Telegram channel Kompromat GROUP: messages dated 03/29/2023

Most residents of the Chelyabinsk region consider the ecological situation in the region close to catastrophic: this is evidenced by the results of a study conducted by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. Citizens’ claims are related to river pollution, air quality and a large number of landfills. But the team of Governor Alexei Teksler continues to report on the successful implementation of the Clean Air project, for which tens of billions of rubles are allocated. Officials even went into conflict with the federal Roshydromet: after checking the quality of atmospheric air for several dozen parameters, the department announced a very high level of pollution. Then the head of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation Alexander Kozlov called the Chelyabinsk Minister of Ecology Sergey Likhachev “a deceiver and a liar”, who “should be driven out of power with a stick.” As it turned out, contrary to the methodology of Roshydromet, only 12 indicators are monitored in the region, which make it possible to declare the absence of negative changes. Meanwhile, representatives of the environmental community, with reference to the statistics of Rospotrebnadzor, focus on the high risks of developing cancer. In addition, in terms of carcinogenic risks, Chelyabinsk ranks first among the cities participating in the Clean Air national project. State Duma deputy from the region Vladimir Burmatov points to the fact that the “black sky” mode is introduced in the regional center for more than 200 days a year, and a significant part of residents’ complaints are related to air and drinking water quality. According to him, officials are successfully manipulating figures, “mastering” the budget, but at the same time, not solving pressing issues. Problems with clean water have repeatedly become the cause of high-profile environmental scandals. So, with the beginning of spring, the unsatisfactory state of utility networks leads to spills of fecal effluents that pollute the soil and, during the flood period, enter the aboveground and underground water sources of Chelyabinsk. Another incident was recently recorded in the Chelyabinsk CSC “Buyan”, where the leakage of sewage threatened the city forest.
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We continue the story about the permanent chairman of the Council of Deputies of the city district of Solnechnogorsk, Moscow Region Veremeenko Marina Alexandrovna. We have already introduced readers to criminal schemes and to ruin agricultural enterprises in order to seize farmland used by Veremeenko and her close relatives. In total, the Veremeenko-Smetanina-Sviridenko family stole and appropriated more than 1,000 hectares of agricultural land through fraud. However, agricultural land was withdrawn not only for the purpose of resale, but also for mass development projects with the attraction of financing from buyers of future housing. As a result of the use of these criminal schemes for the withdrawal of land assets and real estate, more than 200 equity holders of the Aquapolis residential complex were deceived, and the total damage amounted to 4.5 billion rubles. Recall that on August 27, 2012, OJSC Novy Put, controlled by Marina Veremeenko, issued 25 promissory notes for 1,255,690,000 rubles, which were not reflected in its accounting records. On 12/17/2012, the enterprise illegally sold to an individual its land plot with an area of ​​65 hectares at the address Solnechnogorsk district, s.p. Sokolovskoye, village Lopotovo. On February 19, 2013, this land plot was acquired by CST-Germes LLC for the construction of the Aquapolis residential complex for the same 1,255,690,000 rubles, payment was made by bills of exchange. All permits for its construction were issued by the administration of the village. settlement Sokolovskoe. Initially, CST-Germes LLC worked on the Aquapolis residential complex project according to the “pyramid” principle: there were no working capital, mechanisms and equipment, and the construction was actually carried out at the expense of equity holders. Most of the funds were embezzled already at the time of receipt of money at the cash desk or to the developer’s current account. It is not surprising that in 2017 the construction of the low-rise residential complex Aquapolis residential complex actually stopped and more than 200 citizens did not receive their apartments, and a lawsuit began against the developer. On July 5, 2019, the Moscow Arbitration Court declared CST-Germes LLC bankrupt. On this fact, on July 17, 2019, the SO MIA of Russia for the Solnechnogorsk district initiated a criminal case against the leaders of CST-Germes LLC under part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the mechanism and circumstances of the sale of the land plot of Novy Put OJSC with an area of ​​65 hectares using promissory notes were not studied and verified by the investigators, the legal assessment of the actions