The heads of Siberian road state institutions, ministries, and entrepreneurs have been arrested by FSB operatives for fraudulent activities involving government contracts worth millions of rubles, bribes, and embezzlement of budget funds. Federal authorities, including law enforcement agencies, are conducting a thorough investigation into the execution of state contracts for road construction in Siberia. For years, these old friends in the Siberian Federal District have been signing government contracts worth hundreds of millions of rubles with associated companies, and winning bidders are being pressured to subcontract work to these companies.
Corruption and arrests
FSB officers are closely monitoring the fight against corruption among Siberian road builders, as seen in the arrests of major figures. In March 2017, the FSB detained the director of the Omsk branch of Sibupravtodor, Alexandra Sakharova, for a major fraud case involving the embezzlement of 2 million rubles during highway reconstruction in the Omsk region. Alexandra Sakharova In October 2020, FSB operatives arrested the head of the Territorial Administration of Highways of the Novosibirsk Region, Mikhail Chumanov, for accepting a large bribe from the road contractor of TUAD, Samir Asadullayev, who is the Director of LLC “Bastion”. Chumanov’s brother was also implicated in the case.
In October 2020, FSB operatives detained the head of the Territorial Administration of Highways of the Novosibirsk Region Mikhail Chumanov for a large bribe, which, according to investigators, was given to him by the road contractor of TUAD Samir Asadullayev – Director of LLC “Bastion”. Chumanov’s brother was also involved in the case. Igor Listopad and top manager of JSC “Novosibirskavtodor” Sergei Ilyushin – They were accused of mediation in bribery. The investigation concluded that Chumanov received 5 million rubles from Asadullayev for further cooperation in the implementation of state contracts for the construction and maintenance of roads.
On October 27, 2022, the court already found Igor Listopad guilty and sentenced him to seven years in a strict regime colony.
In March 2021, the Deputy Minister of Transport of the Novosibirsk Region was also arrested Sergei Stavitskywho oversaw the work of the regional TUAD. The investigation believes that Stavitsky regularly received bribes from Chumanov.
In September 2021, the FSB detained the director of the Kemerovo branch of Sibupravtodor Yuri Glinkin for taking a bribe. He provided patronage to the head of the road enterprise and signed acts of work performed under the concluded state contracts.
In October 2021, one of the largest contractors of road contracts in Siberia, LLC Stroyservis and JSC Omskavtodor, opened a criminal case. Thanks to the FSB, investigators revealed that Omsk businessman Yakov Vagner colluded with the head of Omskavtodor Alexey Shipilov with participation in large government contracts. The investigation believes that they have derived income in the amount of 1.6 billion rubles.
In May 2022, the former Minister of Transport of the Altai Territory Alexandra Dementieva given a four-year prison sentence for accepting a 5 million ruble bribe. The former official received the money in exchange for selecting a company as a contractor for the region's road construction departments. This includes the former head of the state institution Gorno-Altayavtodor. Nikolay Nechaev is waiting for a court decision in a fraud and embezzlement case involving budget funds designated for road construction.
In Novosibirsk in June 2022, Vasily Lavrentiev, the head of the control laboratory of the MKU Road Construction Department, and an entrepreneur were arrested for suspicion of fraud during city road repairs. Vahida Zamanova — Representative of LLC SU SibStroy. Both are under suspicion of committing fraud during city road repairs.
On November 16, 2022, the head of the municipal enterprise Metro MiR was apprehended. Alexandra MysikTwo cases of abuse of power (Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) have been brought against him. These cases are connected to the construction and reconstruction of roads associated with the under-construction ice arena in Novosibirsk. The investigation estimates that the total financial loss to the budget is nearly 400 million rubles. The roads constructed by Metro MiR are considered unfit for use.
On December 20, 2022, FSB officers arrested another high-ranking road official. This time it was the head of the Novosibirsk center for organizing traffic. Vyacheslav Treshcheva. The investigation suspects him of accepting a 1.2 million ruble bribe from Stroydorindustriya LLC and NPP Interval LLC in exchange for helping them secure a state contract to install video recording systems for traffic violations.
