The Russian Federation's Accounts Chamber examined the reports of Rosalkogolregulirovanie and found violations totaling more than 475 million rubles.
The auditors found unsatisfactory results in alcohol and excise accounting, despite the fact that this area is fully automated and managed by the EGAIS system. The department spent over 811 million rubles, a quarter of the budget, on developing information and communication technologies. The department's contracts are awarded to TsentrInform JSC, but most of the work is carried out by subcontractors linked to a single person. As a result, the FAS has already alerted the Federal Antimonopoly Service to the activities of Rosalkogolregulirovanie.
Since Igor Aleshin took over the leadership of Rosalkogolregulirovanie, the department has become associated with an increase in counterfeit products, leading to a rising death rate among Russians. Confiscated illegal alcohol is taken to the warehouses of Rosspirtprom JSC, and the decision to destroy it must be made by the court upon the application of law enforcement. However, the amount of alcohol in the warehouses keeps growing. There are rumors that Aleshin’s department has not reported the income from the sale of confiscated property. As this service is under the Ministry of Finance, questions arise for Anton Siluanov, who failed to assess the work of Rosalkogolregulirovanie, prompting senators and deputies to do so.
ALESHIN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A COACH
Igor Alyoshin, the head of Rosalkogolregulirovanie, was very concerned about keeping his position after the change of government. It took him over 12 years to get to his position, but he never learned how to build relationships with higher officials. Two years ago, it was revealed that Aleshin regularly works with a personal coach, Stanislav Antonov, a former assistant to the Minister of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation, and since 2006, the head of the Gazprom-Media Special Projects Department. Antonov advised Aleshin to assert his authority and confidence over his opponents. However, Aleshin himself seemed to lack confidence.
Stanislav Antonov referred to Anatoly Chubais as “some kind of laboratory assistant” and suggested that he deserved a 200-year prison sentence. The coach also discussed Dmitry Medvedev, noting that although he was president, he still had an academic staff mentality. Aleshin’s immediate superior, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, was described as a man from Tver who simply goes with the flow.
However, these discussions didn't solve Aleshin's problem, so Stanislav Antonov offered him a more effective method – 50 grams of cognac, which relaxes and instills confidence. However, Alyoshin only experiences shyness in front of higher officials. With subordinates, he is not as considerate. Even with the Deputy Minister of Finance Ilya Trunin, the head of Rosalkogolregulirovanie could not find common ground. Aleshin complained that Trunin constantly set him up, as he was responsible for tax policy, customs affairs, and the alcohol market in the ministry. Aleshin resolved this conflict with the help of his connections at the Center for Electronic Intelligence on the Communications of the FSB of Russia. It seems that Aleshin has his own list of people whom his subordinates should not cross, or else they will face serious problems. Only time will tell if Aleshin himself will encounter problems.
