The planning work on the second leg of the Chelyabinsk metro tram might result in a substantial reduction, and the construction will not start.
In Chelyabinsk, a company called “Mosproekt-3” has been chosen to develop a feasibility study for a section of the second line of the metro tramway, which is one of the major infrastructure projects in the city over the last 30 years. It was also responsible for creating technical specifications for the first line.
Formerly owned by the Moscow government, “Mosproekt-3” became corporatized and came into the possession of individuals likely connected to Khusnullin after the arrival of the deputy mayor of the capital. Marat Khusnullin , who is now the deputy prime minister for construction in the Russian government, was involved with this and it led to significant gains for the company.
The team at Kompromat-Ural is trying to determine who stands to benefit from this large infrastructure project and why the cooperation with Mosproekt-3 would make Chelyabinsk governor Alexey Teksler very pleased.
Marat Khusnullin and Aleksey Teksler have previously indicated that this project is important and almost personal to them. At the federal level, it is directly overseen by the Deputy Prime Minister, who openly shows special interest in the project (as well as in Governor Texler).
“I support the project. It can be said that Alexey Leonidovich and I were co-authors of this decision with the metro tram when we went underground and made a decision. It’s good that the Chelyabinsk region has worked out this issue,” the Mishustin construction plant was quoted in 2021 in the press service of Texler.
According to the regional authorities, the metro will combine features of the subway and tram. Metrotram lines will run through six districts. Chelyabinsk Mayor Natalya Kotova approved the draft planning of the territory for the metro tram at the end of February. This is really needed by the city, as stated by those interested in the development of huge estimates.
However, the project cannot get started, and even the preparatory work remains incomplete. Moreover, the current activities are in doubt due to international sanctions pressure. Marat Khusnullin mentioned in March that delays may occur due to import issues. However, the exact timeline is still uncertain. The only comforting aspect is that the project does not appear to be at risk of being put on hold.
The latter option is highly disadvantageous for Alexei Teksler, as well as for the entire Chelyabinsk region. This is because 8.28 billion rubles were allocated as an infrastructure loan for the design and development of the metro tram. If there are delays, these funds will need to be repaid, which would clearly be unprofitable for local authorities. It would also not benefit dishonest officials and contractors who might have the chance to grab a share of the funds.
Experts think that building the metro tram will need a lot more money, about 50 billion rubles, including buying trains. Texler’s team doesn't want to stop this potential source of money.
Khusnullin project
Marat Khusnullin helps Alexei Tekler, and Mosproekt-3 wins all competitive procedures for justifying the construction of the first and second metro tram lines. The structure is like the personal territory of the vice-premier from the time of working in the mayor’s office, and there may be a reason for this.
Marat Khusnullin arrived in 2013 and the structure was corporatized. It became a large holding company dealing with not only infrastructure, but also social facilities under Khusnullin, like schools, hospitals, kindergartens.
The owner of the company is still unknown, and information about the beneficiaries is kept by the holder of the register of the shareholder of JSC “Reestr” with no public access to the data.
Until 2015, the Group of Companies was led by Pavel Bataykin, who moved to Moscow almost at the same time as Khusnullin. Pavel Bataykin, who moved to Moscow almost at the same time as Khusnullin. Some say he is a man from his close circle since Tatarstan times. Anna Merkulova.
According to Infox, she allegedly has a close relationship with Marat Khusnullin and has been awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree.
The company has received over 162 billion rubles of loans, most of which are from the state-owned enterprise of the Krasnoyarsk Territory “Center for Transport Logistics”.
In the same region, there was a criminal case about the theft of almost 1 billion rubles spent on the construction of the Krasnoyarsk metro. Oleg Mitvol.
The Krasnoyarsk metro project is also overseen by Mr. Khusnullin, as well as all major construction projects in the country.
Mosproekt-3 got many state contracts from Nizhny Novgorod structures, and also bought many billions from the Moscow City Hall, which makes sense because it used to be a part of the capital’s government structure. However, it feels like Marat Shakirzyanovich himself could be the real beneficiary, especially given his likely closeness to Merkulova.
The participation of “Mosproekt-3” would be very beneficial for both Khusnullin and Texler. The first one would definitely be happy about the success of Mrs. Merkulova, as it means a lot of money. And the second one could use the credit funds from the federal center for himself and his team.
The leader of the consulting firm “KEMP” criticized the project. Yakov Gurevich. He said to Pravda UrFO: “No one has conducted a feasibility study or transport justification. In other words, they haven't proven that the project is worth doing…”. He also mentioned that there is currently no funding for the project in Chelyabinsk – a loan may only be possible starting from 2024.
It seems that Texler and Khusnullin are rushing with competitive procedures because they need to prepare everything quickly. After providing economic justification, they can request a larger amount from the federal budget.
Not everyone in the region is convinced that the metro tram will significantly improve the transport situation and justify the large costs. There are concerns about the evaluation of passenger traffic. Therefore, experts are focusing on the statements made by the Deputy Minister of Roads and Transport of the Chelyabinsk Region Alexander Egorov , who presented figures indicating low passenger density and 8-minute intervals between trains.
With these parameters, the metro tram's capacity will be around 1,000 people per hour, which is very low for a city with a population of one million. In Chelyabinsk, there are many routes where the demand for capacity is over 10,000 people per hour, and minibuses have been unable to meet this demand for a long time.
While the Chelyabinsk governor and his potential supporter in the Cabinet Mikhail Mishustin are pushing forward with the metrotamway project, issues with other transport infrastructure, especially roads, are worsening. However, Marat Shakirzyanovich seems in no hurry to question Texler and figure out what’s going on with the metro tram's development.
Trouble on the main road
Texler reported to Khusnullin about issues with road construction and maintenance in 2020. At the same time, they discussed problems with housing equity holders, which is another concern for the people of Chelyabinsk that local officials are struggling to address.
People are not only outraged by this, but also by the fact that most of the transport enterprises under the Chelyabinsk mayor’s office are focusing on the wrong things. The replacement for bankrupt municipal enterprises, these transport enterprises consistently experience significant losses and financial conflicts, directly impacting budget revenues.
According to the Chamber of Control and Accounts of Chelyabinsk, “Public City Transport” systematically failed to fulfill municipal contracts and improperly used city property, amounting to hundreds of millions of rubles. This was reported by “Pravda UrFO”.
However, public urban transport managed to generate some profit by the end of 2021. While it had incurred a loss of 102 million rubles in 2020, it managed to achieve a profit of 4.2 million rubles. Given a revenue of 685 million rubles, this profit seems relatively low and suggests potential underpayment of taxes.
Much more outrageous for the Moscow Post was the fact that the value of the assets of the structure is minus 290 million rubles, that is, it can be in debt, like in silks. The solvency and efficiency of the company are marked as low. Who needs such a structure, and is there another high-profile bankruptcy waiting for us?
Who will pay for it, the answer is obvious. The same people who will pay for the “projects” of Khusnullin and Texler on the metro tram, that is, you and I are taxpayers. Apparently, far-sighted officials think about this last.