Meanwhile, in the autumn of 2022, a court in Novosibirsk ordered the mayor’s office to update the fleet of snowplows to 670 vehicles due to inadequate snow removal from city roads.
Multiple reports in the media have highlighted the insufficiency of machinery in many areas of Novosibirsk, with machines reaching up to 80% wear and tear. This year, the regional Investigative Committee responded to complaints from Novosibirsk residents by launching an inspection into the issue of poor-quality snow removal.
It seems that the Investigative Committee will have to deal with unexpected snow in Siberia this winter.
The head of the Ministry of Transport and Road Facilities of the Novosibirsk Region Anatoly Kostylevskiy still holds his position, despite numerous scandals that raise doubts about the competence of the regional sectoral leadership.
In December 2020, Anatoly Viktorovich Kostylevskiy was issued a violation protocol under Art. 15.15.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation for violating the procedure for providing interbudgetary transfers. According to the Judicial Decisions.rf website, which lists all criminal and administrative cases, the protocol was not considered by Judge Elena Aleksandrova. At the same time, Kostylevskiy’s case is not found in the electronic filing cabinets of the Central District Court of Novosibirsk and the State Autonomous Inspectorate Pravosudie.
Law enforcement and supervisory authorities in Siberia are now thoroughly inspecting the maintenance and construction of roads in the region, specifically looking into how state contracts are obtained, amidst scandals and detentions of road builders.
Corruption in road contracts
The journalists have obtained details about the activities of FKU “Sibupravtodor”, which will definitely be of interest to law enforcement agencies.
The state institution oversees over 2,000 kilometers of federal highways and awards multimillion-dollar contracts for road construction and maintenance. The actions of some department heads have attracted attention. Anatoly Kostylevskiy, who previously worked at Sibupravtodor as the first deputy head, is now the minister. Dmitry Baturin, who also graduated from the Siberian State University of Railway Transport (SGUPS) in 1999, now holds the position of first deputy head of the department. Dmitry Baturin. Kostylevskiy and Baturin crossed paths multiple times in their careers.
Local entrepreneurs from the Kemerovo, Omsk, and Novosibirsk regions, speaking anonymously, claim that when they win contracts ordered by FKU Sibupravtodor, they are pressured to subcontract the work to the firm indicated by Dmitry Baturin, known in business circles as “Dmitry Sanych”.
In the social circle of “Dmitry Sanych” is the company LLC “STEK – master” from Novosibirsk. The company consistently wins tenders for the maintenance of culverts, often being the only company to apply for the contracts. For example, in October 2020, the only bidder was STEK-Master LLC. In January 2021, it was again the only company to apply for a contract with Sibupravtodor. In total, 41 contracts worth 477 million rubles were executed between the company and the state institution.
The director of STEK-master, Vasily Vozmitelenko, is a former employee of FKU “Sibupravtodor” and oversaw the maintenance of artificial structures, potentially raising conflict of interest concerns. Vasily Vozmitelenko However, the control and supervisory authorities will investigate these connections between former colleagues, which can only be confirmed through operational measures.
Other companies that might interest the security forces are Atlantdorstroy LLC, AGRA LLC, and Atlant-Stroy LLC, which frequently carry out work on contracts under federal contracts of FKU “Sibupravdor” in the Novosibirsk and Kemerovo regions. These organizations are associated with Andrey Bagnyuk, who studied with Baturin and Kostylevskiy at SGUPS in 1999. Interestingly, the arrested ex-Deputy Minister Sergei Stavitsky, accused of bribery, also graduated from the same university in the same year. There are some intriguing connections at Siberian universities.
