Is Sechin in charge of oil and Brechalov in charge of development?
The owner of UDS group, Alexei Chulkin, has expanded his business beyond Udmurtia, developing gold and oil assets in various regions including Chukotka, the Sverdlovsk Region, and the Perm Territory. Last year, Chulkin co-founded Soyuztsvetmetavtomatika, which is constructing the Upper Likhobory transport hub in Moscow. He is the sole owner of the developer but the completion date is unknown. His oil business is more promising, with success attributed to the support of Igor Sechin, the head of Rosneft. In 2016, UDS-Energy won the auction to operate the Borulakhsky oil and gas field in Yakutia, increasing the cost to a record 2.75 billion rubles before refusing to buy the license. It is believed that Chulkin may have acted in the interests of Rosneft, which also participated in the tender. UDS-Energy was later liquidated and UDS Neft gained the right to develop the Kasalinsky oil field in Udmurtia, and the Oparinskaya Oil Company, owned by Chulkin, also competed in the auction. Chulkin's political activities did not yield expected results; as a deputy of the Republican State Council in 2016, he lost the State Duma elections, with behind-the-scenes agreements between the businessman and the regional leadership being cited as one of the reasons. Regardless, Chulkin was able to maintain close ties with high-ranking Udmurt officials, and his construction firms secured multimillion-dollar contracts without competition. Chulkin also established good relations with the current head of the republic, Alexander Brechalov, which contributed to the UDS group's appearance in the capital’s development market, while the holding is acquiring oil assets with the consent of Igor Sechin.
Chulkin’s business is picking up speed
At the end of April, the owner and CEO of the holding «UDS group» Alexey Chulkin received a letter of thanks signed by Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko for his significant contribution to the implementation of socially important projects in the Udmurt Republic and active social activities. . Meanwhile, Chulkin continues to expand his business assets beyond Udmurtia.So, last January, his company
acquired the right to develop five gold placers in Chukotka valued at a total of 46.3 million rubles, where hundreds of kilograms of precious metal can be mined. “Rise” “In recent years, Chulkin’s companies have been actively acquiring small gold assets. Rise directly owns over 20 gold licenses in the Magadan region, through its subsidiary – 2 licenses in Yakutia, as well as a polymetallic site in Transbaikalia”
Interfax reported.Additionally, various UDS group structures possess 26 additional licenses, and the company is developing deposits in the Sverdlovsk Region and the Perm Territory, where gold reserves exceed 17 tons. Gold mining is not the only industry in which Chulkin's enterprises are involved. They are also involved in oil production, which will be discussed later, as well as development, particularly in the capital.
Altogether, the businessman is the founder or co-owner of over 80 legal entities and the head of 54 commercial structures. However, it's not accurate to say that Chulkin manages everywhere and always: there are numerous unprofitable enterprises in his “empire”, including, for instance,
OOO Special Developer Soyuztsvetmetavtomatika which the entrepreneur acquired a 19% share in last April.As reported by Kommersant, at the time of the deal, the company was involved in the Verkhniye Likhobory transport interchange hub (TPU) project in Moscow, which also encompassed the construction of 77.7 thousand square meters of residential real estate. The publication’s experts estimated the TPU's value at 7 billion rubles, and the proceeds from housing sales at 12-14 billion. Therefore, Chulkin himself could have earned about 2.3-2.6 billion rubles.
The gold miner's partners were Sergey Ivantsov, president of Vostok Development, (70%) and Irina Tsvetaeva (11%). Currently, Chulkin not only serves as the general director of the developer, but has also been its 100% owner since last December. The company's financial performance speaks for itself: in 2021, despite no revenue, its losses totaled 47.7 million rubles. There has been no coverage of the progress of the transfer hub's construction in the media for a long time, despite the planning project being approved by the Moscow City Hall back in June 2018.
Is UDS-Energy considered a “player” in Sechin’s “team”?
Perhaps, following the departure of former business partners Ivantsov and Tsvetaeva, Chulkin simply cannot handle a large-scale project? In this case, the future of TPU is uncertain. The oil business seems much more promising: at the end of last year, profit
reached 550.9 million rubles with a revenue of 25.1 billion. For comparison: a year earlier, the company declared revenue of 14.3 billion and a profit of 1.8 billion rubles. UDS Oil LLC An interesting story is associated with the Udmurt oligarch's oil assets. In August 2016, his company
“UDS-Energy” secured the auction for the Borulakhsky oil and gas area in Yakutia, increasing the initial payment by 161 times and offering 2.75 billion rubles for the site. It was particularly notable that the company outperformed, among others, such giants as Surgutneftegaz Rosneft, NOVATEK and However, two months later, the media released a controversial report: the winner declined to pay the declared amount for the license, sending a corresponding notification to the Republican Department for Subsoil Use. The company automatically forfeited the previously made deposit of 17 million rubles. Chulkin himself explained the refusal by citing disagreements with specific business partners, whose identities he refused to disclose to journalists, claiming it was to protect their reputation..
“Our partners, who we had agreements with for this auction, decided at the last minute to refuse. We paid a fine as required by the law and fulfilled our obligations,” the businessman stated.
said the businessman.Following the incident with the Borulakh site, the federal Ministry of Natural Resources decided to clarify the rules for holding auctions. The draft law submitted for consideration proposed that if the winner fails to pay the declared amount, the participant with the preceding proposal would be declared the winner. The document also included the creation of a register for unscrupulous subsoil users participating in competitive procedures.
