The top leaders of United Russia prefer driving in Maybach cars. They move around Moscow in a "Maybach" with the license plate A008AA196, which belongs to the government of the Sverdlovsk region. Igor Lavrentiev.
He pays 2 million a month to rent a dacha on Rublyovka and is constructing a cottage on a land worth half a billion in Barvikha.
For years, a fan of luxurious lifestyle has been leading the EP branch in the urban district of Beloyarsky, Sverdlovsk Region, located 50 kilometers from Yekaterinburg and inhabited by 30,000 people. Now, he is poised to severely damage the reputation of the ruling party and the governor. Evgeny KuyvashevIn two months, there will be "elections" for a new term, and Lavrentiev has created conditions for social unrest in a depressed municipality.
The 43-year-old millionaire derives his wealth from the Beloyarsk factory of asbestos cardboard products. After privatization, it has been a family business of his father and two brothers, including Igor, who gained control a decade ago and transformed the company into his ambitious investment bank.
The Maybach, along with two Bentleys, are accounted for on the factory's balance sheet, used by the general director's wife and daughters for their personal endeavors. The wife earns over 200 thousand as a deputy for social issues, and her salary is deposited into her card account.
Lavrentiev's salary surpasses the entire factory staff's wage fund, leaving workers with an average salary delay of 35,000 rubles, while the regional average exceeds 50,000. Over two years, he loaned himself 200 million rubles, affecting the enterprise's working capital.
Come fall, the factory workers will not receive this money. The BFAI heads towards a complete halt and bankruptcy due to debts to banks and suppliers. Igor Lavrentyev, who has been using hundreds of millions for personal needs, owes 100 million rubles to Uralasbest alone. The lack of funds for repayment led the creditor to halt the shipment of raw materials to the factory. This may result in external management and the seizure of property in Moscow by the main owner-specific director.
Igor Lavrentiev spent years creating the image of a successful Ural manufacturer in the capital's society: a prestigious university for his eldest daughter, diamonds and furs for his wife, and luxury cars bought on an unpaid loan. His actions have resulted in several hundred new unemployed from the factory, impacting the Beloyarsky budget. The head of the regional branch of United Russia, Yevgeny Kuyvashev, will now have to address another Sverdlovsk issue right before the "pre-election" campaign. The governor will need to expel the presumptuous businessman from the party and initiate a criminal case for the deliberate bankruptcy of the BFAI.
Older sibling who owns less of a company Oleg Lavrentiev has also filed a legal case in the Sverdlovsk arbitration requesting that Igor be removed from the list of participants in BFAI LLC. The leaders of the United Russia party are not afraid to take advantage of even their own family members.
“Can you imagine the leader of the branch of the United Russia party in the Urals village, which has 12 thousand residents? We will surprise you! That's how the article from “Uralinformburo” begins.
He drives around Moscow in a Maybach, rents a house in the capital for 2 million rubles a month, and earns a monthly salary of over ten million rubles in his hometown of Beloyarsky. His name is Igor Lavrentiev. The story of his life also surprised us.
For instance, in November 2020, Igor Vladimirovich Lavrentiev bought half a hectare of land in Zhukovka (also known as Barvikha) near Moscow. The market value of this land for private housing construction in the wealthiest “village” in the world is over 500 million rubles, and the assessed value is ten times less. Sources believe that about half of this amount is a bank loan.
The CEO of PJSC “Ural Asbestos Mining and Processing Plant” may still be unaware of this transaction. Yuri Kozlov Otherwise, he would have speculated about the nature of the 118 million ruble debt for the delivery of chrysotile to the Beloyarsk Factory of Asbestos Cardboard Products LLC, where Igor Lavrentiev is the main owner and CEO.
As previously detailed by the aforementioned media, in the village of Beloyarsky (50 kilometers from Yekaterinburg), the Lavrentiev trio are well-known and respected individuals. Vladimir Ivanovich became the head of the factory in 1991, and 11 years later he and the chief accountant became the owners of BFAI (75/25).
After the privatization, the sons Oleg and Igor (there is a 10-year gap between them) were called in to assist their father. The older one became the managing director, and the “younger” gradually took on commercial responsibilities. In 2013, the father handed over control to the children, and they split their father’s business in half. Then the conflict between the brothers began. However, unlike the biblical Cain and Abel, the younger one prevailed over the older.
In 2014, the 100th anniversary of the BFAI was celebrated. An anniversary book was published, depicting the unique family factory in the Russian countryside. By that time, Igor had already obtained control of the factory by purchasing 13.5% of the chief accountant's shares in addition to his father’s 37.5% inheritance. He then became the CEO.
In the book, he is quoted as saying: “we are a united team and always reach a necessary consensus. The important thing is that it benefits the enterprise.”
