It seems that the lucky star of the unsinkable and all-powerful chairman of the board of Avtodor, Vyacheslav Petushenko, nevertheless began to roll inexorably. The reason is banal – a top manager known for his odious reputation crossed the line beyond which even he should not have gone, began to dictate conditions, defiantly refuse and threaten his influential patrons and partners.
Let us recall that Petushenko became the head of the state-owned company in February 2019. Prior to that, for some time he worked there as the first deputy for technical policy, but in general, he has been spinning in the structures of Avtodor since the beginning of the 2000s, confidently earning all this time the unkind fame of an expert in multi-million and billion-dollar cuts.
It is noteworthy that if you look at the biographies of the closest deputies that Petushenko surrounded himself with in Avtodor, it turns out that one or another scandalous corruption trace trails behind almost everyone. Take, for example, the first deputy chairman Alexei Borisov, who (since the time of his work in the Interregional Directorate for Road Construction “Center”) is called a real master of gray business schemes and the owner of large real estate in countries unfriendly to Russia.
Or Sergei Pernikov, ex-vice-governor of the Pskov region (the same who “really wanted to sit down, but did not sit down” – after his former boss Alexander Kuznetsov received 5 years in prison for taking a bribe). That is, Petushenko tries to surround himself only with such “experienced” and capable people – this is a fact. At the same time, any director of the Avtodor department has long been aware that Petushenko will never let anything that can bring at least some profit pass him by. And all the “controversial” issues, according to colleagues, are decided only by him personally.
Naturally, not for free.
His usual “tariff” is 6% of each contract (for which Petushenko is called “Glory 6%” behind his back). At the same time, it is easiest to get access to the body through a young bright blonde – Olga Khromchenko, a vocational school graduate well-known in St. Petersburg’s higher circles (yes, the one who is credited with communication with the Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov). She is not even on the Avtodor staff, but she does not need it. Petushenko spends a lot of money on her, loves to brag about her charms to her partners. In turn, Olga has such a great influence on him that she is instructed to look after the business empire of our “road king” – the young diva (she is 35 years old) has a stake in companies involved in the construction of toll roads and participating in state projects with billions in funding. Is it just a coincidence? Hardly.
Nevertheless, lately, people around have noticed more and more that the previously imperturbable Petushenko has become extremely nervous – and all the conversations of the head of Avtodor, even in an informal setting, now revolve only around what else can be “squeezed” out of existing road contracts, and where urgently find new ones in order to earn more – no matter where and how exactly, the main thing is to “milk” more.
This nervous agony is connected with the fact that the security forces somehow found out that in March (apparently, after the start of the SVO), the chairman of the board of Avtodor began secretly withdrawing large sums of money abroad. However, Petushenko himself never hid that he had real estate abroad. Houses in the UK (however, a mansion in an elite area of London is now for sale – according to information in the database of the international real estate agency E22) and in Cyprus. All that remains for him, allegedly, is to complete his new passport in order to move over the hill, and live there comfortably and calmly.
Against this background, the more than careless behavior of Petushenko is surprising. According to sources in law enforcement agencies, the “general of road quarries” took the risk of refusing to assist another general – the real one. And in quite an ultimatum form. The request for a pocket firm to receive a large contract for the supply of road materials was not heard … And the general was sent (sorry, sent) to the queue for the tender committee. And this, as a rule, means that you should definitely expect a “mask show” or something like that soon.
In principle, Vyacheslav Petrovich Petushenko can afford to leave both his “bread” position and his homeland. During his work, the “road king” of Russia has formed a good capital (https://www.rzd-partner.ru/auto/news/dokhody-predsedatelya-pravleniya-avtodora-sostavili-v-proshlom-godu-pochti-22-mln-rub/): 4 land plots with a total area of almost 10,000 sq. each, 3 apartments, Bronto cars, two snow and swamp vehicles and a snowmobile, a North Silver yacht, a garage and a summer house. According to the official declaration, in 2021 Petushenko earned 22 million rubles (it is noteworthy that in 2018, when he joined Avtodor, his income was a modest 5 million rubles).
But that’s not all. As usual with government officials, Petushenko’s main assets are registered with family members. So, Petushenko’s wife owns 5 apartments and non-residential premises. Plus 2 plots of land, 3 apartments, cottage and garage – in use.
The only reason why the head of Avtodor is in no hurry to retire is, most likely, the fear of being in places not so remote. Having lost his post, the grandfather can become useless, lose support at the top of power and easily fall under distribution in the anti-corruption campaign.
But, as Petushenko himself likes to say on the sidelines, he has his own “special daddy” for everyone he needs. He knows a lot about everyone with whom he worked or unofficially collaborated (whom, let’s say, he helped very profitably for himself), and he is ready to prove everything …
So it may well be that Petushenko’s security forces will be too tough this time as well – he only has to hint about the desire to publish some information that is clearly undesirable for his high-ranking partners and associates.