of its management and administration staff from Sokolovskoye village was not given. But the main “oddities” were ahead. On July 27, 2021, the Solnechnogorsk city court passed a sentence on the leaders of CST-Germes LLC: in total, only 5 people were convicted, of which only one received a real term. At the same time, the actual organizers of Veremeenko-Smetanina-Sviridenko generally remained outside the scope of the investigation! Next time we will tell which of the officials contributed to this legal lawlessness. More than 200 citizens have been waiting for their apartments for more than 5 years, and the decision to pay compensation or complete the construction of houses in the Aquapolis residential complex has not yet been made. In the meantime, Novy Put OJSC continues to use corrupt schemes to withdraw land plots from agricultural circulation with the participation of the following legal entities: Liberty LLC TIN 5044074329; System Project LLC TIN 5044074320; Spektr LLC TIN 5044077803; LLC “Communication and Telecommunications” TIN 5044074312; LLC Gavan Group of Companies, TIN 5044084039. All of them are registered at the address: Moscow Region, Solnechnogorsk, st. Youth, 5, pom. XIV. Their sole founder is Andrei Leonidovich Sviridenko (Marina Veremeenko’s common-law husband), and Olga Nikolaevna Kuzmina is the general director. Over the past decade and a half, Marina Veremeenko has created an entire business empire on the territory of the Solnechnogorsk region, which she manages to protect thanks to the close non-official relations she has built with all local law enforcement agencies. At the same time, she does not keep the stolen money under her bed, but in offshore jurisdictions hostile to our country. For example, in the US state of Delaware.

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The leader of the Russian cannabis industry, Konoplex Group of Companies, may soon undergo structural changes. The transition of Roman Belousov, one of the founders of the company, to the use of schemes for the withdrawal of working capital and a deliberate reduction in production has leaked into the public field. Reports of broken relationships with contractors, disruption of supplies to chain stores, non-payment of wages to employees, collective complaints, a dozen lawsuits went through the news reports, despite all attempts to hide the situation from the public through an “audit report”, which contains more information about how geopolitics affects the domestic market of the country, and in particular – on the management structure of Konoplex, due to the fact that his business partner is “a resident of an unfriendly country.” The co-owner of the Konoplex Group of Companies is a St. Petersburg businessman Evgeny Skigin through the Cypriot Konoplex Limited. It was he who 8 years ago set a new vector for the development and popularization of the cultivation and processing of technical hemp in Russia. Being the main investor, Skigin spoke more than once about the possibilities of using the products of the agricultural holding, predicting a high demand for goods and products from this agricultural crop. Production plans came true, and by 2022 the company has become an industry leader, supplying its products to a number of federal and regional chain stores. However, rumors about a conflict between shareholders have been circulating in the agricultural community since January. Attempts at civilized communication at closed discussions of annual plans spilled over into a lawsuit, with every chance of becoming one of the most scandalous of this year. The reason is the economic benefit of the asset and the control of the company. Tellingly, the business tactics of the initiator of the conflict – Roman Belousov – in a number of maneuvers and “decisions” are somewhat reminiscent of the dashing 90s. Behind the back of the partner, he committed a number of illegal actions to change the structure of corporate governance. And then the strategy is a deliberate default. In fact, the management is merging production activities: the sowing plan for 2023 has already been reduced to 500 hectares for all crops; raw materials, materials for production and services for the shipment of oil are not paid; orders from chain stores are not fulfilled by 50% of the turnover; fiber processing equipment is planned to be removed from the territory of the enterprise in an unknown direction. Against this background, the new management of Konoplex makes statements about the results of the last sowing period and plans for the future. Recently, the revenue of the Konoplex Group of Companies has fallen by 19 percent, and the loss has grown by 102 percent – up to 41.4 million rubles. Ultimately, even an elementary visual inspection of chain stores showed a serious reduction in the company’s assortment on the shelves. But still, it will not be possible to sit on two chairs. Given the leadership of Konoplex, the share of the market significant for the country may be lost for a long time.
