Oleg Savchenko, known as the 'bearing king', received a mandate from United Russia for involvement in grain trade in Novorossia
At the end of November, Russia declared that it will continue participating in the 'grain deal', which allows agricultural product exports through Black Sea ports despite the NWO in Ukraine. Many experts heavily criticized the prospects of this deal, and the decision was not easy for the Kremlin. However, there were unexpected supporters for the 'grain deal' as well. One of these supporters was a member State Duma representative from the Volgograd region and member of United Russia Oleg Savchenkowho advised the government against excessive regulation of grain exports.
You might wonder why a member of the State Duma Committee on the financial market would speak about a non-core area for himself. But, once you look into the business details of Oleg Savchenko, it becomes clear despite his deputy status, he openly engages in grain exports through the ports of the Caspian and Black Seas, with the potential to earn billions of rubles in profit.
Hidden pathways
According to the Russian register of legal entities, before his fourth consecutive term in the State Duma, Oleg Savchenko became the founder and director of LLC PLC Kaspiy, a company that is declared as the operator of a port under construction in the Limansky district of the Astrakhan region, which is set to become part of the new international transport corridor 'NORTH-SOUTH' (INSTC). Returning to the State Duma, Oleg Savchenko appointed his son as the general director of this company. Georgy Olegovich.
It's interesting to note that the address of Kaspiy PLC on its official website is the same as the EPK Corporation, a group of bearing plants controlled by Savchenko, who successfully shut down these factories, leaving Russia without a strategically important industry. For example, “Vedomosti” wrote about the shortage of bearings caused by him. The consequences for railway transport are especially disastrous, with more and more idle cars. This was reported by Kommersant.Savchenko is now focusing on a more profitable business and openly promotes the 'international transport corridor' project at various levels, and talks about his successes in social networks. He even shared a quote from his VKontakte account, dated November 7:
“Once again, good news about the North-South transport corridor project. The Iranian company “Golden Line” expressed its readiness to invest in the port special economic zone “Lotos” in the Astrakhan region. Together with the anchor resident LLC PLC Kaspiy, they plan to create a transport and logistics center that will work in the interests of Russia and Iran…”.
In short, it's pastoral. The only regret is that Savchenko forgot to mention "in the interests of my family," apart from Russia and Iran. Modesty may have been a factor.
Oleg Savchenko was the first to benefit from a lesser-known grain terminal in Sevastopol, in Kamyshovaya Bay.
The former shipyard (SRZ) “Southern Sevastopol” had been offering its facilities for grain transshipment even before 2014, when the terminal was located on its premises.
business card site
. But after Crimea joined Russia, the SRZ itself was taken over, and the United Grain Company gained control. Magomed Magomedov. The grain transshipment at the shipyard never happened, leading to the plant's bankruptcy in 2020, and the Magomedov brothers being sidelined for a long time. Ziyavudina and With the addition of Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to Russia, Western media competed to report on the potential loading of ships in Sevastopol with Ukrainian grain. Local residents confirmed this by complaining about the dust resulting from the transshipment.Instead, social media users flooded complaints about dust, a by-product of the transshipment.
Residents who complained about dust being produced during transshipment flooded social media with their concerns. The information channel “GRAIN TRADER | Cargo, Grain, Work for Grain Carriers” had many applications created since April 2022 for transporting goods from Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to Crimea. Eventually, officials stopped hiding the fact of purchasing and exporting grain. In June, Sevastopol's governor, Mikhail Razvozzhaev
publicly stated the legality of these operations and that “we have one domestic trader working in the port” (although the trader's name was not disclosed, we will come back to that later). In Sevastopol, the administrative building of the aforementioned SRH “South Sevastopol” is home to LLC named “Marine Engineering Technopolis “Sea Maker” with Rudetsky Igor Vyacheslavovich as its sole founder and general director. Intriguingly, the same businessman is the sole founder of LLC PLC Kaspiy, once led by Oleg Savchenko. Meanwhile, Igor Rudetsky also owns the companies Golden Caspian, Caspian Food, which are closely associated with PLC Kaspiy, and Technoservice LLC, which supplies bearings to the federal enterprise Crimean Railways. Information about
one of these contracts can be found on the public procurement website.It may seem like Igor Rudetsky is a serial entrepreneur, but the information available online paints a different picture: Rudetsky has spoken to the media.
