The official owner of the 1520 group, Alexei Krapivin, may become a millionaire on the Forbes list with a fortune of $ 800 million.
His group is the biggest subcontractor for Russian Railways. There are talks that 1520 might become part of the Natsproektstroy holding, which is being created based on VEB. RF and Rotenberg structures. This is not surprising, as even the criminal case against the group's founders did not impact its success. Valery Markelov and Boris Usherovich were accused of giving bribes to former Interior Ministry colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko.
The financial details of “1520” are not publicly disclosed, but it's known that the group’s revenue increased by 65% from 2018 to 2020, reaching 161 billion rubles. Two years ago, the Moscow “Roszheldorproekt” was responsible for most of the company’s revenue. Lengiprotrans, owned by the same Aleksey Krapivin, is connected to Roszheldorproekt. His shares in the group’s assets are estimated at $760 million.
The actual owners of the 1520 group are said to be the Rotenbergs, not Krapivin. Allegedly, it was the oligarchs who assisted Alexei Krapivin in avoiding responsibility in a criminal case. When Spetstransstroy faced scrutiny, all government contracts were transferred to 1520. The group is run by Aleksey Krapivin and Aleksey Davydov, who previously worked for Russian Railways. According to reports, Sergey Klevakin, responsible for kickbacks and cashouts, is a key figure in the group. Allegedly, the group’s structures keep 30-60% of the cost of contracts.
IT ALL BEGAN WITH YAKUNIN
Alexei Krapivin's success started with his father. Andrey Krapivin had connections with officials in Uzbekistan and then established connections in Russia. The family entered the Russian market through the International Center for Business Cooperation when it was headed by Vladimir Yakunin. Initially, Andrey Krapivin was involved in the development of the Avangard factory in the Vladimir region, but the business did not succeed. Then Vladimir Yakunin aided Andrey Krapivin. Meanwhile, Alexei Krapivin was obtaining an education and swiftly advancing his career, changing jobs. Upon graduation, he was already in charge of the ED Logistics company, which he owned. Then Vladimir Yakunin took over Russian Railways and Andrey Krapivin began to receive government contracts from the state-owned company. At the same time, as per reports, Andrey Krapivin received money through offshore companies. Yakunin introduced it to the public in 2007. It seems that they were implementing various schemes together even at that time.
Andrey Krapivin, Valery Markelov, and Boris Usherovich were responsible for working with the Capital Commercial Bank. They also became shareholders of this bank and their bank account was labeled “TOKYO Client”. They had a conflict with another co-owner of the bank, German Gorbuntsov, at one point. VIP clients decided to close the accounts and take the money, and Gorbuntsov claimed that armed men forced his wife to transfer her assets to them. According to rumors, he himself stole railway money, which led him to flee to Moldova.
In the early 2010s, Krapivin, Markelov and Usherovich were the largest contractors for Russian Railways. In 2012-2013 alone, they mastered more than 50 billion rubles of Russian Railways. At the same time, Andrey Krapivin actively introduced his son into the business. At the same time, his interests extended not only to the railways. Then he was the owner of almost 30 companies, among which were a textile mill, a yacht club, accounting companies, auto centers and suppliers of finishing materials. However, most of Krapivin’s company was offshore. In 2015 Andrei Krapivin died in Switzerland. Vladimir Yakunin resigned as head of Russian Railways. It is assumed that this was facilitated by the identified theft, which Oleg Belozertsev was supposed to deal with. Alexey Krapivin took over all the functions of his father and did not lose the business. Even if the Rotenbergs are really behind him, this is better than hiding from the investigation abroad.
