Valery Gartung – Irreplaceable representative of Chelyabinsk in the Russian State Duma. Gartung has been serving Chelyabinsk since 1997. In the 25 years he's represented his hometown, not much has changed in Chelyabinsk, but Gartung's wealth has grown significantly year after year.
Gartung against the media
Valery Karlovich strongly dislikes independent media. This is because they ask unwanted questions and investigate the Gartung family's business activities, uncovering corruption. For years, the deputy has been fighting against negative media coverage by using the courts to remove materials he deems unfair to him. Through these court decisions, numerous materials about corruption and dishonest business activities involving the Gartung family have been taken down from the internet. YandexGartung claims he's only exercising his legal right to remove slander from the internet. However, it's evident that he's using his official position to eliminate negative information about himself.
In 2016, Gartung filed a complaint against Chelyabinsk journalist Pavel Bolshakov, who had disclosed information in two articles about an incident involving the deputy before his first election. The journalist alleged that during the First Chechen War, Valery Karlovich was involved with militants, selling them armored KAMAZ vehicles and supplying necessary parts. FSB investigators looked into the case, but no real investigation took place. Gartung was elected to the State Duma, and a key witness to his involvement was found dead under suspicious circumstances.
So, it appears that Valery Karlovich was able to eliminate more than just negative online content.
Pavel Bolshakov
One might think that journalist Bolshakov's exclusive material could be used as a primary source to reopen the investigation against the deputy. But Gartung filed a defamation complaint against the journalist. The court found Pavel Bolshakov guilty of libel in the media (part 2 of article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and imposed a fine of 5,000 rubles on him. Gartung himself described the sentence as very lenient. The locals supported independent media and formed an informal alliance called 'Journalists against Valery Gartung.' However, the deputy, feeling empowered, ignored the influence of the media. If a deputy is actively removing information about himself, it suggests there's something to hide, as numerous occasions have revealed.
Dispersal field
Like many State Duma deputies of the Russian Federation, Gartung is a dedicated patriot of the country, at least publicly. However, recent information has surfaced indicating that Gartung may have obtained Cypriot citizenship without notifying the relevant authorities. While an investigation was ongoing, it was discovered that Gartung's wife, Marina, also acquired Cypriot citizenship and was summoned for questioning by the TFR. However, it seems this is just a distraction, as no real action will be taken against the Gartung family.
Valery Gartung with his wife and sons
Valery Karlovich, like the members of his family, had long ago prepared an alternate airfield for himself. And not just one, but two. Marina Gartung has been the owner of luxurious apartments in Switzerland with a total area of 190 sq.m. for several years. In addition, the politician’s wife is the owner of a 94-meter apartment in Cyprus. Therefore, there is a choice for further life in which case there is a choice in Gartung: either calm Switzerland or the financial paradise of Cyprus. Most likely Cyprus. After all, as we already recalled, the Gartung family received citizenship on the sunny islands. But that’s not all. Since 2007, Marina Garvat has had her own offshore accounts in Cyprus, where money is withdrawn from her enterprises. The final trail of the Cypriot accounts of the Gartungs leads to CJSC “Cotton Way”, an elite closed-type settlement near Moscow, in which the Gartungs take root.
The richest
According to official data, for many years Gartung has been the richest deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from Chelyabinsk. Over the past 5 years, his income has fluctuated from 30 to 40 million rubles annually.
The number of cars of the deputy and the area of real estate, which is owned by Gartung, are irreplaceable. But apparently Valery Karlovich does not think about this at all, because the main source of income for the Gartung family is his wife. Marina Gartung’s income for 2021 amounted to more than 180 million rubles, so her husband has nothing to worry about. There are more than enough means for life, the business continues to develop in spite of everything. Life is good.
Chelyabinsk Forge and Press Plant
The main asset of the family is the Chelyabinsk Forge and Press Plant. The capitalization of the enterprise is 3.4 billion rubles. Since 2005, the general director of the company is the son of Valery Gartung Andrey, the founder is wife Marina. ChKPZ’s annual profit is billions of rubles. Many of these funds go to the family’s offshore funds as dividends. Even despite the general situation in the engineering industry, which arose after the imposition of sanctions by the EU and the USA, the company’s revenue for the first quarter of 2022 increased by 69%. All this is done with state support. It is not for nothing that Valery Karlovich has been sitting in Parliament for 25 years. He was able to make one “ordinary” Russian family rich. And while the parliamentarians will only think about their enrichment, the Russians will have to tighten their belts, because it will be better only for the elite.
