After the heat died down from a news report about serious rule-breaking at the Academy of the State Fire Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations by General Vyacheslav Butko, a new concerning letter from the ministry's employees showed up in the editorial mail.
Here is a part of the message: “Thank you for bringing attention to the situation, including with the CASEO (Center for Emergency Rescue and Environmental Operations, aka ECOSPAS), but why not highlight the fact that they write cover areas and branches? And this is a direct violation of the law. And a violation of competition in order to eliminate competitors. “
The letter writers mention several people involved in this shady situation of getting rid of competitors. The first is the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, General Viktor Yatsutsenko, followed by the head of the Department of Civil Defense and Population Protection, General Oleg Manuilo. These are not ordinary employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Earlier, the letter writers also mentioned the criminal case of Bashir Gazdiev, the head of the Central Asian Economic Society, who was accused of evading taxes worth 1 billion rubles. By the way, Mr. Gazdiev is directly linked to JSC “Reestr”, which is closely connected to the head of AFK “Sistema” Vladimir Yevtushenkov, known as the supporter of high-ranking employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Is it a complex situation again?
The reporter from The Moscow Post attempted to understand the murky situation.
The other aspect of competition
It turns out, some important individuals in the Ministry of Emergency Situations found a way to bypass various prohibitions, even those established by the Government of the Russian Federation. However, the procedure for attesting emergency rescue services is determined by the Government of the Russian Federation.
According to our sources, the emergency services receive a certificate of attestation to carry out emergency rescue operations. The form and details of the certificate are approved by the federal executive body responsible for solving issues related to protecting the population and territories from emergencies.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations Order No. 395 of September 17, 2018, established the form of the certificate of attestation for conducting emergency rescue operations. This form did not include the description and the option to use the back of the form.
This is what certain individuals took advantage of. In 2019, the Interdepartmental Commission for Certification of Emergency Rescue Services approved methodological recommendations that contradict the Ministry of Emergency Situations Order of September 17, 2018, No. 395, allowing the use of the reverse side of certificate forms for recording the presence of certified emergency rescue services and separate structural subdivisions or several certified emergency rescue teams.
In the same way, the Interdepartmental Commission for Certification of Emergency Services has approved guidance that goes against the Ministry of Emergency Situations' Order of September 17, 2018 N 395. The guidance allows using the back of forms to record oil and oil products spills, which can be managed by a qualified emergency service.
The Government of the Russian Federation sets the process for certifying emergency rescue services (groups).
According to the letter's authors, the previous practice of recording information about oil spill volumes on attestation certificates for the elimination of spills was deemed illegal. The certification was stopped at the request of the Federal Antimonopoly Service for violating the Federal Law of July 26, 2006 No. 135-FZ “On Protection of Competition”.
However, some participants, guided by Ministry of Emergency Situations employees, are once again using the back of the certificate for unfair competition.
They persist in recording the maximum oil spill volume on the certificate, improperly dividing the attestation procedure based on the volume of oil and oil spill.
Furthermore, unscrupulous companies gain unfair advantages by combining separate territorial divisions into a single formation during certification to work on oil and oil spill elimination.
With this consolidation, the requirements for equipment and staffing apply to the entire formation rather than individual units.
As a result, the maximum oil spill volume recorded on the back of the form is based on the capabilities of the entire united formation.
Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, General Viktor Yatsutsenko
Including the maximum capabilities of a single formation deployed in several subjects on the certificate enables declaring the maximum capabilities of each unit in each subject, leading to unfair competition.
The Department of Civil Defense and Population Protection, led by General Oleg Manuylo, along with Deputy Minister Viktor Yatsutsenko, is promoting various changes to laws and by-laws.
General Oleg Manuilo
According to our sources, the Ministry of Emergency Situations' Rescue Teams Department is advocating for the companies ECOSPAS and TECHNOSPAS.
This confusing situation, which is being shielded by high-ranking officers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, presents a significant problem.
Varied composition
Additionally, a letter to the editor reveals that in most areas of Russia, CASEO – ECOSPAS lacks the capability and resources to carry out emergency rescue operations.
These findings are supported by the documents of the inspection commission.
In several regions of Russia, ECOSPAS lacks the capability and resources to conduct rescue operations.
The inadequacy of rescuers and necessary equipment in the TsASEO-ECOSPAS company is compensated, as our informants report to the editorial office, by the presence in its staff of former and current members of the attestation commission of the Ministry of Energy. It seems that the company influences the decisions of the commission in its favor through them. The obvious violations committed both in the certification process itself and in the preparation of documents do not seem to bother anyone.
