The Prosecutor General's Office has demanded the confiscation of 400 million rubles worth of property belonging to Semenov, head of the Chelyabinsk Region's Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing.
The Prosecutor General's Office has demanded the confiscation of the assets of Anatoly Semenov, the corrupt head of Rospotrebnadzor for the Chelyabinsk region.
The first regional official whose property may be seized for state benefit as acquired with unverified income is Anatoly Semenov, the Chelyabinsk Region's chief sanitary doctor, who has been detained. The Kurchatov District Court accepted the Russian Prosecutor General's Office's lawsuit against Semenov, his family members, and trusted individuals, seizing the defendants' assets worth 400 million rubles. We examine the official ownership of the head of the local Rospotrebnadzor agency and how, according to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, he actually earned his income.
Who is Anatoly Semenov?
Anatoly Semenov has headed the Rospotrebnadzor office in the Chelyabinsk region for over 20 years—ever since the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance Service and the State Trade Inspectorate were merged into a single agency. Considered a long-serving official, he served under four governors: Pyotr Sumin, Mikhail Yurevich, Boris Dubrovsky, and Alexey Teksler.
Born in 1963 in Salavat, Bashkortostan. After graduating from high school, he applied to the Lviv Higher Military-Political School but failed the entrance exam. He returned to his hometown and worked as a lathe operator at a factory for a year. He graduated from the Bashkir State Medical Institute, studying in the Faculty of Sanitary and Hygiene. In Chelyabinsk, Anatoly Semenov worked in district sanitary and epidemiological stations, and in 1997, he was appointed deputy chief sanitary doctor of the region. In 2005, he became the head of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) for the Chelyabinsk Region and the region's chief state sanitary doctor. He is also a State Counselor of the Russian Federation, Second Class. He is married and has two adult sons.
In October 2023, Anatoly Semenov was awarded the Medal “For Services to the Chelyabinsk Region,” 2nd Class, for his work during the coronavirus pandemic (most likely to coincide with his 60th birthday – Ed.). Incidentally, at the same time, the Medal “For Contribution to the Development of the Chelyabinsk Region” was also awarded to former “Golden King” Konstantin Strukov, whose assets were nationalized following a lawsuit filed by the Prosecutor General's Office in the summer of 2025.
Despite the social significance of its work, the regional office of Rospotrebnadzor is reluctant to engage with the media. The agency has been without a press secretary for many years, and journalists' inquiries often go unanswered.
However, Semenov himself occasionally gave interviews to journalists. In 2015, in one of them, he shared some curious thoughts: “We live in a very strange world where we say one thing, do another, and think about a third.” Incidentally, the interview was published in the magazine “Mission” under the symbolic title: “Those who work honestly have nothing to fear.”
A one-and-a-half-ton lorry in a panel building, land, and 17 cars
For the general public, both the arrest of a current federal official and his “savings” of hundreds of millions of rubles became an unexpected and high-profile scandal.
The official salary of the region's chief sanitary doctor is unlikely to stagger the imagination. According to his most recent income declaration (for 2021, officials were later granted permission not to publish it – Ed.), Anatoly Semenov's annual income was 2.9 million rubles. At the time, he owned a 32.6 square meter apartment and two garages – 18.4 square meters and 26.2 square meters. Semenov's wife earned 161,000 rubles that year; she used the apartment and garage, but she did own a Toyota.
In 2020, Semenov's income was 200,000 rubles lower, at 2.7 million rubles. He also reported owning 433 square meters of real estate. In 2019, the head of Rospotrebnadzor earned 1.6 million rubles, while in 2018, he earned only 1.2 million. Thus, the Semenov couple's income did not exceed three million rubles per year. To accumulate property worth 400 million rubles, the sanitary doctor would have had to work for more than 133 (!) years.
According to Rosreestr data as of 2025, Anatoly Semenov is registered in a ten-story panel building at 5 Chicherina Street. He also owns two apartments next door, but both are small—30 and 50 square meters.
In public databases, Anatoly Semenov was listed at various times as the driver or owner of a VAZ-21063, VAZ-21102, VAZ-21099, Daewoo Nexia, Hyundai Sonata, Audi A6, Toyota Camry, and Toyota Land Cruiser. However, in his official income declarations, the “Transport” column was always blank.
