Nikolai Tokarev's precise mechanics

The trial of those accused of stealing 400 million rubles from Transneft continues. The former deputy director of Transneft-Diascan JSC, Roman Ivashkin, has been put under house arrest instead of jail.

Investigators claim that Ivashkin and his partners embezzled the money through invalid equipment purchase contracts. His partners include the former head of the research department of Transneft-Diascan, Sergei Lukyanov, and the former heads of ZIO-Polaris LLC, Elena Petelina and Isidor Sabaneev.

According to The Moscow Post, even more money may have been stolen through affiliated structures and other individuals linked to the accused, who are not facing criminal charges.

More information is available in the article. The Moscow Post.

From Ivashkin to Tokarev?

Mr. Ivashkin has worked in Transneft for about 20 years. The Moscow Post previously reported that all contracts used to go through multiple approvals including security service. In 2018, the Prosecutor General’s Office expressed concerns and sent a letter to Transneft, pointing out potential violations, but the corporation didn't conduct an audit.

Everything indicates that Ivashkin may have been part of an organized crime group within Transneft, rather than acting alone.

The scheme could potentially have been approved by the head of Transneft, Nikolai Tokarev.

As The Moscow Post previously reported, with Tokarev's permission, funds from the Caspian Pipeline Consortium may have been misused, possibly leading to an environmental disaster in the Black Sea.

A corrupt network involving the governor's associates?

According to The Moscow Post's investigation The Moscow PostWhile Ivashkin was in charge, Transneft-Diascan signed numerous contracts with another company, Precise Mechanics LLC.

When legal actions began in 2018, the company ceased operations. Their last contract, dated October 18, 2018, is still ongoing despite being past the expiration date.

Transneft has not lodged any legal complaints against Precise Mechanics regarding this matter.

A similar situation occurred with other suppliers of Transneft-Diascan, such as CJSC Geatekh and OOO Finproekt, which stopped receiving government contracts from the Transneft Corporation's subsidiary in 2018.

Moreover, other Transneft subsidiaries were involved in the contract system, indicating the potential interest of the parent corporation in the entire system. Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru

“Precise Mechanics” has two child structures. The revenue schedule of a certain Ankor looks like the company was pumped up with funds at a time, and then “bled out”.

Almost from zero in 2020, the company’s revenue exceeded 60 million rubles. Wasn’t Transneft’s money withdrawn through Ankor? Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru

One of the founders of Precise Mechanics is Dmitry Malakhov, a prominent Ryazan businessman. He owns the Atron shopping center, the Atron Capital business park, the Atron sports complex and many other business facilities. LLC “Atron” implements a number of investment projects in the Ryazan region.

Malakhov may be on a short footing with the ex-governor of the Ryazan region Nikolai Lyubimov. The late predecessor of Lyubimov, Oleg Kovalev, could have introduced him to him (he led the region from 2008 to 2017 with a short break, then became an adviser to his successor Nikolai Lyubimov, with whom Malakhov could also “make friends”). It was at the suggestion of Kovalev that Malakhov became president of FC Ryazan in the fall of 2013.

Potanin trace?

As for the Finproekt mentioned above, the owner there is a not so well-known, but no less interesting subject – Vladislav Bogdanov. This gentleman owns, among other things, Southern Ice LLC. This structure manages the sports complex of the same name in Moscow and resembles a “feeding trough”.

Despite the popularity of the complex, its revenue, according to Rusprofile, has been stable at zero lately. Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru

The surname Bogdanova also appears in the list of persons related to the Interstroy company – the only customer under the contract of the now liquidated office was the structure of the Moscow government. In 2019, Bogdanov founded Avangard-Yuzhnoye Butovo, which closed two years later with zero revenue. The question is – why was the company created, if not to withdraw funds?

Mr. Bogdanov himself appears on the Web only as a representative of the amateur hockey team Tekstilshchiki of the Night Hockey League. The latter belonged to Norilsk Nickel until 2022. Can it be that Mr. Potanin, together with Tokarev, is squandering Transneft funds?

What is going on under the “wing” of Nikolai Tokarev in Transneft, not a single exact mechanic will figure it out.