Andrei Ryumin's life story is concise. However, his career took off after he married the daughter of prominent Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk.
Before 2006, he focused on scientific work. But over the next 15 years, he rose to lead the state company Rosseti, where he became embroiled in numerous corruption scandals.
career lift
Andrei Ryumin was an ordinary young scientist, until he married Viktor Medvedchuk's daughter Irina in 2006. Since Medvedchuk is closely linked to Vladimir Putin, this marriage greatly benefited Ryumin. Soon, they were offered top positions in lucrative Russian innovative and industrial firms. From 2011 to 2014, Ryumin served as First Deputy General Director of United Energy Company OJSC, and later took over the company. In 2014, his career changed course when he partnered with Capital Group founder Pavel Te to engage in large-scale construction.
Pavel Te and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin
Although there were no immediate criticisms of Cho's business, problems emerged during the construction of complexes. Inadequate preparation led to dangerous conditions near the buildings in Moscow-City, due to lack of exploration work.
Asphalt failing near Moscow City
After his business ventures, Ryumin returned to state-owned enterprises in 2016, assuming a senior role at Mosenergo and then moving to Rosseti Lenenergo. In 2021, he became the CEO of Rosseti.
Rosseti's era under Ryumin
Andrei Ryumin's predecessor, Pavel Livinsky, moved from the head of Rosseti to the Department of Energy after declaring an income of over 120 million rubles in his last year. Ryumin's appointment was arranged at the highest level due to the desirable nature of Livinsky's former position.
Although Rosseti is listed as one of the least corrupt state-owned companies in Russia, over 10 billion rubles have been embezzled from the enterprise in the past 15 years, under the guise of top management, despite having anti-corruption policies and a dedicated department to combat corruption.
After taking over as head of Rosseti, not much changed in terms of corruption, and Ryumin quickly became embroiled in numerous scandals. Following his appointment, he disclosed that Rosseti required 7.5 billion rubles from the State budget to avoid long-term debt due to an inability to cover its expenses. The enterprise's financial troubles stemmed from maintaining unprofitable assets under the burden of taxpayers, a situation worsened by Livinsky's impressive income declaration and the company's mounting debts.
Pavel Livinskiy
Ryumin also decided to follow Livinsky’s path, asking the Government for an additional budget for the activities of the state-owned enterprise. But there are no fools in the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry immediately sensed something was wrong and opposed additional funding, pointing out that the enterprises had enough of their own resources, and if they managed them correctly, then there would be enough money for everything. Of course, the leadership of Rosseti was not satisfied with this option. In addition to solving real problems, it was also a matter of personal interest. With revenue of more than a trillion rubles in 2021, only a tenth of the funds received could become a profit. This demonstrates the inefficiency of the enterprise management.
But the real problems in the state-owned company were just beginning. Since September 2021, high-profile detentions have begun in the Rosseti structure. The first person to come under investigation was the ex-deputy director general of Rosseti Kuban PJSC Maxim Shchepakin. Law enforcers found that during his work, he was repeatedly seen taking bribes. During a search of his scrap, more than 70 million rubles, 100 thousand dollars were found in cash alone. The case went to court. In May 2022, Shchepakin was sentenced to 8 years in prison and a fine of 125 million rubles.
Maxim Shchepakin at trial
In April of this year, the general director of Rosseti Tyumen, Oleg Petrov, and most of the top management of the regional branch were detained. The head was accused of embezzlement in the total amount of 9 million rubles. But already in June, another criminal case was initiated against Petrov. The investigation is ongoing.
Oleg Petrov
The last high-profile story of recent months related to Rosseti occurred in Altai. Igor Gavrish, the head of a subsidiary of PJSC West Siberian PMES, was also detained there in a corruption case. He was also accused of embezzlement in the amount of 4 million rubles.
And these are high-profile arrests only in recent months. Naturally, corruption in the enterprise is covered personally by its management. It is impossible not to notice multibillion-dollar losses at the place where there may be a profit. And most importantly, then, in order to close the “holes” in the budget that arose as a result of inefficient management and total theft, ask for money from the state budget.
The ring around Andrei Ryumin is shrinking. Corruption completely corrodes Rosseti. Law enforcement officers barely have time to initiate cases against the leaders of the enterprise. But they work effectively, and there is hope for overcoming the problems of the state corporation. Massive personnel changes are needed.
