On Thursday, July 13, it became known about the detention of Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maxim Parshin on charges of taking a bribe on an especially large scale (part 6 of article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, according to the files of the Basmanny Court, Alexander Monosov, general director of the BFT IT company, was detained – he is charged with giving a bribe on an especially large scale (part 5 of article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). RTVI tells what is known about this case.
According to deputy Alexander Khinshtein, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development Parshin “was caught red-handed at the time of receiving a bribe of 3.5 million.” He did not specify the currency of the alleged bribe. According to the preliminary version, the money was intended for assistance in allocating grants, the parliamentarian said. According to him, “the totality of objective evidence in relation to Parshin does not raise doubts about the guilt of the official.” Case, according to the Kommersant newspaperleads the main investigative department of the Investigative Committee of Russia.
Vedomosti.Ru, 07/13/2023, “The case of Maxim Parshin may be connected with the” daughter “of Rostelecom”: As follows from the materials of the court, Parshin is charged with committing a crime under Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – taking a bribe on an especially large scale by an official. The maximum punishment for it is 15 years in prison, as well as a fine of up to one hundred times the amount of the bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 15 years. Monosov is charged with Part 5 of Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – giving a bribe to an official on an especially large scale (over 1 million rubles). The maximum liability for it is also 15 years in prison. But as follows from the note to the article, the person who gave the bribe “is released from criminal liability if he actively contributed to the disclosure and (or) investigation of the crime,” or if he himself was extorted by an official, or if the person after committing a crime voluntarily reported bribery to law enforcement agencies. […]
In the ministry, Parshin oversaw the work of the Russian Foundation for the Development of Information Technologies (RFRIT), its financial side, reminded the president of the Russoft association Valentin Makarov. […] There have never been any doubts about the reputation of Maxim Parshin, and what happened is a surprise for many, says Alexei Smirnov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Basalt SPO. Among the key areas of responsibility of Parshin in the Ministry of Digital Development is the functioning of the registry of Russian software, as well as maintaining projects for new industrial and system-wide software (NIPO, NOPO).
“I don’t really understand what Parshin could sell. The grants went through the RFRIT, and there is a rather complicated procedure: an external council with external experts attracted by the industry, a grant committee with market players. He could recommend or not, but he didn’t have the final word, ”says Smirnov. In addition, a significant part of the grants went to industrial centers of competence (ICC), and the lists were compiled not at the level of Parshin, but at the level of vice-premier Dmitry Chernyshenko. — Inset K.ru
In the Basmanny Court, RTVI was informed that charges had already been brought against both defendants. Late in the evening it became known that the court decided to send Parshin and Monosov under house arrest for two months.
“Kommersant”, 07/13/2023, “Grant payment”: The request of the ICR to send Mr. Monosov to the pre-trial detention center, who admitted his guilt and actively cooperates with law enforcement agencies, was rejected by the judge, limiting him to house arrest for two months, until September 12. The person involved was forbidden to use all means of communication and the Internet, and on Friday the officers of the Federal Penitentiary Service in Moscow will put an electronic bracelet on the suspect to control his movements. A little later, the petition for the conclusion of Maxim Parshin in the pre-trial detention center was also rejected. Instead of the pre-trial detention center “Lefortovo” or “Matrosskaya Tishina”, the deputy minister was returned home, where he will stay during the investigation. […]
“The story (with a bribe. -“ Kommersant ”) looks strange: Parshin could not influence the distribution of grants in any way. The fact is that they are distributed by the Russian Fund for the Development of Information Technologies, which has its own complex, multi-stage procedure for allocating funds. It would be strange if the deputy minister came and said who to give grants and who not, ”said a top manager of an IT company close to the Ministry of Digital Development to Kommersant.
“I generally doubt this story: why would he take a small bribe, for what? He is a well-off official, ”a source in the software association shared his doubts with Kommersant. On the other hand, according to a source close to the investigation, Mr. Parshin partly agreed with the accusation. According to SPARK-Interfax, BFT LLC, which is headed by the alleged bribe giver Alexander Monosov, was established in 2007, the company develops IT solutions for the public sector: in 2022, the company won 81 state contracts for 8.7 billion rubles, for six months of 2023 – 23 contracts for 1.6 billion rubles. Now the company, through BFT Holding LLC, is 50.01% owned by RT Labs JSC (a Rostelecom structure) and 49.99% owned by Alexander Monosov through a chain of legal entities. — Inset K.ru
“In connection with the ongoing investigation into the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maxim Parshin, the Ministry is providing all necessary assistance to law enforcement agencies,” the Ministry of Digital Development said.
