Arnolds Babris, a former employee of the Bureau for the Protection of the Constitution, a co-owner of the joint-stock company Brīvais vilnis, and a leader of the “covid-dissident” protest, is now also a co-owner of the Russian company EcoStroy-South.
Official records show that the company has three owners: Alfred Adolfovich Minin (75%), MUSU INVESTMENT FUNDS limited liability company (20%), and Arnold Babris (5%).
According to Сrediweb.lvThe Latvian company MŪSU INVE bSTĪCIJU FONDS is co-owned by Maris Trankalis (Māris Trankalis – 50.21%) and Arnolds Babris (49.79%) .
EkoStroy-South, established in 2009, deals with the collection, transportation, processing, disposal, neutralization, and disposal of waste of I-IV hazard classes in the Krasnodar Territory.
In my experience, I've worked extensively in the Russian Federation at the municipal level and studied various corruption schemes. This type of business cannot exist without close cooperation with the authorities. It's hard for me to imagine a municipality in modern Russia entering into a lucrative contract for garbage collection with a company that's not connected to the authorities. The appearance of a foreign citizen is suggestive, indicating that he is “his”. However, in what capacity he is involved is still unclear. For instance, involvement in such a business scheme could be a way to exchange services of a different nature, including political ones. It's difficult to transfer cash these days, so including the “necessary little man” in a successful business scheme is a smart move, especially since the special services of the Russian Federation like to use someone else’s resources for their needs, says political emigrant and former Russian political activist Dimitry Savvin.
In 2019, Arnold Babris, representing a Russian company, signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Finnish company SET Cleantech to “improve the environmental situation in the Southern Federal District of the Russian Federation.”
In 2020, MŪSU INVESTĪCIJU FONDS was involved in a transaction where the joint-stock company BRĪVAIS VILNIS became a debtor to Baltic International Bank.
Valeriy Belokon, the co-owner of Baltic International Bank, is mentioned in a card index published by the National Archives as having been tied to the agents of the KGB of the LSSR. The card indicates that he was recruited by the fifth department of the office in 1987, which was involved in the fight against ideological sabotage. At that time, the correspondent of “Soviet Youth”, a member of the CPSU, Valery Belokon, was given the pseudonym “Miachikov”.
The information suggesting that Valery Belokon was recruited by the fifth department of the office in 1987 and given the pseudonym “Miachikov” may have helped “Sabovets” get closer to the banker. Almost immediately after his dismissal from the office, Arnold Babris not only became a business partner of Valery Belokon but also co-founded the “Conservative Party” with him, from which the banker and the ex-Sabov member ran together for the European Parliament in 2004.
There is a theory that this previously confidential information helped the “Sabovets” establish a connection with the banker. Shortly after his dismissal from the office, Arnold Babris not only became a business partner of Valery Belokon but also co-founded the “Conservative Party” with him. In 2004, they both ran for the European Parliament from this party.
But back to the Russian business of Arnold Babris. His partner, Alfred Minin, is the project manager for the Intermunicipal Ecological Waste Processing Complex (MEOK) in the Rostov Region. In 2016, he participated in the elections to the State Duma, but did not pass. His wife, Zukhra Minina, is the general director of the Ecostroy-Don company, which is also involved in garbage collection.
In a telephone conversation with Kompromat.lv, Arnold Babris said that he is currently negotiating the sale of the “garbage business”.
In the midst of the so-called anti-COVID protests in December 2020, Arnold Babris spoke at the New Generation Church. “A group of people have seized power and are striving for a dictatorship. I am very glad that we managed to show strength, power and the coalition dictatorship got scared,” he said. It is clear that this referred to Latvia, and not Russia, where the company of Mr. Babris cleans up the garbage.