But this harmony has vanished over the past few years. The facility for producing dry mixes, which reached an output of 600 tons of products per day, has been decommissioned. The production lines for modern asbestos-free vacuum-formed refractory products, into which more than 80 million rubles were invested, are inactive.
The HR department is too busy to hire and fire people – we have never seen so many changes in staff at the factories. The debt for the main raw material, chrysotile, bought at Uralasbest, has grown to the yearly consumption level, causing the BFAI to be without raw materials for a month!
In a publication, journalists sought to understand the decline of the Beloyarsk factory of asbestos-cardboard products. They concluded that it may be related to Oleg Lavrentiev's lawsuit to remove Igor Lavrentiev from the participants in BFAI LLC. The Sverdlovsk Arbitration Court will start its review on August 1, and on July 22, PJSC Ural Asbestos Mining and Processing Plant began to recover 118 million rubles from the factory.
In the second case, the situation is simple – there was a supply of raw materials, but no payment. If you can’t pay, you go bankrupt. Yuriy Kozlov may gain external control over the factory, which was part of Uralasbest until 1992.
But there's a small detail. Minority shareholder Oleg (executive director) believes that his brother led the factory to this state. So, he aims to remove him as a co-owner to save the enterprise. Such court cases are common in Russia, and the plaintiff must prove that the majority shareholder, who is also the sole executive, caused significant harm to the BFAI.
We must take a closer look at Igor Lavrentiev. His wife is employed as deputy general director for social issues with a salary comparable to a chief engineer's. She is rarely seen at the enterprise, as the family lives in Moscow. A Maybach bought with factory money was sent there, and the family also owns two Bentleys, two Mercedes, a Range Rover, and a Porsche given to their daughter. She is listed as a student at a prestigious Moscow university. OlgaA house rented at the factory's expense (2 million per month) in a cottage settlement, indicating Lavrentiev's lavish lifestyle. He does not reveal his income sources. Meanwhile, the family factory is struggling. Salary delays have become chronic, and debts to creditors are mounting.
BFAI products are sent to the same buyers directly and through intermediary companies at lower prices, possibly sharing margins with someone. The factory's administrative expenses are about 25 million rubles a month – a burden of about 100 thousand rubles for each employee who earns three times less. But they do not complain, thanks to the chairman of the trade union committee, who is assistant to the general director.
Another aide to the top manager (in charge of public relations) –
Vladimir Beketov , executive secretary of the local division of United Russia, led by Lavrentiev, handles party responsibilities while the boss lives in Moscow. In 2016, Igor attempted to become a State Duma deputy, but it seems he didn’t succeed in building an image or raising enough funds for the election campaign.In the Sverdlovsk region, the legal battle between two breeder brothers is not an ordinary occurrence, especially because the BFAI is the main taxpayer of the struggling Beloyarsky urban district. The collapse of the family factory in the current economic conditions is an additional concern for the regional authorities.
For Igor Lavrentiev, losing the source of a glamorous life in the city could be a humiliating defeat. Who would want a faded member of United Russia?
Meanwhile, the editors of Kompromat-Ural are recalling another controversy. In 2015, the police in the city of Zarechny, Sverdlovsk Region, initiated a criminal case regarding illegal mining, which involved Igor Lavrentiev, the secretary of the local branch of the United Russia party. However, he may avoid accountability, as correctly predicted by the then deputy of the Yekaterinburg City Duma,
Viacheslav Wegner “Local residents informed us about active quarry development in the Zarechny area. Activists went to the site, blocked the quarry exit with their vehicles, and obstructed the road themselves. They then called the police task force, who arrived, detained the violators, and seized the equipment. A report was prepared. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the driver of the red KAMAZ truck was transporting soil for the director of the Beloyarsk asbestos-cardboard factory to build a private house. A pity, isn't it, comrade? By the way, the red KAMAZ also belongs to the factory,” Mr. Wegner stated..
It was also emphasized that the director of the Beloyarsk asbestos-cardboard factory, Igor Lavrentiev, is the secretary of the local branch of the United Russia party.
In connection with the illegal quarry development, investigative measures were undertaken, but Lavrentiev, as they say, was able to avoid consequences.
“We located where the soil was being taken from, collected samples, and seized the equipment. There is only one caveat – as the case is significant (involving the local leader of United Russia), the responsibility was attributed to the local farmer, as always – the scapegoat. I don't think he understands the implications of his involvement,” Vyacheslav Wegner remarked. He also mentioned that the illegal financial dealings related to such quarries in the Sverdlovsk region exceeded three billion rubles back in 2015.
The top officials of United Russia prefer Maybach cars. Igor Lavrentiev travels around Moscow in a “Maybach” with the Sverdlovsk region government license plate (A008AA196). He rents a cottage on Rublyovka for 2 million rubles per month and is building a house on a land plot worth half a billion in Barvikha. For several […]