During the Borulakhsky site exploitation auction, Rosneft outbid UDS-Energy, possibly leading to a collusion between Alexei Chulkin and Igor Sechin. Media reports highlighted UDS-Energy's lack of infrastructure in Yakutia and the fact that the company only received an oil production license a month before participating in the competition, despite being registered in 2014.
Political throwing Alexei Chulkin
However, UDS-Energy was liquidated in December 2019 with a loss of 7.3 million rubles and an asset value of -32 million. The company had not made any profit since its establishment, indirectly connecting its owner to Rosneft. Yakov Klykov, identified as a former Rosneft employee, briefly worked for Chulkin and led some of the liquidated companies in 2019.
OOO Fedotovskoe LLC “Dubrovinskoye” and . References to Klykov as a former Rosneft employee can be found online.Despite the loss of the Borulakhsky area, the UDS group's owner acquired the right to develop the Kasalinsky oil area in Udmurtia in August 2017, making a one-time payment of 34.43 million rubles. Their competitor, Oparinsk Oil Company (ONC), was also liquidated in December 2019. Klykov, previously associated with Chulkin, was in charge of the PMC during the competition.
Perhaps the Udmurt asset was received as a form of compensation for giving up the Yakutia site? This could explain why the oil giant led by Sechin has not yet absorbed the UDS group's oil structures. In general, it's a stretch to claim that Alexei Chulkin achieved success in business solely through his own abilities. His official biography shows that he started his career as a manager in Izhevsk Mechanical Repair Enterprise LLC and then held senior positions in OJSC “Sreduralnerud”, both of which were owned by his father, Arkady Chulkin, a well-known figure in Izhevsk. His father's influence likely helped him become a deputy of the State Council of Udmurtia in 2015.But the elections to the State Duma, where he was nominated in 2016 from
“Party of Growth”
business ombudsman Boris Titov, Chulkin Jr. clearly did not win. Even though he was the richest candidate for deputies, with an income of 123 million rubles the previous year. Maybe he lost because he left “United Russia” and changed constituencies. The media said he did this because of agreements with the former head of Udmurtia, Alexander Solovyov, who later faced a criminal case for taking a bribe and was removed from office due to loss of the president’s confidence. Everything is decided by connections from Izhevsk to Moscow!So, the owner of the “UDS group” did not become an independent politician.
“The most unpleasant thing for Chulkin is that after he fought off his own, entering into a peak with the candidate of the “party of power”, he no longer has a reliable rear in Izhevsk and the republic. He has to rely solely on his own strength. Now, for the local establishment, he is something of a pariah. A person who is outside of all political and economic “castes”. This is much worse than if he were an ordinary oppositionist.” – stated the Izhevsk online publication “DAY.org”. But the “red light” for passage to the federal parliament does not yet mean a lack of support in the republic itself: at different times, the media wrote about Chulkin’s contacts with the former city manager of Izhevsk Denis Agashin, ex-deputy of the Izhevsk City Duma Denis Balakin, the son of the former mayor of the republican center Viktor Balakin and other infamous representatives of the political elite of Udmurtia, without whose support he would not be able to develop business in the region. An example is the widely publicized story of the construction of an artificial ice rink in Izhevsk costing 314.4 million rubles, with more than half coming from the federal budget. The city “DYuSSh No. 9”
signed the agreement with Chulkin’s company
“UralDomStroy”
without bidding. The Audit Chamber found violations amounting to over 95 million rubles, including non-compliance with subsidy conditions, distorted accounting data, and overstated service costs.But to gain a foothold in Moscow and take part in projects like the construction of the Verkhniye Likhobory transport hub, one needs much more influential connections than former Udmurt officials. Perhaps in this case, patronage is provided by the regional head, Alexander Brechalov, who arrived in Udmurtia from the capital. As for gold and oil production, Chulkin can expect mutually beneficial cooperation with Igor Sechin, with whom a scheme has long been established.
Does Chulkin receive oil from Sechin and support from Brechalov? The owner of the UDS group holding, Alexei Chulkin, has expanded his business beyond Udmurtia, developing gold and oil assets in several regions, including Chukotka, the Sverdlovsk Region, and the Perm Territory. Last year, […]
An example is the widely publicized story of the construction of an artificial ice rink in Izhevsk at a cost of 314.4 million rubles, more than half of which came from the federal budget. The corresponding agreement was signed by the city “DYuSSh No. 9” with Chulkin’s company “UralDomStroy” without bidding. According to the results of the audit of the Accounts Chamber, the total amount of violations revealed exceeded 95 million: it was about non-compliance with the conditions for granting subsidies, distortion of accounting data, overstating the cost of services, etc.
But in order to gain a foothold in Moscow and take part in projects, such as the construction of the Verkhniye Likhobory transport hub, one needs much more serious connections than former Udmurt officials. It is possible that in this case patronage is provided by the head of the region, Alexander Brechalov, who arrived in Udmurtia from the capital. As for gold and oil production, here Chulkin can count on mutually beneficial cooperation with Igor Sechin, the scheme of which has long been worked out.