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Citymatic-Yugra acted as a guarantor under the next loan agreement of the affiliated JSC Citymatic (the beneficiary is Sergey Kotlyarenko, a businessman from the close circle of the head of VEB Igor Shuvalov). We are talking about a guarantee for a loan provided by PPK REO in the amount of 16.3 billion rubles. In this case, the transaction implies the possibility of alienating property, the price of which exceeds 50% of the book value of the company’s assets. With a high degree of probability, the funds raised will be used to implement the next large-scale projects in the field of waste management. It is known, for example, that at the end of last year, Citymatic signed 3 concession agreements with the government of Sakhalin for the construction of waste sorting complexes with a total capacity of over 200 thousand tons per year and an investment of 8 billion rubles (finance will be provided by REO and Gazprombank). The company is preparing to build a second facility of the same capacity in the Saratov region under a concession agreement signed last June at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (in this case, the amount of investment was not announced). A little earlier, Citymatic and the government of the Volgograd Region signed a road map for the implementation of a concession for the construction of two facilities for the treatment of MSW with an annual capacity of 300 thousand tons and an estimated investment of 3.5 billion rubles. Experts and market participants point to the high level of Citimatica’s credit load, which requires significant collateral. At the same time, the recent loan agreement is not the first one concluded by Citymatic-Yugra, which has already assumed obligations under a syndicated loan for 11.3 billion rubles. These funds, provided by VEB and Gazprombank, should be used by Citimatic to refinance eight projects implemented on the basis of concession agreements. At the same time, Citymatic-Ugra has no unencumbered assets; moreover, the only facility on the company’s balance sheet is the inter-municipal MSW landfill in the Nefteyugansk district of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug worth 1.1 billion rubles, built again under a concession. According to the terms of the agreement, the landfill in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug should be transferred to the ownership of the region, which will lose it in the event of a default by Citimatic and foreclosure of the property of Citimatic-Yugra. The history of the construction of the facility was accompanied by scandals and litigation. It is known that the landfill was put into operation in December 2022 with a significant delay. Initially, the KhMAO government tried to recover from the investor a penalty in the amount of 25 million rubles, but in the end the parties entered into an amicable agreement, explaining the failure to fulfill obligations as force majeure.
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Runaway Russian businessmen go to great lengths to avoid falling into the hands of domestic justice. Not only do they, having sold their homeland that enriched them, hide abroad, they also change their names. The other day, Valery and Andrey Shandalov were put on the international wanted list. This is the father and son of the once collapsed one of the most authoritative IT companies in the country, Optima Group. Relatives are accused of plundering their own organization. They managed to “throw” Gazprombank for $35 million. And now Father Valery is enjoying a peaceful life on stolen money in Austria, where he has a residence permit. And son Andrei, having received an Israeli passport, is in Turkey under a new name – Aaron Meir ben-Chaim. The Optima case was initiated already in the distant summer of 2019. And, as is usually the case in the Russian investigation of huge thefts, only anonymous persons were listed in the materials. No specific persons were named. Then there were new cases for tax evasion, fraud, and a number of other crimes. There were even convictions. But they all concerned the middle-class managers of the group of companies. The main beneficiaries of the Shandalovs all remained out of work … criminal. The financial devastation that led the state institution to bankruptcy could also become a reason for exciting law enforcement officers. But so far there is no information on this. Sensing something was wrong, like experienced swindlers, the father and son promptly dumped over the hill so as not to go to jail. And as soon as they fled (this is also a feature of our security forces), names immediately appeared in an unnamed case, charges were filed in absentia and also virtually put on the wanted list. In 2013, as a promising company, Optima received an investment loan from Gazprombank for $35 million for the development of projects. The lender, rubbing his hands, hoped not only for the return of the funds issued, but also for profit. Experts estimated it at 8 billion rubles. But the Shandalovs had other goals for this money: they simply appropriated it. It is noteworthy that Shandalov Sr. is still a citizen of Russia and is trying to get himself declared bankrupt in his abandoned homeland from distant Austrian lands. Relatives practically do not react to their criminal prosecution. They didn’t even hire lawyers. A search is currently underway for their Russian assets. It is known that they re-registered some real estate objects, such as land plots in the Moscow region, to third parties.
