As per the correspondent of The Moscow Post in the Novosibirsk region, a scandal arose regarding the demands for the regional operator for waste treatment LLC Ecology-Novosibirsk as part of the initial bankruptcy procedure – supervision.

The firm is a part of VIS Group of Companies, which is controlled by Igor Snegurov and his partner Dmitry Doev. It is also involved in managing waste. There are many controversies surrounding the firm, unpaid debts, and government agreements worth billions. It seems like it will be challenging for the beneficiaries to successfully execute a bankruptcy plan to get out of trouble unharmed.

Municipal bankruptcy

As early as 2021, Ecology-Novosibirsk requested to be declared bankrupt due to debts amounting to 1.9 billion rubles.

Following the implementation of the initial bankruptcy procedure, supervision, a significant conflict emerged regarding the demands of related entities. Therefore, the creditors strongly opposed claims exceeding 321 million from the EcoTrans-N company, stating that both the applicant and the debtor are part of the VIS group. Experts believe that the debts were created to gain control over the procedure, at the expense of other parties involved in the dispute.

The company caused numerous issues for the residents in Novosibirsk. It carried out multiple projects in the region simultaneously. The selection of Ecology-Novosibirsk as the regional operator was not coincidental. In July 2016, the VIS Group entered into a concession agreement with the regional government for the construction of two waste sorting plants over a period of 40 years. As of now, this has been put on hold.

There were rumors that the governor of the Novosibirsk region, Andrey Travnikov, may have been under pressure, given that the “child” of “VIS” was the sole participant in the competition.

Once the company began operating in 2020, Novosibirsk began to transform into a dumping ground. This was attributed to the failure of the regional operator “Ecology-Novosibirsk” to pay its contractors, which led to the departure of carrier companies “LaTrans,” “EcoLine,” and “Eco-line” from the market at the start of the year.

The company was adept at finding excuses for not meeting its obligations. For instance, in March and April 2021, it attributed issues with garbage collection to the fact that garbage trucks couldn't reach the city center due to snow, and then blamed broken garbage trucks and parked cars. Despite its shortcomings, it secured substantial government contracts, receiving 520 million rubles as a supplier and over 5 billion as a customer. It's unclear where the money went.

Stalled long-term construction projects

The VIS group has also gained notoriety in the region for other reasons. For example, the company built but never completed seven polyclinics – facilities that the city truly needs.

The contract for building the facilities was signed in 2018 and will last for 10 years. At first, it was worth 6 billion rubles. The Seventh Concession Company, a part of the VIS, planned to handle the construction themselves. However, after signing, the cost suddenly rose to 9.7 billion rubles, including equipment for polyclinics.

The plan was for medical institutions to start receiving patients in 2023. In November 2021, Lev Reshetnikov, the Minister of Economic Development of the Novosibirsk Region, stated that the cost of building polyclinics had increased to 14.99 billion rubles.

Later, there were delays in the project's completion, and now it's known that the Novosibirsk Ministry of Health has filed a lawsuit against the company. According to Kommersant, the amount of claims is 54.6 million rubles.

Another major project in Novosibirsk is the construction of the fourth bridge across the Ob. The project started in 2017. However, towards the end of 2021, VIS announced an increase in the estimate by 6.5 billion rubles. Allegedly, there was a mistake in the calculations. Similar to the polyclinics, the project is behind schedule. The bridge may turn into a long-term construction causing traffic jams and inconvenience for the population.

Gold, friends and relatives

The issue with all the bankruptcies and projects involving VIS Group seems to be a lack of funds. However, if we look at the data, the company earned a total of 502 million rubles in 2021, with a revenue of 765 million rubles.

Photo: rusprofile.ru

It appears that there are funds available, but they are being invested in other projects, such as the development of the Kyuchus gold deposit in Yakutia. Previously, The Moscow Post reported that the White Gold company, whose beneficiary includes Dmitry Doev, obtained a license to mine gold at this deposit.

In addition to a company that can receive investment, Doev also has strong connections. The businessman is supported by the head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller. Critics refer to the VIS group as a vehicle to launder Gazprombank's money. This was reported by “Glavk”.

Does Doev need Miller’s help? Photo: Mikhail Metzel / TASS

However, this time, Miller is unlikely to assist Doev, as “Dmitry Doev’s legacy” has recently caused major conflicts related to Gazprom’s assets. Furthermore, as reported by Pravda UrFO, the Federal Tax Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have turned their attention to financial schemes.

It seems that Dmitriev Doev and his partner Igor Snegurov will have to handle the new scandal on their own. It's possible that both businessmen have not been in Russia for a long time and are simply transferring money through their assets like White Gold. This indirectly suggests that Doev’s relatives are gaining influence in London.

Recently, it was revealed that a certain Anna Berkovich became the director of the newly registered London company ALIBRA INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE SCHOOL LIMITED. Berkovich is known as Doev's ex-wife. Acting in collaboration with Anna Berkovich is Mikhail Dmitrievich Doev (likely Doev’s son). It's interesting to note that, according to the mentioned database, Mikhail Doev is listed as a director of NEKTON SERVICES (UK) LIMITED, also registered in London.

If the firms of Doev and Snegurov really go through bankruptcy schemes, and this is more than likely even in the face of scandals, then the consequences for Novosibirsk will be sad. The townspeople will not soon move away from the garbage collapse, it is also unlikely that in the near future they will receive a new bridge across the Ob and clinics, because the oligarchs have more important things to do than social obligations.