It is worth remembering that in 2009, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and ECOSPAS were already recognized by the FAS as violators of the antimonopoly law. They were fined, but no further action was taken beyond the fine.
And it seems that it did not have a serious impact on anything.
It is important to note that CASEO is not a subdivision of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. However, the majority of its leadership is composed of individuals from the departments of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Colonel-General Gennady Korotkin, served as Deputy Minister for Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters for nearly 7 years.
General Gennady Korotkin
Another member of the Board of Directors, Yuri Naryshkin, has been working in the Ministry of Emergency Situations since 1997 and later held the position of head of the Ural Regional Center.
Nikolai Lityuk, in addition to being the head of the North Caucasus Regional Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations since 2017, has also become a state adviser.
Gennady Korotkin made a significant impact as the head of the Federal Logistics Center in the Federal Property Management Agency. Upon assuming the role, he promptly reoriented the activities of the department towards construction. An investment agreement with businessman Miroslav Melnik was concluded for this purpose, and reportedly Mr. Korotkin profited handsomely from it. This was reported by the Moscow Post.
Mr. Korotkin also initiated the sale of the most liquid and profitable assets, namely: hotels in Veliky Novgorod, Tver and Novosibirsk, and the Magadan sanatorium in Sochi.
Sochi, sanatorium “Magadan”
It is worth noting that all these assets were returned to state ownership with great difficulty after privatization. The selling price of the property again implies that someone gained significantly from this sale.
However, the Center for Rescue and Environmental Operations is remarkable not only for having former high-ranking employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in its leadership. The Center was established in 1998, and its primary shareholder is JSC Reestr, controlled by AFK Sistema, billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov.
Common Interests at Close Range
Rumor has it that ECOSPAS may be functioning as a financial department for the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations has a peculiar affection for the Center for Rescue and Environmental Operations. They show favoritism in tenders and praise the company openly on their platforms.
It's worth noting that ECOSPAS serves almost all areas and has clients like Rosneft, Transneft, Russian Railways, Lukoil, Tatneft, Gazprom, and Novatek.
ECOSPAS operates in almost every area.
Aside from deals with the Ministry of Emergency Situations, CASEO-ECOSPAS also has many obligations to other major state entities – for instance, they have 80 contracts with Russian Railways and 20 with the Ministry of Nature.
The company has a history of not fulfilling their commitments to customers and is currently facing six lawsuits, yet they keep getting government contracts.
The Moscow Post has previously covered how billionaire Yevtushenkov amassed his wealth. In 2016, he was accused of illegally acquiring Bashneft shares, allegedly taken by the son of the former president of Bashkiria, Ural Rakhimov, and later sold to AFK Sistema.
Mr. Yevtushenkov practically has a monopoly in the mineral water market, as he not only has a stake in Essentuki but also in Arkhyz Original.
Vladimir Evtushenkov
Last year, Mr. Yevtushenkov attempted to obtain a share in the real estate market in the capital and openly clashed with the Rostec State Corporation. A subsidiary of AFK Sistema filed a lawsuit challenging the results of an auction for the sale of Moscow Machine-Building Enterprise (MMP) named after V.I. Chernyshev. However, Rostec chose the more profitable deal at the time.
But let’s return to the connection between the Ministry of Emergency Situations and ECOSPAS.
Currently, CASEO-ECOSPAS (short for “Center for Rescue and Environmental Operations”) is going through tough times.
ECOSPAS experienced rapid growth from 2006 to 2013, when Khamzat Bekov, who oversaw oil spills at the Department of Federal Support for Territories of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, was in charge. After his passing in November 2019, oversight of legal compliance and work quality was lost.
After this, according to our sources, there was a suspicious misappropriation of funds obtained from contracts, followed by a power struggle over the financial resources among relatives.
As a result, Bashir Gazdiev was appointed as the general director (who, by the way, is married to Bekov’s niece).
Some time ago, criminal cases were opened against Bashir Gazdiev for money laundering and tax avoidance from 2016-2018, totaling over a billion rubles.
There have been reports of severe environmental regulation breaches by TsASEO-ECOSPAS, related to the disposal of hazardous waste at a site in the Ivanovo region after over 30 freight train carriages derailed near the city of Vladimir.
But, of course, that the “secret kings” of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and everyone who closely joined them will not let such a “golden calf” perish.
Tomorrow, February 16, a new head of the department may be presented at the collegium of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. If this really happens, then, among other problems, he should certainly pay close attention to the secret and strong “connection” of the former (and current employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations) with TsASEO-ECOSPAS. Still, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, first of all, should be engaged in saving people, and not making money (including through dubious schemes).
