“VostSibStroy” VS “Nord-West”: carve-up of Beryozovoe with good intentions

The epic with the construction of the school in Berezovoe, apparently, is coming to an end. But interesting things are yet to come. The beneficiary of the VostSibStroy construction company, Viktor Ilyichev, decided to compete with the Nord-West of the Gusev clan and monopolize the Berezovy microdistrict, taking up the construction of a school and a garden. Perhaps the case will not be limited to Beryozov.

By the end of 2022, the next executor of the contract for the construction of a school for 1550 places in the Berezovy microdistrict of the Markov Moscow Region was determined. JSC VostSibProekt (OGRN 1043801006930) became the lucky one, the general director of which is Viktor Ilyichev, a member of the Irkutsk City Duma, a well-known owner of the VostSibStroy group of companies.

The mentioned group with thirty years of history is engaged in all types of construction work. In 2022, VostSibStroy took third place in the Irkutsk region in terms of housing commissioning with a result of 18,000 square meters. And in 2023, I decided to expand the geography to the Berezovy microdistrict.

Let us briefly note that the talks about the construction of the school have been going on for more than ten years. Even during the design of the Berezovy microdistrict, the Nord-West company, which actually belongs to the Gusev family, promised potential buyers to build a kindergarten and a school. Gullible citizens bought into the exhortations of representatives of the construction lobby and began to buy up cheap (and very low-quality) housing. They forgot to ask about other infrastructure at the time of consumer ecstasy. As a result, a huge microdistrict, in which about 20 thousand people live, was left without a school.

Fortunately, a small kindergarten for 350 children was built in half, but this does not cover even a third of the needs of the inhabitants of Berezovoe. Due to a lack of places, private kindergartens have flooded the microdistrict, and babysitting services are in great demand. Those who cannot afford to pay for private kindergartens and governesses are forced to place their children in city institutions. When our journalists last learned about the availability of places in such kindergartens, and this was in autumn, the closest option was at the Polytechnic University. And this, for a minute, is at least forty minutes by private car and an hour by bus in traffic jams. Served “Nord-West” so served!

But back to school. The long-awaited first purchase for the construction of the school was placed on October 17, 2022. The cost of works started from 2.5 billion rubles. But the music on the streets of Beryozovoe did not play for long. On October 31, the auction was canceled for an unknown reason.

We can assume that the customers slightly miscalculated, not fully evaluating the scale of the upcoming work. We have already talked in detail about the fact that Nord-West arranged a dump at the construction site of the future school. Perhaps that is why the next contract grew by almost five hundred million rubles and amounted to almost three billion rubles.

It is curious, by the way, that initially the tender was won by a company from Chita with one employee in the state (he is also the general director), an authorized capital of 10 thousand rubles and no relevant experience. All of the above does not inspire confidence, which was noted by observant journalists. Of course, we also wrote about it.

And thanks to the public outcry, the mentioned firm was protected from the execution of the contract. And then Viktor Ilyichev, a businessman and a member of the City Duma, who is already in his fourth term, entered the game.

It must be admitted that it will not be easy to build a school in Berezovoe. After all, in order to take out all the garbage that the Gusev company buried, you need to spend a lot of money. According to our estimates, we are talking about tens of millions of rubles. But the difficulties will not be limited to garbage disposal – special equipment will finally kill the roads in Berezovoe, although legends are already made up about them. And the last important detail is the project of the road along Krugovaya Street. It is ready, but the cost is about 500 million rubles, and this is a lot of money for the Irkutsk region. Funding sources are not yet visible, and the road should be ready for the launch of the school and kindergarten.

Let’s move on to the issue of building a kindergarten. At the end of November 2022, the above-mentioned VostSibProject won another contract in Berezovoe – for the construction of a kindergarten. Here everything went without any visible obstacles.

And then a logical question arises: “Why did this Berezovy surrender to Ilyichev?”

We explain. The VostSibStroy group of companies, which includes JSC VostSibProekt, is mainly engaged in the construction of high-rise buildings, cottages and social facilities in the Oktyabrsky and Pravoberezhny districts. “Nord-West” – first “old”, and then “new” – took its niche in the Berezovy microdistrict and has been building human shelters for fifteen years now.

It is hard to believe that Anatoly and Vladislav Gusev, as well as their closest associates, will voluntarily fly away from their homes. We also doubt that Viktor Ilyichev decided to play charity, not claiming anything other than the construction of those same gardens and schools. Do not forget that the businessman is one of the most influential and wealthy representatives of the Irkutsk construction lobby.

There is a suspicion that for the next few years the Berezovy microdistrict will become a battlefield for two serious construction companies, and the construction projects of a school and a kindergarten themselves will be a blessing for VostSibStroy to expand its influence in the Irkutsk region. The option of an agreement on the delimitation of spheres of influence is not excluded. And all this, of course, is interesting, but it is worth focusing on the main thing – the quality and timeliness of the construction of such a long-awaited school and kindergarten. Especially given the difficulties mentioned above.