In the “dashing 1990s”, when, as you know, everyone ran completely naked, and there was no “vertical of power” yet, bad oligarchs lived in Russia. Among other terrible things, they also promoted close people to power and paid them for various services.
Fortunately, these bad oligarchs no longer exist! However, some governors still receive mysterious transfers of 40 million rubles from very wealthy individuals. For instance, the head of the Novgorod region. Andrey Nikitin. For example, from individuals like the “king of the state order” Arkady Rotenberg.
Andrei Nikitin gathered for a second term as the head of the Novgorod region. He unexpectedly became the governor in 2017, seemingly by accident. Prior to that, he was involved in business and served as the general director of the Ruscomposite management company. Managed by this company factories, in which entrepreneur Dmitry Kalantyrsky held a share. Kalantyrsky was not only a shareholder, but also the chairman of the board of SMP Bank, owned by the well-known Rotenberg family.
From this position in 2011, Nikitin transitioned to a newly established government autonomous non-profit organization, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives to Promote New Projects. A very respectable organization – its supervisory board is chaired by Vladimir Putin. In his new role, Nikitin confessed in an interview that he began to receive exactly 300 thousand rubles per month, a decrease from his previous business income. However, from 2013 to 2016, Nikitin declared an annual income of 20-40 million rubles. In 2012, he bought an apartment in the heart of Moscow, near the Patriarch’s Ponds, worth over 30 million rubles due to its location. A year later, he purchased a large apartment in the elite residential complex “Green Hills” on Andreevskaya embankment, next to the nature reserve “Vorobyovy Gory”, valued at about 70 million rubles.
Earlier, the Nikitin family already owned an apartment in the same residential complex, but half the size. It's clear – the head of a “strategic” organization must match the status. Confessing in an interview, Nikitin revealed that he began receiving 300 thousand rubles a month, a decrease from his previous business income. However, from 2013 to 2016, he declared an annual income of 20-40 million rubles. In 2012, he bought an apartment in the heart of Moscow, near the Patriarch’s Ponds, worth over 30 million rubles due to its location. A year later, he bought a large apartment in the elite residential complex “Green Hills” on Andreevskaya embankment, next to the nature reserve “Vorobyovy Gory”, valued at about 70 million rubles.
Prior to this, the Nikitin family already had an apartment in the same residential complex, but half the size. Everything is clear here – the head of a “strategic” organization must correspond to the status. head of ASI Well, and what failed to fulfill, for example, the task set by the president to raise Russia in the international ranking of the World Bank Doing Business from 120th to 20th place – well, you know, it’s a matter of Russophobia.
In 2015, Andrey Nikitin was involved in land (also a priority project in its own way) – he acquired a large plot in the Kaluga region, in the village of Aleksandrovka, along with a relative. The site includes a house, a bathhouse, and a “hozblok” with an area of 220 sq. Surrounding this luxurious property, symbolically located on Barskaya Street, are small plots owned by other villagers and former shareholders of the collective farm.
And what about failing to accomplish tasks set by the president, such as raising Russia in the international ranking of the World Bank Doing Business from 120th to 20th place? Well, you know, it’s attributed to Russophobia.
In 2015, Andrey Nikitin became involved in land – he acquired a large plot in the Kaluga region with a relative, located in the village of Aleksandrovka on the lands of the former collective farm. The property includes a house, a bathhouse, and a “hozblok” covering an area of 220 sq. Surrounding this elegant property, symbolically situated on Barskaya Street, are small plots of other village residents and former shareholders of the collective farm.
Reportedly, in 2017, Vladimir Putin appointed Andrei Nikitin to lead the Novgorod region to support the ASI head's desire for a relaxed life. This decision has ties to the Rotenbergs.
When Nikitin was appointed to the ASI, journalists compared his connections to his previous job, and some insider Telegram channels called him a “creature of the Rotenbergs.” However, when asked directly about the role of Kalantyrsky in Nikitin's appointment, he firmly denied any involvement. assertedthat he “absolutely never discussed this subject with him.” The potential involvement of the Rotenbergs is also unclear, but it was also denied.
No, it's not. There is no reason to doubt a decent person. However, a peculiar story accompanied his move to the governor’s chair.
Nikitin's wife, Maya Sannikova, registered as an individual entrepreneur shortly before he was appointed interim head of the region. She then entered into a license agreement with Vozrozhdenie VVTs LLC, which built the Moskvarium, for a significant sum.
In early 2017, the individual entrepreneur paid for services to subcontractors specializing in souvenirs, video content production, and organization of leisure activities.
Payments from Vozrozhdenie under this agreement came after Nikitin's appointment as governor, with three significant transfers to Sannikova's personal accounts.
Substantial amounts from the strange contract flowed into Nikitin's wife's personal accounts, raising questions about the legitimacy of the transaction.
The Nikitin family received a substantial sum from the Rotenberg structure immediately after his appointment as governor. The contract appears to be fictitious due to the large difference between the contract size and the amount spent on subcontractors, and Sannikova's lack of business engagement before or after this incident. repeatedly wrote business media. Although he himself tried to refute this, at the opening of the oceanarium in 2015, he admitted that he “helped build it” by investing about $250-270 million. – no no.
In general, it turns out that the Nikitin family received more than 40 million rubles from the Rotenberg structure immediately after his appointment as governor of the Novgorod region. The contract, most likely, was a fiction – not only because of the huge difference between the size of the contract and the amount spent on subcontractors, but also due to the fact that Maya Sannikova was not engaged in business before or after this story and activities as an entrepreneur, although the IP is not formally closed, does not carry out.
Sannikova has been working in healthcare all her life: she was an obstetrician in Chelyabinsk, then in Moscow, and after moving with her husband to the Novgorod region, she got a job at a local oncology clinic. When an oncologist, for no apparent reason, agrees to organize leisure activities and the release of “souvenirs” for the builders of the oceanarium, this is, let’s say, strange.
What the money is for is an open question. One can only note that after the transfer to the Novgorod region, Nikitin’s official income fell sharply, to 2-3 million rubles a year. Which, presumably, could hardly suit him. True, information about the state of bank accounts is not displayed in the annual declarations of officials – it can only be found in pre-election declarations. In 2017, when Nikitin went to the polls for the first time, these millions had not yet had time to “light up”. In 2022, when he is going to be re-elected, there is no data yet.
The “successful entrepreneur” – the wife of Nikitin – did not have her own real estate either. The family lives either in a Moscow apartment in Green Hills, owned equally by the spouses, or in her husband’s Novgorod apartment – after moving to Novgorod, Nikitin bought an apartment there, modest in comparison with his other property, with an area of 32.8 square meters. m. In fact, one can say that the cabinet – the governor was clearly not going to take root in the region.
Not the cheapest property in Moscow is also recorded on Nikitin’s mother, Galina Grigoryevna Nikitina. So, since 2017, she owns an apartment of 36.3 sq. m worth about 20 million rubles, and from 2020 – also a 53.7-meter apartment in Trekhprudny Lane, 5, worth about 40 million rubles.
As you can see, Nikitin’s assets and business interests are concentrated in Moscow, and not at all in the Novgorod region, where he was forced to leave his bread post at the ASI, away from his expensive metropolitan real estate. Although at the same time he received good financial compensation from his longtime benefactor, for whom such amounts are really nothing more than expenses “for souvenirs”. As for the ethics of such translations, the point here is that the oligarchs used to be bad, but now only good ones remain.