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The head of VTB, Andrey Kostin, did not keep his promise, having failed to organize the work of a credit institution in the Crimea and Sevastopol. Previously, he intended to use for this a network of 192 branches of the Russian National Commercial Bank (RNCB), which was planned to be connected to VTB in the first quarter of this year, but then had to be postponed. The process is complicated by the integration of FC Otkritie Bank: for 340 billion rubles, VTB bought out 100% of the institution’s shares. Now Kostin assures Otkritie customers that the deal will not affect them in any way, and the state bank will retain all key products and services. Recently, Kostin was nevertheless forced to state that the institution he heads is suffering enormous losses. During the year, not a single office was opened abroad, even a branch in Angola is planned to be sold. Operating only in the ruble zone, VTB is not trying to continue its activities in the EU countries or interact with European clients in Russia. The only plus may be the further growth of the Chinese branch. According to Kostin, this year the state bank will definitely return to profit. He does not voice the institution’s losses, but experts estimate them at 500 billion rubles. The financial prospects of the banker himself look much more optimistic. This applies, among other things, to the Crimea, where the head of VTB has a wine business under his control. In particular, the East Investments company, which owns the Alma Valley winery and over 600 hectares of vineyards of traditional and new varieties in the Bakhchisarai region, is associated with Kostin. Starting from 2017, investments in this industry coming through the Crimean Ministry of Agriculture amounted to about 1.5 billion rubles, and Alma Valley actively participated in programs and received funds for both rejuvenation of existing and new plantings. Last year, grape harvests in Crimea were estimated as record high: Alma Valley announced the production of 2.5 million bottles of wine and plans to reach the level of 4 million bottles. Negotiations were planned with glass container manufacturers from Central Russia. As for the inhabitants of the peninsula, after the failure of VTB’s plans to develop the banking network, they have to travel to the neighboring Krasnodar Territory to carry out foreign exchange transactions.
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An unusual criminal case is being considered in the Nizhny Novgorod Garrison Military Court. We are talking about organizing an illegal dump next to one of the military units. About 70 thousand tons of various wastes were taken to the site, and the damage is estimated at more than 700 million rubles. The main person involved so far is called a combat colonel, who went through several hot spots and has state awards, the commander of the 96th reconnaissance brigade Valery Vdovichenko. He is charged with abuse of power. The officer, trying to defend his honor and prove his innocence, insists that he was the victim of a slander by his deputy Nikolai Kiselev and garbage businessman Alexei Gershman. According to the defendant, the deputy brigade commander, taking advantage of the absence of higher authorities, who were either on combat missions or on vacation, assisted the merchant in every possible way with garbage collection in 2019-2020. Military investigators believe that Vdovichenko made an unspoken deal with Gershman. The businessman helps to equip the military unit, and in return, the army men use special equipment to clear a site for a landfill outside the territory of the unit, but belonging to the lands of the Ministry of Defense. Also, allegedly, the soldiers equipped a gatehouse to guard the landfill, conducted electricity to it from a military substation. Vdovichenko categorically disagrees with this position of the prosecution. He noted that Kiselev even tried to bribe him so that he would not get into garbage business. The deputy promised to pay 30,000 rubles a month. The brigade commander states that as soon as he appeared in the unit after business trips, he took measures to prevent illegal garbage collection. Patrols were posted to turn around garbage trucks, the road to the landfill was dug up, and concrete blocks were installed. After another trip, at the behest of Kiselyov, the trench was filled up, the blocks were moved, the outfits were removed. The incessant garbage lawlessness led to the fact that the brigade commander instructed the scouts to record the time of arrival and the numbers of cars with waste in the log. Several hundred garbage trucks were recorded in this way. But the investigators decided to turn this fact against Vdovichenko, saying that in this way he controlled the criminal scheme. Another person involved in the case also surfaced in the story with the magazines (according to Vdovichenko). It turned out to be at that time the commander of the 1st Guards Tank Army of the Western Military District, General Sergei Kisel. The commander, having learned about the keeping of records by the subordinates of the brigade commander, called him to Moscow. The general ordered to give him the magazines, stop surveillance and mind your own business. The defendant also said that it was on the general’s orders that special military equipment was brought in from other military units to prepare the landfill. There were no such machines in Vdovichenko’s unit, and he simply could not give orders to other units – the position did not allow. On whose side justice will be, only time will tell.