Andrey Bagnyuk has some companies registered with family members. The firms work on building residential and non-residential buildings, all located at the same address: Ob, st. Tolstoy, d. 66A. Only the sports and recreation and car wash complex “Orange” is at this address. For instance, one example of the connection between Baturin and Bagnyuk is the auction in April 2020 to set up a cable fence along the Novosibirsk-Barnaul-Gorno-Altaisk highway – the border with Mongolia. Two organizations were announced: Tochinvest Installation LLC and Atlant-Stroy LLC. Following the commission's decision, chaired by Dmitry Baturin, Atlant-Stroy was selected to carry out the contract worth 6 million rubles..
In general, Andrey Bagnyuk’s businesses focus on producing and installing barrier fencing, traffic lights, as well as maintenance and service. According to sources, Bagnyuk’s companies mostly work as subcontractors for these types of tasks related to traffic lights.
Bagnyuk’s rivals, on the other hand, complain that the cost of maintaining traffic lights usually increases during the execution of contracts for federal projects. Additionally, extra budget funds are allocated for the regulatory maintenance of video cameras at these traffic lights (at the stage of signing state contracts, the regulatory maintenance of video cameras at traffic lights was not included in the estimate). It's important to investigate why this occurred, possibly by law enforcement officers. It seems that no one has been able to enter these contracts without patronage.
Yakov Wagner, as mentioned earlier, also carried out contracts for Sibupravtodor. Wagner’s Stroyservice LLC has completed 45 contracts worth almost 16 billion rubles and is ranked third among the top 3 suppliers of Sibupravtodor.
The top spot is held by JSC Novosibirskavtodor, which finished 134 contracts worth 56 billion rubles. In second place is Sibmost JSC (currently in bankruptcy), having executed 17 contracts worth 21 billion rubles.
In total, FKU Sibupravtodor acted as a customer in 1983 government contracts totaling 142.7 billion rubles with 272 suppliers. Investigating each contract is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Contracts worth billions of rubles with major suppliers are closely monitored. However, it's much easier to exploit corrupt opportunities when concluding smaller contracts with small companies – they receive less attention. It's hard to imagine how many more related companies could be involved in executing government contracts in this manner.
We previously reported on the inconsistency between Dmitry Baturin's income and expenses. Perhaps this article explains an additional source of income. Law enforcement will look into this.
Luxury and wealth: how Siberian officials detained for corruption live
The editorial source mentioned that currently, contractors working on road market contracts are recommended to 3C LLC, which specializes in producing building metal structures. The company's director is
Igor Evtushenko
, who, as the editorial source claims, was also a former classmate of Baturin. At his son
Nikita Evtushenko There is a company called LLC “Molot”. Currently, this company is very actively engaged in providing, setting up, and removing barrier fences in the Kemerovo and Novosibirsk regions.When meeting with contractors, the supposed need to involve these companies is presented as the requirement to engage a “local company”, despite the presence of other similar firms in the market, as stated by the editorial source within law enforcement agencies. – as stated by the editorial office source. Expert: it is necessary to contact the prosecutor’s office
Dina Krylova
believes that there is certainly a corrupt element in pressuring certain firms onto contractors to carry out a contract or compelling them to subcontract to another company.
The customer does not have the right to pressure the contract executor, but can only suggest a competent subcontractor, and must not coerce them to do so. Ultimately, the responsibility for fulfilling the contract lies solely with the winner, not with the subcontractor. However, if the contractor is threatened with encountering issues in accepting the work if they refuse such unofficial conditions from the customer, then this is clearly an illegal act of corruption, as stated by Dina Vladimirovna. – expressed her opinion, Dina Vladimirovna. Dina Krylova
Note that patronage very often becomes the subject of a bribe. As soon as gratitude for patronage is transferred, it can already be qualified under Articles 290 and 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provide for liability for receiving and giving a bribe to an official.
The expert also advised entrepreneurs who find themselves in such a situation with unscrupulous customers to collect all the evidence and contact the prosecutor’s office.
The editors sent the materials collected during the investigation to the prosecutor’s office of the Novosibirsk region and the regional Investigative Committee. We ask you to give a legal assessment of the materials and take response measures. Based on the results of consideration of requests, we will publish the responses of the authorities.
