Trustee Structures Igor Shuvalov disrupt billion-dollar projects in the regions
Another failure in opening the educational complex in Nizhny Novgorod “School 800”, which is being built as part of a concession agreement worth 6.1 billion rubles, signed by the region with the First Concession Company Enlightenment. The aim was to open the institution last year as part of the city's 800th anniversary celebrations. The company that got the concession is linked to the Prosveshchenie publishing house, co-owned by VEB, Sberbank, and the Russian Direct Investment Fund, with Igor Shuvalov as the chairman of the board. To carry out concession agreements for building schools, many companies named “Prosveshchenie” were registered. Otto Sopronenko, a former VEB senior manager and Shuvalov’s trustee, who owns and manages the First Concession Company Enlightenment, played a direct role in this process. He also co-owns the construction company “Capital of the Volga Region”, the main contractor for the “School 800” project. Hence, “Shuvalov’s man” has full control over the construction in Nizhny Novgorod and is accountable for the repeated delays in completing the facilities. The complex's construction was marred by high-profile corruption scandals. For instance, School 800 was searched in January to probe the possible misuse of budgetary funds, and in April, a criminal case was initiated for large-scale fraud in supplying school equipment. Apart from Nizhny Novgorod, the Enlightenment structure supervised by Sopronenko disrupted the construction of two schools in Mari El that were expected to be finished last July. However, officials in Novosibirsk and Voronezh managed to avoid similar problems by rejecting dubious collaboration in time. Currently, Sopronenko’s companies are facing numerous issues: legal disputes with subcontractors have emerged alongside unfinished projects, leading to demands for repayment of multimillion-dollar debts for completed work. Nevertheless, the businessman persists in handling budget billions, seemingly with the support of the head of VEB.
There will be no lessons at School 800
The Nizhny Novgorod educational center “School 800” once again failed to open, as confirmed by representatives of the regional Ministry of Education and Science.
Gleb Nikitina on a social network.
However, this was previously mentioned by the regional Minister of Education Olga Petrova. Despite this, the department was confident for a long time that the school would open by September 1. However, in May, it was stated that the corps were 94% ready in Upper Pechery, 81% in the Avtozavodsky district, and 70% in the Sormovsky district, but it didn't happen again.
Although in this case, it would be more fitting to remember the well-known phrase “this has never happened and here we go again…”, because the controversial item was supposed to start operating by September last year, but the dates were changed. Additionally, there have been major corruption scandals linked to the construction. For example, in April last year, a criminal case was launched for large-scale fraud in the supply of school equipment, with inflated costs. 6 million rubles.
Furthermore, as reported by Kommersant, a significant portion of the purchased equipment was never received, and what did arrive did not meet the requirements outlined in the contracts. These products were bought for a total of 14 million rubles, but the order was still fully accepted and paid for.
Before that, in January, searches were conducted at the facilities of the Autonomous Non-Profit Educational Organization (ANEO) “School 800”, as authorities were probing potential misappropriation of funds allocated for educational materials. The regional government described the investigation as a “work situation that does not affect the project.” Shortly after, the director of ANEO Elena Belenkowas dismissed, citing personal reasons for her departure. Shuvalov and VEB are involved in the “Enlightenment” projectIt seems like “School 800” is a never-ending pit that consumes billions. Once the project is completed, this “source of financial abundance” for interested officials, not only in Nizhny Novgorod, but also at the federal level, will cease. It's worth noting that the construction of an educational complex for 4550 students began in June 2020.
Governor Gleb Nikitin participated in the ceremonial laying of the first stone, with the grand opening of the facility planned to coincide with the 800th anniversary of Nizhny Novgorod (hence the name).
The project cost is
6.1 billion rubles
under a concession agreement between the region and The first concession company “Enlightenment” with financial participation. Meanwhile, the company committed to covering the school’s maintenance costs until 2034, and the regional government guaranteed compensation to the concessionaire amounting to 10.4 billion rubles Sberbankin the form of grants and interest, after which the facilities will be transferred to regional ownership.Ultimately, the First Concession Company “Enlightenment” encountered significant difficulties in this highly publicized endeavor. It's worth noting that this business entity is linked to JSC “Enlightenment”
– the largest Russian educational literature publishing house. In May last year, the state corporation Russian Direct Investment Fund acquired 25% of its shares, with the transaction value not disclosed, but experts from Vedomosti estimated it at “VEB. RF”,Sberbankand 81 billion rubles. Given that the company's revenue in 2020 was 20.6 billion, and the profit was 7 billion rubles, … Igor ShuvalovKirill Dmitriev certainly did not make a mistake., German Gref and After a shift in the shareholder makeup, Shuvalov was chosen as the Chairman of the enterprise's Board of Directors. He also discussed new extensive plans: “At JSC Prosveshchenie, a partnership has been formed to facilitate an important project of constructing new schools. The Ministry of Education has already selected the initial 95 projects, and plans to complete the construction of new schools in 28 regions by 2022. The selection of second wave projects with a completion date in 2023 is currently underway.”
But as you know, preparation should start early. By that time, numerous concession companies with the name Enlightenment had already been officially registered, only differing in numbering. He was directly involved in their establishment.