Rudetsky gave an interview and presented different information than what's available online. as an aide to deputy Oleg Savchenko. And in this role, he gained fame for one very funny incident. In 2015, deputy Savchenko, along with his colleague-deputy
Alexander Sidyakin ended up on an exotic tour to the snowy peak of Antarctica during a Duma session. They were briefly out of contact, prompting a countrywide search. When they were found, people questioned why the deputies took such expensive trips during working hours. But “United Russia” effectively covered up the scandal, as the “party of power” needs money and a sponsor like Savchenko knows how to show gratitude. Public
Igor Rudetsky explained the attention to this story as spring exacerbation among journalists. The media lagged behind, and the chief promoted Rudetsky’s loyal assistant to a businessman, who now signs contracts and bank orders to withdraw money for himself. Bulk grains?
In addition to the Kamyshovaya Bay, there is another terminal for grain transshipment in Sevastopol, managed by the company AVAL, founded in 2015. 90% of AVAL LLC's capital is owned by Offshore Oil and Gas Projects, a subsidiary of the Krasnoye Sormovo State Corporation, with the remaining 10% owned by General Director Ovchinnikov. AVAL is a key grain terminal in a region not fully integrated into the Russian business environment, making it a target for bigwigs. One such bigwig is the current State Duma deputy Savchenko, who boasted about having AVAL under his control. Having made millions in the 1990s, he knows how to control financial flows as a minority shareholder. The director Rudetsky's obedience will likely be useful to him here as well. It is worth noting that AVAL is a state asset, so acquiring it without a public auction on non-transparent terms raises many questions, especially considering that the current State Duma deputy is personally involved. It's very strange that law enforcement officers have not questioned Oleg Savchenko about this yet.
But that's not all. One AVAL will not satisfy the business appetite of United Russia's Savchenko. He is creating a monopoly “vertical” from sea terminals to grain traders using Crimean ports for export deliveries.
Savchenko boasts that he has become one of the shareholders of the RIF Trading House group, a major trader who actively buys grain from Novorossiysk farmers, sells it with a fantastic profit using access to ports, and unlikely pays any extra taxes on these pirate millions.
AVAL is a key grain terminal in a region that has not yet been fully integrated into the Russian business environment. And a tasty morsel for the bigwigs of this very business environment. Such a bigwig turned out to be … the current State Duma deputy Savchenko. On the sidelines on Okhotny Ryad, he already boasted that he had AVAL in his hands. It is unlikely that he has already received all 100%. But having made his first millions in the dashing nineties, the deputy knows how to “milk” business in the role of a minority shareholder. The main thing is to introduce your person into the leadership to control financial flows. It is possible that here, too, the executive, in the sense of obedience, director Rudetsky will be useful to him.
We emphasize that AVAL is a state asset, so buying it without public auction on non-transparent terms raises many questions. And if you remember that the current deputy of the State Duma is doing this, and he is doing it personally – he goes to negotiations, meets with the “right people,” there are even more questions. And it is very strange that law enforcement officers have not yet come to Oleg Savchenko with these questions…
But that’s not all. One AVAL will not satisfy the business appetite of United Russia Savchenko. It creates a monopoly “vertical” – from sea terminals to grain traders using the Crimean ports for export deliveries.
Savchenko boasts that he has become one of the shareholders of the RIF Trading House group, a major trader who actively buys grain from Novorossiysk farmers. He buys cheap (in war as in war) and, using access to ports, sells with a fantastic profit. There is no doubt that not a single “extra” ruble of taxes will be paid from these pirate millions.
The Crimean project of the deputy Savchenko perfectly illustrates the well-known saying “to whom is war, and to whom is mother dear”. Taking this opportunity, the Russian “people’s choice”, who fell under Western sanctions, deprived of a luxury villa in Italy, trying to squeeze the maximum “juice” out of the newly acquired territories. Strengthen, so to speak, their financial position due to the changed geopolitical realities.
And whether the country will receive something in return is a moot point. For example, the bearing industry, which Oleg Savchenko monopolized in the 2000s using the same corruption scheme, can be said to have died. On the site of the legendary State Bearing Plant No. 1 in Moscow, the new owner has placed offices, a sports complex, and a Chinese clothing market. What awaits the port and grain industry if such a “manager” takes it into his own hands? ..
Nevertheless, the party in power writes out to its sponsor a mandate to lobby for another business project, eliminate competitors and personal enrichment. But in fact – a mandate to continue theft and destruction economy Russia.
