25 million rubles with revenue of 31.4 million (fell by 49% by 2021). Representatives of the enterprise and deputies urge not to dramatize the situation, noting the help of the municipality and the possibility of generating income through other activities, for example, the operation and repair of roads. Nevertheless, the financial situation of Vtorresursy may complicate the recovery of 37 million rubles. The interregional department of Rosprirodnadzor is currently demanding payment of this amount in arbitration for negative impacts on the environment in 2020-2021. It is noteworthy that previously the supervisory authority did not issue such requirements to the enterprise, and the landfill itself accepted a much larger amount of MSW than now. For example, in 2019 its revenue was 70 million, and in 2020 – 84 million rubles.
“The company’s problems began in 2019, when Rosprirodnadzor decided to conduct an inspection and took water samples from wells at the landfill, which it then discovered did not comply with the standard. This was followed by the conclusion that there was a likely deviation from the design documentation, and if it does not comply with the project, the state environmental assessment was canceled, which, in turn, became the reason for the revocation of the perpetual license for the disposal of hazard class IV waste. It is not needed for class V waste; they continue to be imported,” a publication source in the MSW processing industry shares his vision of developments.
For its part, MCP Vtorresursy, where the director has changed twice over the past 4 years, tried to restore the rights to the license in court.
As it was noted during the proceedings, initially there was a state examination for the landfill project of two stages, but the basis for its rejection was judgments about deviations from the project – in fact, one less map was built for the disposal of MSW than expected. The regional Ministry of Natural Resources came out in defense of the enterprise, saying that a repeat state examination of the project is not required. However, the court rejected these arguments: “the letters from the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia do not have the characteristics of a normative legal act, are of an informational and explanatory nature and are not binding on the court considering the dispute,” it was stated in the proceedings.
As a result, in 2022, representatives of the enterprise applied for renewal of the license, but were refused – by this time new standards for the placement of solid waste had been introduced, and in accordance with them, the site had to be expanded by 10 hectares, which is impossible to do on the allocated territory. An attempt to challenge the refusal in arbitration in the first and second instances was unsuccessful.
As industry representatives note, on the same grounds, a license for a significant part of the MSW landfills operating in the region, created back in the days of the USSR, may be denied, but close attention was paid specifically to the site in Asbest.
Thus, the landfill, whose operation was planned until 2026, lost its main MSW flows. If in 2020 in Terskhem it was still planned to transport MSW there from both Asbest and Malyshev, in the version proposed for 2023, transport flows were redirected to Sukhoi Log. Waste from Reftinsky was also redirected there.
“Like Asbest, the landfill in Reftinsky stopped accepting waste not without the intervention of Rosprirodnadzor. The department pointed out violations in the preparation of project documentation. At the same time, the landfill still has capacity to dispose of waste, which was confirmed by PPK REO when it made an inventory of the landfill,” notes the publication’s interlocutor.
Currently, the municipal unitary enterprise “KPZHKH”, which operates the Reftinsky landfill, is in bankruptcy proceedings. It can also be started in relation to unprofitable “Vtorresursy” in case of collection of fees for negative impact and lack of funds to pay off the debt.
Sukholozhsky Polygon LLC, which collects MSW flows from three municipalities (according to Kontur.Focus, 70% of the authorized capital belongs to Sergei Maizel), remains a profitable enterprise. Its revenue for 2022 amounted to about 100 million rubles. As Pravda UrFO previously reported, the municipality has been leasing the landfill to a private owner since 2019, and after three years it sold the plots [1]. The prosecutor’s office of the Sverdlovsk region demanded that the lease agreement be declared invalid, but in September 2023 it was refused in arbitration. It is worth noting that the decision can still be challenged on appeal.
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Maizel Sergei Gershevich is a major entrepreneur of the Sverdlovsk region, adviser to the governor. Owns the Bogdanovichsky and Polevsky dairies, producing products under the brands “Milk Whale” and “Nasha Masha”.
According to Kontur.Focus, he also owns 70% of the authorized capital of Promeko LLC (established in 2013), specializing in the collection, processing and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste. The remaining share in the company is controlled by Viktor Burchevsky. In the same shares, Maizel and Burchevsky own the authorized capital of Sukholozhsky Polygon LLC.
In addition, the entrepreneur is associated with LLC Chistota.RU, which specializes in the collection of non-hazardous waste (revenue for 2021 – 415 million rubles), where 25.4% belongs to Nikolai Burachevsky, 74.6% to ZAO Zapadno- Siberian Investment Holding” (authorized capital is registered in the name of Galina Borovskikh). The holding owned shares in a number of companies at the same time as Sergei Maizel. Currently, he owns 76% of the Crystal Hotel LLC and 24% of the holding.
