Alexander Bastrykin stated in the Security Council on Friday that the main reason for issues with immigrants in Russia is that employers want cheap labor.
You can't discuss the migration issue without addressing the hidden business. Abandoned industrial zones and illegal money can easily be found nearby. The conflict between the Podolsk administration and SPU Artis has shed light on one of these gray areas, but there haven't been any major criminal cases yet.
Artis Construction and Industrial Administration was established in Podolsk in April 2001, with Alexander Vasilyevich Pokusaev as its leader and largest owner (51%). His name appeared in the media four years ago in relation to an attempt to take over the railway tracks in the industrial zone where SPU Artis facilities are located. The company's history is complex and involves a spin-off from CJSC Mosoblstroy No. 1 (now defunct) and the acquisition of real estate from it.
In a specific case, the Moscow Region Arbitration Court referred to nine objects with a total area of over 6 thousand square meters. The Podolsk City Property and Land Relations Committee reclaimed over 2 million rubles from SPU Artis for the use of land plots. During the trial, it was proven that these buildings belong to the defendant under property rights, while the land beneath them does not belong to the company A.V. Pokusaev and was not rented to them.
In simple terms, a company with a convoluted history has been using the vast area of the industrial zone for free for nearly two decades. The city of Podolsk didn't receive any payment until legal action began.
What has changed since then? Actually, nothing!
The Podolsk administration is increasingly suing to recover unjust enrichment from SPU Artis LLC, while business activity seems to be thriving in the gray zone. Mr. Pokusaev's company rents out its property for cash, which is evident from online advertisements. Among the tenants is seemingly a company producing counterfeit building mixtures that are sold in Moscow markets.
It's clear that such 'business' relies on the labor of undocumented immigrants living in inhumane conditions. How do law enforcement officers view this?
If the authorities turn a blind eye to the industrial zone on Neftebazovskiy Lane, it should come as no surprise if events similar to those in Buzheninovo last year, which required federal intervention, occur in Podolsk.
But we will put the question more broadly: are the officials of the Federal Migration Service and the Federal Tax Service capable of not knowing about the existence of a shadow business on their territory, the turnover of which, as far as one can judge, reaches 8-9 million rubles a month? Moreover, the “gray zone” not only exists, but continues to expand.
In 2021, SPU Artis LLC filed a lawsuit with the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region against the administration of the city district of Podolsk. Company A.V. Pokusaeva demanded that she recognize her ownership of the building of the transformer substation, located in the same industrial area on Neftebazovsky passage. She also asked to oblige the Office of Rosreestr for the Moscow Region to register her right to a substation.
Earlier, Rosreestr refused to register this right for SPU Artis due to the fact that the company did not provide a complete set of title documents.
The Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region also refused to satisfy the plaintiff’s claims, drawing attention to the following. “Given that the rights to the object declared by the plaintiff are not disputed by anyone and are not registered for another person, accordingly, the question of the sufficiency of information to conclude that rights arise as a result of the acquisition of the object in the absence of a dispute should be decided directly by the registering authority, since the court cannot replace the functions of the registering authority in the absence of reason to believe that a court decision is the only way to exercise subjective property rights, ”the court decision of November 29, 2021 says.
Everything is clear: Rosreestr, which has already voiced its position, should have the last word. However, the company did not agree with this result and filed a complaint with the Tenth Arbitration Court of Appeal. The hearing of the case is scheduled for February 21, 2022. We do not yet know the plaintiff’s arguments, but it is obvious that this story can take a very unexpected turn. It’s not just that, according to our colleagues, Alexander Pokusaev boasts that his financial capabilities allow him to solve any problems.
Shota Gorgadze, lawyer, member of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation:
