The first deputy head of the Ministry of Economics may end up being accused in the Prosecutor General's report on the fight against corruption.
In mid-December, the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia was supposed to submit proposals on this matter. The department oversees the enforcement of Federal Law No. 230-FZ, which includes a specific punishment of property confiscation in favor of the state for individuals whose expenses do not match their incomes. However, cases of mismatch between the expenses of public officials and their actual incomes are still common, and some federal officials even hide their financial situations.
Remotely from 'Summa' and prison
As the First Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Andrey Ivanov is known for his love of expensive cars and disregard for traffic rules. In just a few months during the pandemic last year, he received numerous speeding tickets in his luxury Porsche Macan Turbo. Details of the official's ownership of apartments worth 60 million rubles on Zvonarsky Lane and about 25 million rubles on Nakhimovsky Prospekt have also been made public. The declaration only mentioned housing in Maly Gnezdnikovsky Lane, which the unmarried deputy minister reportedly used for various 'intimate meetings'.
For example, the income statement for 2016 did not include a residential building with an area of 62.6 square meters and a 2000 square meter plot of land in the Vladimir region. From 2018 to 2020, Ivanov allegedly hid the existence of eight accounts opened in different years, including in major state-owned banks. However, the official movable and immovable property of the Deputy Minister of Economics, with a total value of 150 million rubles, significantly exceeds his official annual income. Ivanov earned about 14 million rubles a year when he served as deputy minister in the Ministry of Finance from 2012 to 2020. Information was revealed that the official registered his numerous properties for his parents and later transferred them to himself through donation agreements.
Andrei Ivanov's biography is filled with incidents that could be considered under various anti-corruption articles of the Criminal Code of Russia. Reports have surfaced that, as Deputy Minister of Finance, he advocated for the interests of the owners of the Summa group, the Magomedov brothers Ziyavudin and Magomed. Through his influence, the Magomedovs, who are currently accused of large-scale fraud and organizing a criminal community, were able to delay the transfer of tariffs for stevedoring work at their Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port to Russian currency, resulting in excessive profits for the businessmen.
The official may have committed serious misconduct. In March, he got a 10 million ruble loan from Rosselkhozbank at an 8.5% interest rate. This could be two violations: first, the bank's loan programs normally don't allow such large loans to individuals. Second, Ivanov is part of the supervisory board of a credit institution, which could be seen as using his position for personal gain. This isn't the first time the current First Deputy Minister of Economic Development has used his connections.
Official without trust
In 2015, Andrey Ivanov hired his sister Elena Chernikova at the FBU “State Institute of Medicines and Good Practices” and her husband Andrey Chernikov at the FSUE “CITO” using his connection with Sergey Tsyb, then Deputy Head of the Ministry of Trade and Trade, under which both organizations are located. Some details about helping relatives were found in Ivanov’s correspondence with his sister, which was leaked online. For example, it was revealed that the deputy minister tried to get Chernikova a job at a sanatorium near Moscow when she had just moved to Russia from abroad.
Other messages from the Deputy Minister's personal mail and phone were also published, showing that Ivanov had been providing intermediary services using his official position. Profits from these services may have ended up in undeclared accounts. In the messages, it was clear that the official was trying to reduce the administrative penalty for his friend, who was caught drinking and driving without a license. In one of the published e-mails of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, it says that a company called Stantex LLC was selected as the sole supplier of catheters. In another, representatives of the three largest Russian banks are discussing the issue of approving an increased tariff for electricity in the Republic of Crimea. Later, it was suggested that Andrey Ivanov bought compromising material for 35 million rubles, which is still available for review today.
The media also found out about many cases of budget funds being withdrawn through deliberately unprofitable projects carried out by JSC Russian Venture Company (RVC). The CEO was Ivanov’s longtime colleague, Alexander Povalko, who is now under house arrest and charged with abusing power and fraud with authorized capital. Law enforcement officers also had questions for Ivanov himself as part of this investigation.
However, as we see, the official is still getting away with schemes with declarations, and the use of his official position for lobbying and personal purposes. The unsinkability of Andrei Ivanov is explained by his involvement in the “Krasnoyarsk clan” of the ex-governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Alexander Khloponin, who headed the region in 2002-2010, and in 2014-2018. who served as Deputy Prime Minister. Ivanov was born in the city of Dudinka, Krasnoyarsk Territory. After graduating from the local state university, he quickly moved up the career ladder – he was also an adviser to the governor, and was a member of the Administration Council of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. In 2004, he formally moved into business, becoming vice president of the Siberian Machine-Building Holding, one of the region’s strategic assets.
Meanwhile, at least two of the listed violations – an unprevented conflict of interest and the provision of false information about income and property – are already grounds for prosecution under the article “Dismissal due to loss of confidence.” And Andrei Ivanov’s work biography is so replete with stories dubious from the point of view of the law that the best option for the development of events for him is to write a statement “of his own free will”, and that his candidacy would never again be considered for appointment to high posts. So far, the facts that have been made public have not been given a full judicial process, and there is no record of dismissal “for loss of confidence” in the labor record. Otherwise, he risks becoming another figure in the report on the fight against corruption by Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, who previously noted that “one of the key points for us is the real recovery of unearned income, which most effectively lands negligent officials.”