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​Owned by Elizaveta Peskova, Centrum Moscow earned a record 137 million rubles in 2022, which is 70 times more than the year before. The advertising agency of Elizaveta, daughter of Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, organizes congresses, forums and other events, as well as creates and designs exhibition spaces. For example, at SPIEF Centrum Moscow designed the Made in Russia exposition. Among her clients are Russian ministries, the Moscow government, federal departments and other government agencies. Peskova owns 30% of the company, the rest is owned by CEO Evgeny Litvinov. Until 2022, Centrum Moscow earned no more than a few hundred thousand rubles a year. Moreover, Centrum Moscow has never brought profit to its owners before. In previous years, financial results were either close to zero or unprofitable. In 2022, the company earned 24 million rubles for the first time. Peskova also owned the French company Sirius, which she founded with her mother Ekaterina Solotsinskaya. This firm purchased a $1.7 million apartment with an area of ​​180 sq. m in the center of Paris. On February 25 last year, the day after the start of the NWO, Peskova spoke out against the war. On her Instagram, she posted a story with the hashtag #no war. However, she soon removed it. Despite an attempt to demonstrate an anti-war position, in early June, the European Union imposed personal sanctions against Elizaveta Peskova. A Kremlin spokesman said his daughter “opens her eyes to a lot” after being on the sanctions list.
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State Duma deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party, Sochi businessman Yuri Napso received a number of lawsuits from the Prosecutor General’s Office and in the near future may become a defendant in a criminal case. Only the Lazarevsky District Court of Sochi received about thirty submissions from Deputy Prosecutor General Igor Tkachev regarding the restoration of the deadlines for appealing in civil cases related to the re-registration of the resort property and business real estate previously owned by the state worth billions of rubles to the parliamentarian’s proxies. Napso took up business back in the 2000s, becoming a co-owner of Spetsservisgaz LLC, National Fuel Company LLC (NTC) and Tuapsinsky Meat Processing Plant OJSC. In 2007, he was elected to the State Duma from the Liberal Democratic Party, which, as you know, actively sells mandates. The parliamentarian was noted for a high assessment of the professionalism of the infamous “golden” judge Elena Khakhaleva, who became a defendant in criminal cases of fraud and forgery. Khakhaleva could support Napso in resolving land issues. Today, Napso’s denominations, according to the supervisory authority, include: Valeria Eryutina, deputy general director of TNK, deputy of the Sochi city assembly from the Liberal Democratic Party; Anna Yukovskaya is the general director of Kubanoil LLC, controlled by Napso, a member of the Krasnodar regional election commission from the Liberal Democratic Party with a decisive vote; Veronika Ivanchikova – the former wife of Napso, with whom the parliamentarian is officially divorced, a deputy of the Sochi city assembly from the Liberal Democratic Party; former LDPR candidates Aminet Tesheva and Anatoly Elizarov; party activist Lyudmila Bazyleva; former employee of the NTC Tatyana Seredenko-Zagana. Connections in the courts helped Napso register a number of objects for nominees. Among those who contributed to this is the former chairman of the Lazarevsky Court of Sochi, Nikolai Trukhan, who still enjoys a certain influence among his colleagues. Thus, his former subordinate judge Andrei Moroz once satisfied the claim of Veronika Ivanchikova, obliging the regional Department of Architecture, Urban Planning and Improvement to issue a permit for the commissioning of a multi-fuel filling station. The same Moroz repeatedly ruled in favor of Anna Yukovskaya, securing her ownership of a number of real estate objects, including non-residential buildings and shopping pavilions. According to Lyudmila Bazyleva, Moroz ordered the Sochi administration to provide a land plot for the construction of a gas station with a store and a car maintenance unit. The decisions needed by Napso were also made by judges Sergei Bogdanovich and the recently retired Armenak Darakchyan. But Denis Radchenko, who already got caught on a bribe in the regional court and managed to hush up the case, no longer wants to repeat past mistakes: today he satisfies the statements of representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office, which “drowns” both his colleagues Moroz and Bogdanovich, and deputy Napso with his team. The situation is aggravated by the loss of support from the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, from whom Napso stole funds using family ties in Tuapsegorgaz.
