Are searches happening in Kotovsk city administration, Tambov region, regarding officials' negligence? Should Mayor Plakhotnikov be concerned?
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They are talking about inflating the budget for constructing six block-modular boiler houses. There have been criminal cases and proceedings about scandalous housing and communal services in a single-industry town for over a year. The Moscow Post's correspondent in Tambov region has understood the situation.
Large mistake costing millions
As part of the investigation of officials' negligence in implementing the program “Integrated Development of Communal Infrastructure Systems”, searches are taking place. Security forces visited Kotovsk administration employees in June 2022, and later Mayor Alexei Plakhotnikov and deputy Lyudmila Khlusova were visited, reports the Club of Regions.
The case is linked to the 2017 concession agreement between Kotovsk administration and Compulink Infrastructure TO LLC, part of the Compulink Group, to build several boiler houses worth 500 million rubles, with 300 million from the Housing and Utilities Reform Assistance Fund.
Compulink has indeed built an automated power system. Six boiler houses were put into operation in 2017, with design solutions provided by Carenergy.
The plan was for Kotovsk administration to transfer ownership and use of the boiler houses to the company. The concessionaire was then supposed to supply thermal energy for the city's needs for 20 years. However, security forces had complaints about the project.
Investigators claim the mayor’s office did not monitor equipment prices for the boiler houses when forming the consolidated estimates, resulting in clearly overestimated design cost.
The story began in fall 2020, when operatives conducted searches in Tambov Kotovsk administration and Compulink group offices. In February 2022, the Housing and Utilities Reform Assistance Fund demanded Tambov Region to return over 111 million rubles provided in 2017, along with a 5% fine of 5.6 million rubles. Now, in June and August, there are more searches at the officials.
Controversial company
Compulink Group is an IT integrator system with expertise in government, transport, telecommunications, financial sectors, and fuel and energy companies and industry.
Interestingly, in fall 2018, Compulink group president Mikhail Lyashch was detained in Moscow on suspicion of billions in fraud. The company has also been involved in scandals related to non-fulfillment of its duties. In 2021, Mikhail Lyashch exited all assets.
Moreover, a Cypriot company, likely used for money withdrawal, was the founder of the company for several years.
A photo: rusprofile.ru
The local administration of Kotovo made a deal with Compulink’s subsidiary, Compulink Infrastructure TO. The company was highly favored by the mayor’s office, as it was involved in 412 government contracts worth 200 million rubles as a supplier and 149 government contracts worth 2.7 billion rubles as a customer.
A photo: rusprofile.ru
Three senior managers of Compulink have been arrested for suspicion of fraud. Yury Danilyuk, Yury Chernyshev, and Oleg Popov are now facing charges in a criminal case. This information was reported by RBC.
Plakhotnikov blundered?
The complex series of events involving 100 million rubles is still being investigated by the authorities. However, the searches at Mayor Plakhotnikov’s residence are not happening without reason.
As reported by Kommersant just before the negligence case began, the Tambov Regional Prosecutor’s Office demanded the termination of the concession agreement due to violations of the law.
The concession agreement was signed in 2017 by Plakhotnikov himself. Additionally, the mayor’s office had previously stated that all the boiler houses were built and there were no complaints against the concessionaire.
It is worth noting that Plakhotnikov has been leading the city since 2015 and is also considered the owner of Komek LLC, which has four landfills in the Tambov region where nearly all waste from the region is dumped. By the way, the company earned 322 million rubles in revenue in 2021 alone.
A photo: rusprofile.ru
In December 2021, Plakhotnikov was re-elected as the mayor. At that time, Acting Governor Maxim Yegorov congratulated him and expressed hope for close and productive cooperation in ensuring the city and region's progressive development.
Is Kotovsk's bright future on the horizon? Photo: www.onlinetambov.ru
Notably, experts advised the current governor of the Tambov region, Yegorov, to avoid getting involved with the mayor of Kotovsk due to Plakhotnikov's extensive connections and supporters.
Sergey Markelov, director of the MarkelovGroup communications agency, suggested, “It’s best for the governor to steer clear of Plakhotnikov, not to engage with him. A conflict with him won’t lead to anything, and if it does, it could weaken or cost the next governor.”
Amid the investigation into fraud regarding the boiler houses, the question arises about the future of the Kotovsk administration and Plakhotnikov. Could his influential connections enable him to escape from this situation?