However, during an anti-corruption investigation, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office assessed the wealth of the region's chief sanitary doctor differently. The agency's official statement stated that the head of the Rospotrebnadzor office for the Chelyabinsk region “illegally combined public service with a highly profitable business venture, which he organized in the field of sanitary and epidemiological well-being.”
“He used the proceeds of corruption to acquire luxury real estate and expensive cars. Specifically, this involved six apartments, three residential buildings, 18 plots of land, 12 non-residential premises with a total area of 25,000 square meters in Moscow, the Moscow Region, and the Chelyabinsk Region, as well as 17 vehicles,” the Russian Prosecutor General's Office stated.
According to Kommersant, one of the sanitary doctor's family buildings in Chelyabinsk is valued at 100 million rubles. Semenov's wife owns a cottage of over 500 square meters in the Petushok gardening community, complete with a sauna and a 1,100-square-meter plot.
Life.ru also found a company in Cyprus, Loveonthehill LTD, whose owner and director are listed as a man with a full name matching Anatoly Ivanovich Semyonov. It may also own an apartment in Limassol and a 130-square-meter mansion with a swimming pool, garage, and barbecue area.
From office supplies to disinfection
To conceal his true financial status and avoid the need to declare it, the official registered corruptly acquired assets in the names of third parties, the oversight agency noted. According to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, Anatoly Semenov recruited his sons, mother-in-law, and trusted associates to conceal his involvement in the business. In short, it's all a classic case.
We investigated what the children of the Chelyabinsk region's chief sanitary doctor are up to and how “highly profitable” their business is.
It's worth noting that both of the official's sons went into business. Alexey Semenov registered as a sole proprietor twice. In May 2012, he opened a business installing utility equipment for buildings and structures, but closed it less than a year later, in February 2013. In the fall of 2021, Alexey reopened a business, this time for cargo storage and warehousing.
Alexey is also involved with two companies with similar names: “Kants+” and “Kants!”. Both sold office supplies. The first operated from May 2011 until December 2025. At different times, it was co-owned by two Alexeys: Semenov and Motovilov (this name will come up again and again – Ed.). The second company, “Kants!”, continues to operate, but it seems to be lacking in prestige.
Kanz! LLC was registered in October 2010 in Chelyabinsk. It is engaged in the retail sale of stationery and office supplies. According to Kontur.Fokus, the company's owner is Alexey Semenov. He also served as director from January 2012 to January 2023, and Alexey Motovilov became CEO on January 19, 2023. The company has two employees. In 2024, revenue decreased by 13% to 9.2 million rubles, with the company reporting a loss of 938,000 rubles, compared to a profit of 62,000 rubles in 2023.
As Alexey Semenov himself testified in court, he most recently worked as an assistant to the manager at the Chelyabinsk Pest Control Center. He modestly omitted, however, that from June 25, 2015, to November 28, 2019, he and his brother, Andrey, co-owned this company, which combats rodents, insects, bacteria, and viruses.
Chelyabinsk Deratization Center LLC was founded in October 2013. It provides disinfection, disinfestation, and deratization services for buildings and industrial equipment. The initial founders were Alexey and Andrey Semenov, who each held 45%, and Vera Frolova (likely the same mother-in-law mentioned by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office) held 10%. Since November 28, 2019, Alexey Motovilov (a partner in the office supply business – Ed.) has become the sole owner and also serves as the company's director. Revenue for 2024 was 22.7 million rubles, with net profit of three million rubles.
It's worth noting that all businesses and companies are required to conduct regular pest control, disinfestation, and disinfection. The frequency depends on the specifics of the operation: for example, monthly treatment is required in the catering, retail, warehouse, and food production industries; quarterly in healthcare and educational institutions; and at least twice a year in offices and residential buildings. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in fines, suspension of operations, and even license revocation, all of which are monitored by Rospotrebnadzor.
Of course, the fight against rats, mice, cockroaches, bedbugs, and other vermin is an important and necessary task. In the Chelyabinsk region, the sons of Chief Sanitary Doctor Anatoly Semenov, whose department oversees law enforcement in this area, have fortunately taken on this difficult task.