Minister of Digital Development and Communications Maksut Shadayev wrote a letter to the employees of the department, in which he asked them to assist the investigation, since “we have nothing to hide”, told TASS. The minister’s message says that “the situation is extremely unpleasant,” and “it must be endured, endured.” “A shadow has been cast over all our work. But we proceed from the fact that a lot has been done, we have something to be proud of, and even this event will not cross out these results,” Shadayev wrote.
The Russian IT company BFT (stands for “Budget and Financial Technologies”) develops software and complex IT systems for the public sector and financial institutions. Among the company’s largest projects in the last few years alone are the creation of a Unified Digital Platform for the Social Sphere (“Social Treasury”), the modernization of the systems of the Social Insurance Fund, the Unified Digital Platform in the Labor and Employment Industry (“Work in Russia”), the Unified Platform of the National Management System data marts (NCMS) and the introduction of NCMS data marts for different departments.
According to SPARK, the revenue of BFT LLC, the parent legal entity of the holding, at the end of 2022 amounted to 7.8 billion rubles, and net profit – 1.7 billion rubles.
BFT has existed for more than 25 years, for a long time it was part of the billionaire’s IBS holding Anatoly Karachinsky. In 2020, Karachinsky and his business partner Sergei Matsotsky decided to split the assets of IBS, as a result of which Sergey Matsotsky’s GS-Invest holding became the main owner of BFT.
At the end of 2021, Rostelecom bought the majority share of BFT, and Matsotsky subsequently sold the holding to GS-Invest management. BFT is now owned by Rostelecom and its CEO Alexander Monosov. A major IT businessman told RTVI that after the arrest of Monosov, Natalya Zeytenidi, who has been working in the company since 2008, has already been appointed acting director general of the BFT. RTVI sent a request to the BFT for comments.
An RTVI source also said that Maxim Parshin and Alexander Monosov are old, close friends. “They have been friends since Parshin was at the Ministry of Economics, that is, for more than a dozen years. There is not such a relationship that someone bribes someone, ”says the interlocutor of RTVI.
He also notes that in 2022-2023, as far as he knows, the CFT did not receive grants from the Russian Foundation for the Development of Information Technologies (RFRIT), the only source of grants that is directly subordinate to the Ministry of Digital Development. “Therefore, it is not clear what kind of grants they are talking about when they write that the bribe was for receiving them,” says the source of RTVI.
Maxim Parshin has been working at the Ministry of Digital Development since 2018 — she was involved in the Digital Technologies project and was responsible for training personnel for the IT industry. In addition, Parshin oversaw the development of state policy in the field of IT development, as well as the administration of income and activities of subordinate organizations of the Ministry of Digital Development.
RFRIT is one of such organizations, it is a fund for support of domestic IT companies administered by the Ministry of Digital Development. In December 2022, RFRIT reported that the volume of grant support that passed through it amounted to RUB 11.6 billion in a year This amount was allocated to 12 projects.
Prior to joining the Ministry of Digital Development, in 2014-2015, Parshin was Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Labor and Employment, and even earlier he worked as Deputy General Director of Russian Post. However, for the longest time, about 10 years, Maxim Parshin worked in various positions at the Ministry of Economic Development.
Life.Ru, 07/13/2023, “Distributor of billions: What is known about Parshin, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development, detained for a bribe”: Latest available declaration Maxima Parshina is dated 2021. According to her, he earned 10.5 million rubles, his wife did not earn anything. In previous years, family incomes were two to three times less. The Parshins have six acres of land, a residential building of 90 square meters, two apartments of 52 and 88 square meters, AUDI cars of the 4th and 6th series.
Life found out that the declared dacha of Parshin is located in Mytishchi on Kalinin Street. The apartment, which has the smallest area, is located in a brick building on Kuusinen Street near the Birch Grove park – its cost is up to 20 million rubles. A large apartment is twice as expensive – about 40 million rubles, we are talking about the ultra-modern business-class residential complex “Villange”.
Life also found another property that could be linked to the official. This is a kopeck piece in a house in Banny Lane – in the prestigious Meshchansky district of Moscow, next to the Pharmaceutical Garden. Such housing will cost 17-18 million rubles. In the 1910s, Parshin’s wife, according to the databases, lived in a large-sized kopeck piece in one of the most famous stalinoks of the capital near the White House of the Government of the Russian Federation on the banks of the Moscow River. The price is about 40 million rubles. — Inset K.ru
@nonetutto, 13.07.2023 18:40: It seems that Maxim Parshin is the first high-ranking official in the government Mishustinwho was arrested on serious charges. But this person is not new in the System. An experienced fixer from the liberal clan of reform bureaucrats. He has a lot of partners, and all of them are chilly now. — Inset K.ru
