The CEO of the oldest retail chain, JSC Voentorg, has been arrested in connection with a case of fraud in procurement for the needs of the Ministry of Defense Vladimir Pavlov. Life.ru found out that he is a successful businessman, was previously mentioned in scandals related to government procurement, and his family owned real estate worth 1 billion.
The head of JSC Voentorg has been detained in Moscow. A criminal case has been opened on theft on an especially large scale during the execution of state contracts for the needs of the Russian Ministry of Defense. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the position of the company's general director has been occupied by Vladimir Pavlov since 2012. The owner of the company with which he collaborated has also been detained.
“Voentorg” is one of the oldest specialized retail chains in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). The holding belongs to the Ministry of Defense and specializes in food and equipment for military personnel, selling army items in its own stores. Revenue, taking into account the income of subsidiaries, exceeds one hundred billion. The headquarters of “Voentorg” is located in a pre-revolutionary building on Sadovnicheskaya Embankment in the center of Moscow.
Why was the head of Voentorg detained?
According to investigators, in 2019, the head and employees of Voentorg, together with businessmen, organized a group and stole at least 400 million rubles from supplies of army toiletry bags to the army. The standard set includes eighteen items, including toothpaste and a brush, shampoo, shower gel, all shaving accessories, a towel, a comb and other necessary personal hygiene items. The set of the Russian army toiletry bag for officers includes cologne and a folding knife.
General Director of Voentorg Vladimir PavlovInvestigators believe that the theft scheme was approximately as follows: businessmen purchased toiletry bags from the manufacturer and sold them to the military at inflated prices. The total amount of government contracts concluded, in which this product appears, is about 625 million rubles, so it turns out that the state overpaid 400 million.
It is known that the head of Voentorg has been charged under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) (fraud committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale). According to it, the defendant may face up to 10 years of imprisonment. In addition, it is reported that a court in Moscow has already seized the property of the defendants in the case.
According to the press center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 64 searches were conducted in the offices of Voentorg and businessmen, documents, electronic media, mobile communications and other items of evidentiary value were seized. More than 30 witnesses have already been questioned.
How the Voentorg case may be connected to General Bulgakov
It is quite possible that the head of Voentorg could have been betrayed by the former chief logistics officer of the Ministry of Defense, the Deputy Minister of Defense Dmitry Bulgakovwho was arrested in a corruption case a week earlier. He is suspected of supplying low-quality rations at inflated prices to servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces. The damage from the machinations of the former Deputy Minister of Defense Bulgakov is estimated at 1.3 billion rubles.
General Dmitry BulgakovTestimony against the general was given by top managers of JSC Gryazinsky Food Plant from Lipetsk Oblast, who had been previously arrested for embezzlement. From 2014 to 2021, the company produced dry rations and received government contracts worth 562 million rubles. All of them were from the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Customs Service and… Voentorg.
Investigators are currently checking the Deputy Minister of Defense, who lobbied for the food plant, for involvement in the thefts at Voentorg. According to the investigation, at the time when the thefts from the toilet bags took place, the general was in charge of the logistics of the Russian Armed Forces.
What made Vladimir Pavlov famous
Recently (including in connection with the SVO) data on state contracts related to the Ministry of Defense have been classified. However, one can get an idea of Pavlov's activities as the director of “Voentorg” from contracts concluded earlier.
Head of JSC Voentorg Vladimir Pavlov, Head of the Department of Resource Provision of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) Lieutenant General Alexey Lemyakin and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) Oleg Bocharov (from left to right) during a press conference on the day of the opening of the complex for the production of military equipment of JSC VoentorgFor example, in 2020–2022, the parent company of Voentorg concluded 300 government contracts for 8.8 billion rubles as a customer and 96 government contracts for 7.3 billion rubles as a supplier. At the same time, some firms appeared just before large government contracts, mastered them and disappeared.
One of such suppliers is the Moscow enterprise PO Tekstilsnabprom. It was founded at the same time that Vladimir Pavlov headed Voentorg. In 2014–2016, the organizations concluded state contracts between themselves for 5.9 billion rubles, and in 2018 PO Tekstilsnabprom self-liquidated.
The same fate befell the Moscow firm Miraline and the St. Petersburg SVR. Both appeared in 2014, won Voentorg tenders for a total of 2.1 billion rubles, and closed in 2019. The Zarechye knitwear factory was founded long before Pavlov's appointment.
Having received contracts worth 700 million in 2015, it also began to disband.
Voentorg storeFamily's billion-dollar property
Unlike the SVO fighters who complained about the lack of supplies at the front, the family of the head of Voentorg, Vladimir Pavlov, is thriving.
As Life.ru previously found out, the head of Voentorg lived on Rublyovka, in a luxurious mansion in the village of Gorki-9/2. The price of such real estate is 100-300 million rubles. His son Andrei and daughter-in-law Irina live in the business-class residential complex Serebryany Park in an ecologically clean area of the capital on Parshina Street. Following them, Pavlov's eldest and middle sons with their wives, daughter with her husband, and granddaughters moved into the elite complex.
Business class residential complex “Silver Park”Each family received an apartment. For example, the daughter got an apartment of 142 square meters worth about 100 million rubles.
The developer of the residential complex was the holding company “Ingrad”. Vladimir Pavlov is still on the board of directors.
By the way, the daughter and son-in-law of the director of “Voentorg” lived in two houses. In addition to the apartment in “Serebryany Park”, they had living space worth up to 90 million rubles in the experimental settlement “Eden” in Krasnogorsk near Moscow.
Experimental settlement “Eden” in Krasnogorsk near MoscowThe head of the family's wife is 63 years old Elena Pavlova — occupied a spacious apartment of 123 square meters in the residential complex “Renome” on Novoslobodskaya Street in the center of the capital. The price of the property is about 56 million rubles.
How do Pavlov's family members earn money?
Until the very end, the general director of Voentorg combined his current job with his restaurant business. Pavlov owns a 37.5% stake in the company Consul, which manages a banquet hall in the historic building of the Diplomatic Academy on Ostozhenka Street, the most expensive quarter of Moscow. Until recently, Consul regularly signed government contracts to organize catering for high-ranking guests. The company annually makes revenues of 20-30 million rubles.
Another restaurant asset of the Pavlov family is the capital's pub “Grossbir” in Bolshoy Ovchinnikovsky Lane. The establishment's revenue has been growing year after year and last year exceeded 55 million rubles. The owners are Vladimir Pavlov's children: daughter Natalia Mazur and son AlexanderThe CEO is the son-in-law Andrey Mazur. It seems they also received income as rentiers – four apartments in the Moscow region were rented out for a long term through their phones via the Avito portal.
Daughter of the general director of “Voentorg” Natalia MazurBy the way, Alexander Pavlov also controls two twin companies with a single address in Khimki and the same name, “Lift Innovations.” This organization services over three thousand elevators in the region. On its website There is information that one of the main customers is “Voentorg”. In total, “Lift Innovations” earned 216 million rubles last year.
