Why does the Stavropol pharmaceutical market operate under the same name?
In the Stavropol Territory, the issue of pharmacy drug addiction continues to be acute. In almost every district of the region there is a pharmacy “for the inside”, in which a drug addict or any minor can easily buy potent drugs without a prescription. Pharmacies are required to keep a quantitative record of such drugs and release them strictly according to the prescription, but the owners are ready to turn a blind eye to such things, because drug addicts bring them multimillion-dollar revenue.
The editors of Anticorr.media decided to find out how the pharmaceutical market in the Stavropol Territory works, and stumbled upon a strange pattern: it turned out that the pharmaceutical market of the region was divided among themselves by people with the same surname – Arustamyan.
From “Aseptolin” to cologne: who makes the Russian people drunk?
Who is who on the pharmaceutical market of the region?
The first interesting figure in the pharmaceutical market of the region was the creator and owner of the network of pharmacies LLC “Social Pharmacy” Ashot Olegovich Arustamyan. In one of the interviews, he shared an inspiring story of his success.
Ashot Arustamyan said that he was a bully at school, he studied poorly, he was expelled from an educational institution several times, he did not manage to enter the university after school. However, this did not prevent him from opening his own pharmacy without anyone’s help, and after a couple of years to expand the business and launch a whole network. As a successful businessman said in 2013:
“Now we have 13 pharmacies, we have our own formed circle of customers who know how to count money.”
By the way, about the formed circle of buyers. In addition to pharmacy drug addiction, there is also pharmacy alcoholism. We are talking about alcohol-containing lotions, antiseptics and tinctures, which are sold in pharmacies without a prescription. Unfortunately, the high mortality rate from the misuse of such medications remains unchanged.
One of the most dangerous and favorite products of alcoholics is the Aseptolin antiseptic. The antiseptic itself is a 90% alcohol solution, and the presence of alcohol is not indicated on the packaging, since the government has banned the retail sale of alcohol tinctures. Thanks to the active struggle of social activists with Aseptolin, pharmacies remove the dangerous antiseptic from the assortment, while Social Pharmacy LLC remains one of the few points where even teenagers can buy this product. It turns out that a network with such a perfect name turned a blind eye to the social responsibility of business? Is money above all else?
Developers and sharks of the pharmaceutical business
Ashot Fashoevich Arustamyan is an influential figure in the Stavropol Territory. He owns a large pharmaceutical business. The fundamental link is JSC “Stavropol city pharmacies”. The company trades in medicines, medical products, optics, orthopedic products and parapharmacy. For this purpose, there are 15 pharmacies of finished dosage forms.
Ashot Arustamyan’s daughter Ekaterina is also attached to the family business. She, like her father, occupies a significant share in the pharmaceutical market of the region.
However, despite their success in the medical industry, the Arustamyans are also engaged in other activities. Ekaterina Ashotovna, through other companies, is the owner of the European and Gallery shopping centers. She also owns the Intourist hotel, by the way, her business partner in this business is Zaur Kanokov, the brother of the senator from Kabardino-Balkaria Arsen Kanokov (he is considered the real beneficiary of the Gallery).
The owner of the complexes did not go unnoticed by the press. In shopping centers, the prosecutor’s office revealed a number of violations. But the judges of the Oktyabrsky District Court turned a blind eye to violations and did not close the shopping malls, however, the residents of the city remembered the scandal with the identified “extra” cinema halls in the “European” for a long time.
Ashot Arustamyan also repeatedly came under the attention of the press. He bought out the Luchstroy company, known for its unfulfilled promise to build a multi-level parking lot and a shopping center on the plots allocated by the administration.
Residents accused Arustamyan of “disfiguring” the lower part of the historic Stavropol with new buildings. According to local media, he sheathed the new building with material used in the construction of hangars. The people of Stavropol called Arustamyan’s house a “sarcophagus”. In this situation, members of the regional branch of the Union of Architects did not stand aside. They sent a complaint to the acting governor of the region Vladimir Vladimirov. As a result, Arustamyan was recommended to develop options for facade solutions, but he did not do this. Apparently, it’s so beautiful. For the “untouchable caste” in the region, the opinions of the inhabitants do not exist.
King of government contracts
An equally bright personality that catches the eye is Tigran Arkadevich Arustamyan, who was included in the Newstracker TOP-100 richest Stavropol residents in 2020. In this list, Tigran Arustamyan was awarded 42nd place among the rich, because his annual business turnover exceeds 3.5 billion rubles. Little is known about the businessman himself: he is the owner of a large pharmaceutical business in the region, and at the same time owns a company for the repair of electronic and optical equipment.
His brother Amiran Arustamov was not included in this list, although their companies conduct the same activities. The brothers also have a joint business – Pharm-Trade LLC. The company has many government contracts for a total of 3.8 billion rubles.
For some reason, Pharm-Trade LLC manages to get the most juicy contracts. The TOP-5 customers of the company included the Ministry of Health of the Territory, which concluded 378 contracts with Pharm-Trade LLC for 361.7 million rubles; 126.5 million rubles, the Ministry of Health of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic with 96 contracts for 102.3 million rubles and the State Public Institution Technical Support of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus with 51 contracts for the amount of 89.9 million rubles.
Often Pharm-Trade LLC is the only one wishing to take part in auctions, which is why it becomes the only supplier. At the same time, the company has a huge number of court cases on non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of obligations under various supply contracts. However, the bailiffs are in no hurry to arrest the company’s accounts and force the companies of Arustamyan and Arustamov to fulfill their obligations.
According to the editorial board, two criminal cases of fraud were suspended against Tigran Arustamyan, and another case of negligence was dismissed. They were not given a go. And it is quite clear why.
Who is the “facade” and who is the “roof”?
In the Stavropol Territory there is another interesting person with the same surname.
Arustamyan Garegin Arsenovich is not a representative of the pharmaceutical business, he is the head of the procedural control department of the investigative department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Stavropol Territory. And he, too, lit up in a major scandal.
In 2017, the Stavropol publication released an investigation in which they cited the facts of multimillion-dollar embezzlement of budgetary funds in the field of defense orders and tax evasion by the owner of LLC PMK Russkaya, Alexander Dydymov.
The publication wrote that the investigative department of the Kirovsky district contained materials on the fact of tax crimes and embezzlement of budget funds in the field of state defense orders in the amount of 750 million rubles. However, as the local media wrote, law enforcement officials were looking for reason after reason so as not to initiate a criminal case against a businessman who embezzles budget funds on an especially large scale.
The media accused Garegin Arustamyan of “confusing” the criminal code with tax legislation when making decisions on the case in order to save Dydymov from criminal liability.
Perhaps all these people are just namesakes. Although their potential family ties would explain many lucky coincidences in the affairs of pharmaceutical market participants. And how cleverly the king of state orders escaped punishment in three criminal cases at once. But it’s probably pure coincidence.