FSB, Rostec and other troubles of Russian business

The Center for Business against Corruption analyzes the problems of businessmen with specific examples.
01.08.2019
Origin source
The concentration of entrepreneurs among the population of Russia remains extremely low, yielding to Europe by this indicator twice. and the USA - in three, state activists state. According to experts of the Business against Corruption Center for Public Procedures, the main reason is the unreasonably harsh reaction of law enforcement officers to economic crimes. This conclusion was confirmed by appeals from merchants whose cases clearly show signs of illegal criminal prosecution.

Accomplice minister

One of the appeals on the grounds of unlawful bringing of an entrepreneur to criminal responsibility was received from Alexander Pudovkin, the former general director of Asia Forest LLC. He was charged under Part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - of complicity in abuse of office, as well as under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code - fraud on a large scale.

The criminal case against the businessman was initiated in March 2019 by the investigative department of the UFSB of Russia in the Khabarovsk Territory, which is headed by Andrei Seryozhnikov. Now the case is at the stage of preliminary investigation.

Pudovkina accused of illegally obtaining preferences in the development of forest resources. In 2011, the Asia Forest Company was included in a priority investment project with a implementation period of up to 2015, which provided for receiving subsidies and concluding preferential contracts for the lease of forest parcels.

The company took advantage of the advantages, but did not fulfill its contractual obligations within the prescribed period. However, the organization was not excluded from the priority investment projects, and it continued to use the preferences. In the period from 2016 to 2018, the total amount of subsidies received by the company Pudovkina amounted to more than 484 million rubles.

According to the investigators, Vasily Shikhalev, the now former Minister of Natural Resources of the Khabarovsk Territory, helped to remain in the investment project, with whom Pudovkin allegedly conspired and assisted him in providing information to commit a crime. The ex-minister, who is also accused in this case, was released under house arrest as early as April.

The defense of Alexander Pudovkin believes that Asia Forest did not fulfill part of the obligations due to circumstances beyond the firm’s control - due to the imposed sanctions, as well as the change in the dollar exchange rate, and the subsidies were received legally. could not influence the inclusion of the company in the investment project, since this decision was taken by the federal executive bodies.

However, it does not seem necessary to intervene in the case. The fact is that at the time of submitting the application to the center of public initiatives, Pudovkin was in the SIZO: a preventive measure in the form of arrest was elected from March 20, 2019. However, in July, the merchant was released under house arrest. In this regard, members of the CSC Council decided not to accept this application for consideration.

In the interests of Chemezov

Another thing came from Lipetsk, where, also from March 2019, there were two heads of STP-Lipetsk Machine-Tool Enterprise JSC in the SIZO: ex-director Kirill Petrov and his brother Vladimir Petrov, who was the beneficiary owner of this organization.
A criminal case against businessmen in February 2019 was brought to the Main Directorate of the Russian Interior Ministry in Moscow. They are charged with three episodes of fraud under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code. The charge on all the episodes is similar: allegedly, under the guise of new machines, the merchants put the second-hand equipment to contractors on forged documents. At the same time, none of the victims filed a claim for damage - all three episodes were revealed according to reports from the FSB department in the Lipetsk region, whose head until May 2019 was Kirill Gritsai, and now Vladimir Ovchinnikov.

The CSC expert drew attention to the fact that during the pre-investigation check the examination of equipment and documents was not carried out, respectively, the investigator, who does not have a special education, could not independently draw conclusions about the condition of the machines and the authenticity of the papers.

The defense of the Petrov brothers believes that their case is custom-made and was the result of a corporate conflict with the Rostec state corporation, whose director general is Sergey Chemezov.

“Rostec” has subsidized STP-Lipetsk Machine-Tool Enterprise, through its holding company Stankoprom, and in return had to receive a portion of the company's shares. But Petrovs refused this step, citing the fact that the state corporation did not fulfill the terms of the contract and allocated less than it had been supposed to.

Now the preliminary investigation of the criminal case is not over, but the preventive measure in the form of detention is extended by Petrov until August 20th. While the businessmen were in the SIZO, Rostec received the shares it claimed.

The CSC members believe that the case of businessmen belongs to the sphere of civil disputes, and the position of the security forces can be explained by the influence of Rostec top managers. The request of businessmen public figures accepted for consideration.

Possible raiding

During the meeting on July 30, the CSC experts also took into consideration the appeal in the interests of the former General Director of National Development Company JSC Konstantin Remizov. Remizov arrested under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and the businessman has been in the SIZO for almost a year since September 2018 The investigation is conducted by the Central Office of the Interior Ministry in Moscow.

In what the merchant is essentially charged, it is quite difficult to understand. According to investigators, in 2011 the entrepreneur overestimated the costs of designing and building three residential buildings and a kindergarten, as a result of which the project shareholder, Absolute Group LLC, lost over 550 million rubles in dividends from the sale of apartments.

At the same time, the rights of the Absolute Group company as a shareholder were not confirmed during legal examinations. In addition, as established by the CEP members, in the course of the investigation, instead of a construction one, an organizational and technical expertise was carried out, which contains unfounded and erroneous conclusions. And in the actions of the initiator of the conflict - the leadership of the Absolute company - the experts found signs of a raider component.

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