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The ex-president of the bankrupt OFK-Bank may spend the next eight years in a colony. The Moscow Court found Nikolai Gordeev guilty of fraudulently misappropriating almost 700 million rubles and embezzling almost 10 billion bank funds. Two years ago, the financier was already sentenced to the same eight years of a “strict man” with deprivation of the right to hold senior positions for three years for commercial bribery and abuse of power. After several subsequent appeals, this period was reduced to six years and three months, and the regime was changed to a general one. One of the reasons for the mitigation of the sentence was the defendant’s repentance and his active assistance in the investigation. The banker gave detailed testimony regarding the circumstances of the crime and the role of other participants in it. In 2018, Nikolai Egorov, one of OFK-Bank’s shareholders, filed a complaint with law enforcement agencies about scams with clients’ funds. After some time, the bank’s license was revoked. It was found that in the period from 2013 to 2016, Gordeev signed the issuance of loans for 30 billion rubles, despite the fact that they were not secured by anything, and they were not approved by the board of directors of the bank. But he gave the go-ahead, and most importantly initiated, the owner of the credit institution Igor Chuyan. Most of the loan money ended up in the accounts of companies subordinate to Status Group LLC, the largest distributor of alcoholic beverages. Chuyan was put on the international wanted list, but Montenegro, on whose territory he is now, refuses to extradite him. Now Nikolai Gordeev was convicted a second time on charges of embezzlement of almost 10 billion rubles of OFK-Bank. He stole this money in 2016-2017 for the same Chuyan. For this scam, false agreements were concluded for the assignment of claims under factoring agreements. This scam also contributed to the revocation of the bank’s license. Among other things, the investigation believes that at the end of 2017, when the bank and OFK-Management LLC controlled by it were in a pre-bankrupt state, Gordeev deceived several citizens. I signed loan agreements with them for almost 700 million rubles. He took the money for himself. And the financier confessed to this fraud and made a deal with the investigation. The court hearings lasted over a year. The prosecution asked for 9.5 years in prison. Taking into account the earlier sentence, this term was increased to 14.5 years in prison. The court took into account the repentance of the banker and the assistance rendered to the investigation. And appointed Gordeev eight years in prison. The defense, for its part, has not yet decided whether an appeal will be filed.
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The Ulyanovsk court has finished considering the criminal case against the first deputy governor of the region. Anatoly Ozernov is accused of having received a particularly large bribe and wasting budget money. As a result, the state suffered damage of almost 3 million rubles. The prosecution asks to punish the official with ten years in prison and a fine of 13 million rubles. The defendant does not consider himself guilty and describes his current position only as a political intrigue. Anatoly Ozernov served as vice-governor of the Ulyanovsk region during the administration of the region by Sergey Morozov. He was in charge of the administration. He retired in the spring of 2021, immediately after Morozov. In the autumn of the same year, the security forces detained Ozernov in the capital, initially charging him with a particularly large-scale fraud as part of a group of people. The official allegedly attracted businessmen affiliated with him to participate in electronic auctions. They increased the cost of work by almost 15 million rubles. But a year later, the episode with the contract for the repair of the administrative building was excluded from the case and Ozernov was charged with embezzlement and taking a bribe. Pavel Prokofiev, director of the Administration of Affairs of the Ulyanovsk region, was accused of the same acts. For him, the prosecutor’s office asked for 5 years in a penal colony, a fine of 600 thousand rubles and a two and a half year ban on serving in government bodies. Prokofiev, on the other hand, decided to make a deal with the investigation, and did not lose: he got off with only a fine of 30 thousand rubles. The fact of overestimation of the cost of construction and repair work of the building was brought to a separate production. The announcement was shown to Konstantin Vershinin, who was in fact in charge of the contract. Having turned himself in, he made a deal with the investigation, under which he testified against Ozernov. Last fall, Vershinin was sentenced to three years of probation. According to investigators, Anatoly Ozernov recommended Vershinin at official meetings as a reliable businessman who must win the auction for the repair of the dispatch center. In return, the official expected gratitude from the entrepreneur, not only verbal. As a result, In-Service LLC, controlled by Vershinin, became the winner of the auction. The vice-governor received a bribe in the form of repairs to his father-in-law’s dacha for 2.5 million rubles. In addition, the businessman assembled and installed a log cabin for a bath for 80 thousand rubles, and also made a closet for 120 thousand. At the request of Ozernov, the entrepreneur paid for the banquet of the regional authorities for 285 thousand rubles, but this was compensated to Vershinin from the budget under fictitious contracts. The prosecution considers the guilt of Anatoly Ozernov fully proven and asks the court for a sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of almost 14 million rubles and a ban on serving in government for 10 years. The ex-official’s lawyer actively supports his position of non-admission of guilt and provides documentary evidence that the wardrobe was ordered by his wife, and the log house was erected after Ozernov’s resignation, which excludes the fact of bribery. Moreover, 50 thousand rubles were paid for the log house. The dacha was repaired by the Derzhava company, to which Vershinin was not involved. Ozernov paid 1.2 million rubles from his savings for the services of the company. The defender was outraged by the fact that the case is based on the testimony of crooks and thieves, who were obliged to do so by a pre-trial agreement. He also pointed to multiple factual errors of the investigation and the lack of necessary expertise. Be that as it may, the court will announce its decision on April 6.