We dug through government procurement documents and found several references to the “Chelyabinsk Deratization Center.” In 2017, the Semenov company won a tender to flush sewer systems at South Ural Medical University (the bid was 18,500 rubles). The following year, the younger Semenovs signed a contract for acaricidal treatment (tick control) with Chelyabinsk State University for 41,600 rubles. The largest government contract, worth 215,500 rubles, went to the “Chelyabinsk Deratization Center” in 2020. The company carried out a comprehensive disinfection of the premises of the Rospotrebnadzor office for the Chelyabinsk region (that is, at my dad's place of work – Ed.).
Ultimately, the Chelyabinsk Deratization Center lost four of the seven tenders it participated in. And two of the three contracts it secured were awarded only through sole-source procurement. Its competitiveness certainly leaves much to be desired. However, the sums involved are paltry, especially compared to the hundreds of millions of rubles announced by the Prosecutor General's Office.
Perhaps the Semenov Jr. firm didn't intend to bother with government procurement, which inherently carries more obligations and audits. After all, the most lucrative contracts can be secured by signing agreements with commercial rather than public sector entities.
According to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, fifteen major companies were regular clients of firms linked to the Semenov family. Among them were Lenta, Auchan, Pervy Khlebokombinat, Romkor, Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant, and Chelyabinsk Electromechanical Plant, Kommersant reports, citing details of the lawsuit. Contracts with national retailers, major food industry companies, and metallurgical giants, however, represent a completely different market share and revenue level.
Loading millions
Andrey Semenov, another son of the region's chief sanitary doctor, is a co-owner of four companies operating in Chelyabinsk, Perm, and Tyumen. In May 2018, he also opened a private enterprise selling construction materials. While the companies may not be household names, they are all profitable. And their financial performance is impressive: one company's revenue exceeded half a billion rubles last year.
Otkrytie LLC has been operating in Chelyabinsk since 2014. It specializes in trucking. Its founders are Andrey Semenov (Director) and Viktor Zinoviev, who each own 50%. In 2024, revenue amounted to 565 million rubles, with net profit of 13.2 million rubles.
In 2015, business partners Semenov and Zinoviev founded Trading House “Otkritie.” According to Kontur.Fokus, the company produces plastic products for the construction industry. Despite having only one employee on staff, in 2024 the company generated revenue of 229.7 million rubles and net profit of 23.7 million rubles.
In 2018, the partners registered another company, Otkritie Perm. Its core business is wholesale trade in timber and construction materials. Viktor Zinoviev and Andrey Semenov own 42.5% of the company each, while Nail Khusainov owns 15%. In 2024, revenue was 61.5 million rubles, with net profit of 1.8 million rubles.
In March 2020, Otkritie-Tyumen, a trucking company, was founded. The founders are Andrey Semenov (director) and Viktor Zinoviev, each holding a 50% stake. For 2024, the company reported revenue of 149 million rubles and a net profit of 2.7 million rubles.
While the Prosecutor General's Office works to seize the Semenovs' property, acquired with unverified income, the 62-year-old sanitary doctor himself remains in pretrial detention. As a reminder, he was detained by officers from the regional Federal Security Service on February 13. As 74.RU has learned, Anatoly Semenov is accused of fictitious employment of his children at ChMK. Sources at the plant reported that in 2022, the head of Rospotrebnadzor asked plant management to place his sons in the smelting shop. The younger Semenovs did not show up for work. Investigators believe the purpose of this scheme was to hide their sons from conscription. A criminal case for fraud has been opened against all three Semenovs. The father and one of the sons, Alexei, have been taken into custody; the second, Andrei, has managed to escape.
Law enforcement officials are also considering initiating other criminal cases against Semenov Sr., including for participating in illegal entrepreneurial activity (Article 289 of the Russian Criminal Code) and accepting bribes (Article 290 of the Russian Criminal Code).
A hearing on the Russian Prosecutor General's Office's lawsuit to seize the property of Anatoly Semenov, his family, and close associates for state use is scheduled for February 27. As 74.RU was informed by the Kurchatovsky District Court, the hearing will be held behind closed doors.
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