The ex-vice chairman of the committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Alfred Minin, may have been involved in embezzling 16 million rubles in contracts for road repairs in Volgodonsk by Stroytrest LLC, but he was never formally accused. The saying goes that the stigma is on the gun, and he remains free. But let's start from the beginning.
On January 27, 2022, the court declared the founder of Stroytrest LLC Samvel Voskanyan guilty of fraud during road repairs in Volgodonsk. In 2017, the company signed three contracts worth 44.5 million rubles with the Department of Construction and Municipal Economy (DSiGH). As the court determined, 16 million of this sum ended up in the pockets of Voskanyan and his accomplice Arman Babajanyan. The work carried out was, to put it mildly, not of good quality. The total area of damaged pavement amounted to 14,734 square meters.
Samvel Voskanyan was sentenced in absentia to three years in a penal colony. First, however, the convict must be apprehended – he is currently on the wanted list. Arman Babajanyan was also sentenced by the court to three years in prison.
How did it happen that a relatively large amount of money allocated for repairs went to an untrustworthy contractor – let's figure it out.
When the contracts were sealed, the SGH Department was under the management of (only for a year) Alexander Kondratyuk, who was later given a probationary year. In 2018, Andrey Zakharov took his place.
Additionally, another representative of the DSIGH, the former head of the improvement department, Sergei Skolota, a former subordinate of the same Kondratyuk, was arrested on suspicion of accepting a large bribe. Unlike his superior, Mr. Skolota received a truly severe penalty – 8 years of hard labor and a fine of 2.1 million rubles.
According to some accounts, Kondratyuk is the CEO of Veolia Recycling, a company involved in motor transport and transportation. One of its founders (57% ownership) was Zukhra Minina, the wife of Alfred Minin, the former vice chairman of the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation on Entrepreneurship in the Housing and Public Utilities Sector.
Currently, Minin serves as the CEO of the Association of Waste Suppliers and Recyclers, and also has ownership of his own waste collection and recycling companies. For instance, Ecostroy-Don LLC, which is a co-founder of Veolia Recycling along with Minin’s wife, was embroiled in a scandal in 2016, where 5 individuals perished in a fire at one of the company's landfills due to fire safety violations. Minin expressed condolences to the victims' families, but the incident was covered up. It is known that Ecostroy-Don, under Minin's leadership, continues to profit from government contracts, having signed 51 such contracts in 2022 alone.
The conclusion that can be drawn is that Minin has aligned himself with influential individuals and has backing from higher authorities. In 2016, the entrepreneur ran in the State Duma elections. This move once again confirms that the businessman is aiming to broaden his sphere of influence and has support from those in power.