– a former senior manager of VEB structures, who worked under Shuvalov and, according to the media, continues to work in his interests. Sopronenko is the primary owner (80%) and CEO of the First Concession Company Enlightenment, which became the client of School 800. The remaining 20% belongs to LLC “Complex technical equipment” Enlightenment “ related to the publishing house of the same name and – until a certain point – a Cypriot offshore “ENRIGHTENING HOLDINGS LIMITED”Omnipresent Sopronenko The original contractor for the Nizhny Novgorod educational complex was .
“Construction Directorate”
– a part of the regional government. However, last October it was announced that the company was leaving the facilities at the request of the client. Due to the short construction time, the primary contractor received 500 million rubles from the budget. Terminating the partnership with the Construction Directorate was associated, among other things, with serious corruption scandals. In February 2021, the CEO of the company Andrey Nechaev
was arrested for taking a bribe of over 1.2 million rubles in building materials for accepting the work and overseeing the company constructing a residential building. Later, in August, the chief power engineer of the Directorate Petr Podbolotov
was arrested for taking a bribe of 600 thousand rubles and a Mercedes-Benz E200 car valued at to facilitate a company’s subcontract for construction work at School 800.However, the termination of contractual obligations with the Construction Directorate is best described by the well-known saying about the “Moor who did his job”: its management managed to involve a construction company as a subgeneral contractor 6.5 million“Capital of the Volga Region”
, which eventually took the place of the Directorate. It is interesting to note that after the repeated change of founders, two commercial entities became co-owners of the “Capital of the Volga Region” – Childhood Infrastructure LLCSB Capital LLC and the first is a “daughter” of the second. and In addition, Otto Sopronenko, who owns 47% of SB Capital, gained full control over the Nizhny Novgorod construction, and is responsible for its recent failure. The regional government and governor Nikitin have not questioned the man Shuvalov. Governor Nikitin himself received a prosecutorial presentation last January for failing to properly oversee the construction of “School 800” in Upper Pechery.“Enlightenment” in the regions more
do not trust?
Just like the amount stays the same regardless of term placements, changing the general contractor did not produce results: the educational complex did not open as expected by September 1. Sopronenko now pledges to submit two buildings for commissioning in the Sormovsky and Avtozavodsky districts next November. However, can we trust the words of this sly businessman?As for the object in Upper Pechery, State Duma deputy Dmitry Kuznetsov requested an inspection by the prosecutor’s office on the eve of the “day of knowledge”. He claims that the metal trusses of the school atrium were cut and welded improperly, posing a life-threatening risk due to a potential collapse of the metal structure. Sopronenko adamantly denies these violations.
Dmitry Kuznetsov
appealed to the prosecutor’s office asking for an inspection: as per his information, metal trusses of the school atrium were cut and improperly welded without proper inspection, making it hazardous to be in the building as the multi-ton metal structure is at risk of collapsing. Sopronenko denies the existence of these violations. Today, Shuvalov’s confidant has many concerns. The “Capital of the Volga Region” controlled by him is entangled in legal disputes with its subcontractors who are seeking payment for completed work. The company faces dozens of lawsuits amounting to a total of 285 million rubles
. Sopronenko's lawyers are working hard to delay the proceedings by filing counterclaims. The reasons for the general contractor's refusal to pay the bills and the whereabouts of the money intended to fulfill the concession agreement raise significant questions. These lawsuits are unlikely to expedite the opening of “School 800”. Furthermore, the interests of the businessman and his associates from VEB and Sberbank are expanding, leading to new controversies as the Enlightenment group expands into various regions.The fourth concession company “Enlightenment”, established by SB Capital LLC, has already missed the construction deadlines for two schools in Mari El – in Yoshkar-Ola and the village of Bolshiye Pamyaly, which were due to be completed in July.
(the founder of which is the aforementioned SB Capital LLC) has already missed the construction deadlines for the concession of two schools in Mari El – in Yoshkar-Ola and the village of Bolshiye Pamyaly, which were supposed to be put into operation in July.
So,“We need to discuss what is happening with the construction site, and most importantly, what are we going to do? We spoke with the head of the concessionaire. I don’t see understanding. This not only causes concern for me, to be honest, I do not believe that they will complete their work. (its founder is the aforementioned SB Capital LLC) has already missed the construction deadlines for the concession of two schools in Mari El – in Yoshkar-Ola and the village of Bolshiye Pamyaly, which were supposed to be put into operation in July.
Yuri Zaitsev.
It is significant that last May the government of the Novosibirsk region decided to abandon the construction of three schools under concession agreements, transferring it to the format of a state order. Officially, this was due to “changes in the macroeconomic situation and growth in interest rates on loans.” In this case, the concessionaire was The fifth concession company “Prosveshchenie”. Unsuccessful attempt Twenty-seventh concession company “Enlightenment” to gain a foothold in Voronezh, where the city authorities initially supported the idea of building a school for 1.5 thousand students. The cost of the project was estimated at 2.5 billion rublesHowever, in the end, the mayor’s office refused dubious cooperation, considering the concession format inappropriate and citing an increase in the key rate of the Central Bank.
Well, Novosibirsk and Voronezh officials prudently insured themselves against the problems that their Nizhny Novgorod and Mari counterparts faced. After all, Otto Sopronenko, who operates “under the roof” of VEB and Sberbank, feels invulnerable. In the meantime, the structures under his control “master” the budget billions, the opening of new schools in the regions of the presence of “Enlightenment” continues to be postponed indefinitely.