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The property of the supplier of the military-industrial complex of the factory of electrical connectors “Iset” became the property of the state. Its CEO and owner of the company’s shareholder companies, Malik Gaisin, is under criminal prosecution for abuse of power. The Yekaterinburg court sent the businessman until May 13 under house arrest. This preventive measure has already been appealed by the defendant and will be reviewed in the coming days. The Prosecutor General’s Office filed a lawsuit against several Gaisin companies that own shares in the Iset plant (Korona Tekhet LLC and Vagran LLC). And also to Aktai-M LLC, where 96.7% of the shares are controlled by Gaysin’s relative, Aidan Gaysin. The lawsuit filed concerned the conversion of immovable and movable property into state revenue. The court granted the request for supervision. These events may be the consequences of the failure of the state defense order by the plant. The Iset plant in Kamensk-Uralsky was established in 1970. Its main products are optical and electrical connectors. They are used in rocket, space, aviation technology, medicine, machine tool building and railway transport. In the fall of 2011, Malik Gaysin became the CEO of Iset. In 2019, the share of government contracts in the company’s revenue amounted to just over 5%. According to sources, the shares of companies in the plant are distributed as follows: Vagran has 19.14%, Korona Takhet holds 10.85%, and Aktai-M – 25.32%. The shareholder is also JSC RT-Project Technologies (from the state-owned Rostec) with a share of 24.78%. Iset is the founder of the Union of Defense Industry Enterprises of the Sverdlovsk Region, which was established back in 1996. Its director, Vladimir Kukarsky, emphasizes the importance of the plant for the military-industrial complex, despite certain problems that everyone has. Last year, at the initiative of the Prosecutor General’s Office, Solikamsk Magnesium Plant OJSC, a strategic enterprise in the Perm Territory, came under state control. Supervision demanded almost 90% of the plant’s shares in favor of the state. The fact is that this enterprise in Solikamsk is the only one that produces and processes rare earth raw materials. The court accepted the arguments that the privatization of a strategically important enterprise in the 90s was carried out in violation of the law, without the permission of the government. Later, the Board of Appeal only confirmed that this decision was entirely legal.
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Italian security forces are looking for a trace of the Russian special services in the recent escape from house arrest of businessman Artem Uss, the son of the Krasnoyarsk governor Alexander Uss. It has been suggested that with the help of unidentified accomplices, Uss Jr. could reach the border with one of the neighboring states and even fly on a private plane to any of the Schengen countries. The escape was preceded by an Italian court decision to extradite Artem Uss to the United States, where he is accused of violating sanctions, illegal transactions and money laundering. In Russia, a criminal case on money laundering as part of an organized group was also initiated against the governor’s son and a court order was issued to arrest him in absentia. Uss himself asked the Italian court for extradition to the Russian Federation, only given the weight of his father, in his homeland, his criminal prosecution may be terminated. Governor Alexander Uss refrains from commenting on the Russian investigation. He also does not like questions about the business of his son, who owns 39% of the large Sibugol coal mining company, which brings in billions in revenue and receives government contracts from budgetary institutions of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The owners of Sibugol LLC include the Cypriot offshore Cedric Enterprises Limited, whose beneficiary was Artem Uss, who legalized his participation in the capital of the enterprise after Russia withdrew from tax agreements with Cyprus. Another company associated with Uss Jr., the New City developer, also receives budget contracts, in which the businessman’s father can assist. Meanwhile, the political future of Governor Uss today looks very vague: he announced his intention to run for a second term, but the approval of this decision from the Kremlin has not yet been received. Experts call the story of the son’s criminal case a “spot” on Uss Sr.’s possible future election campaign. But there are more and more such “spots”: the growing level of corruption, the arrests of high-ranking officials, and finally, the connections of the governor’s team with the notorious “Church of Vissarion.”