https://www.site/2017-06-23/kak_energetiki_stroiteli_i_podryadchiki_rzhd_finansiruyut_edinuyu_rossiyu_inogda_sebe_v_ubytok

Last money - favorite party

How power engineers, builders and contractors of Russian Railways finance United Russia. Sometimes at your own expense

Consolidated financial reports political parties in 2016. the site studied data on 30 main donors of the largest Russian party "United Russia". It follows from the report that in 2016 representatives of energy and construction companies, as well as “daughters” of structures affiliated with the state, showed special love for the party. Particular attention was paid to the party by the contractors of Russian Railways.

Observation number one: financing United Russia helps businesses: many companies that participated in financing the party in 2016 significantly increased the amount of government contracts during this period (compared to 2015).

Second observation: a number of donors love the party more than own business. The amount of donations in some cases exceeds the company's net annual profit (according to SPARK).

In total, "United Russia" in 2016 received 8 billion 230 million rubles (including state funding), it had another 1 billion 712 million from last year. The party spent 8 billion 158 thousand rubles.

RZD and company

There are several companies that have transferred the same amount to United Russia and are connected to each other through head offices and boards of directors. In addition, all of them are contractors of Russian Railways.

For example, JSC Far East Design and Survey Institute of Transport Construction (in SPARK - JSC Dalgiprotrans) transferred 43 million rubles last year. The company is owned by Moscow JSC Roszheldorproekt. A 25% stake in the Moscow company is owned by Russian Railways, and 75% by Transproekt-Finance LLC. This company, firstly, also transferred the same 43 million rubles to United Russia in 2016, and, secondly, it, in turn, belongs to PJSC Lengidprotrans. This company, in turn, is a state contractor in the construction industry, and in 2016 it received a contract from Russian Railways in the amount of 389 million rubles, as well as a contract from the State Unitary Enterprise Petersburg Metro in the amount of just over 100 million rubles. To the council PAO directors Lengidprotrans includes Alexey Krapivin, born in 1985. He is also on the boards of directors of several other companies, including Bamstroymekhanizatsiya PJSC, Group of Companies 1520 LLC and the same Dalgiprotrans, and these companies also transferred 43 million rubles to United Russia in the same year.

Moboil Production and Commercial Enterprise LLC (engaged in fuel trade) also transferred 43 million rubles. One of the co-owners of the enterprise is Valery Markelov, he is also a co-owner of LLC Group of Companies 1520 and a member of the board of directors of Bamstroymekhanizatsiya.

According to the publications of Novaya Gazeta, Krapivin's father is Andrey Krapivin, adviser to the former head of Russian Railways JSC Vladimir Yakunin (died in 2015), father and son built a huge business empire associated with Russian Railways contracts mainly in the construction industry, and, according to database leaks Panamanian offshore companies, Krapivin is associated with at least 11 offshore companies in Panama, the British Virgin Islands, and the US state of Delaware.

In 2014, Slon.Ru (now the publication is called The Republic) analyzed all the tenders posted on the Russian Railways website for 2012 and 2013. According to the publication's calculations, in just two years the companies of Krapivin and his closest business partners could receive 200 billion rubles from the state monopoly.

Moreover, in 2016, the RBC magazine published an investigation “Who, how and why is building BAM?” PJSC Bamstroymekhanizatsiya and a related company with the same name received 177.3 billion rubles for the modernization of BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway. and 301.3 billion rubles, ”the investigation says. It also states that United Construction Company 1520 LLC received a contract for the modernization of BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway 27.9 billion rubles.

Railtech LLC ( wholesale machines) and LLC Svyaztekh (trade in equipment for mining) transferred 43 million rubles each. The companies have one owner - Maxim Solomko. In 2015, Railtech, according to SPARK, had government contracts worth 118 million rubles, in 2016 - already for 899 million rubles, and in the first half of 2017 - for 856 million rubles. The main customer was Russian Railways, but in 2010 the company belonged to the same Krapivin. Krapivin was also once a co-owner of Svyaztekh. In 2015, the company was a supplier under government contracts in the amount of just over 500 thousand rubles, but in 2016 - already in the amount of 205 million 871 thousand rubles, according to SPARK. The customers were Russian Railways OJSC and Transtelecom JSC, whose parent company, again, is Russian Railways.

The construction company Setstroyenergo LLC also transferred 43 million shipments in 2016. The company is again a major contractor for JSC Russian Railways and JSC RZDstroy. In 2015, according to SPARK, it received state contracts from Russian Railways in the amount of just over 1 billion rubles, in 2016 - 4 billion 774 million, and in the first six months of 2017 - already in the amount of more than 2 billion.

Builders

OJSC Moscow Engineering and Construction Company (general director, according to SPARK, Farit Khaidarov) transferred parties in 2016 43 million 300 thousand rubles. The company is a major contractor of the Moscow Construction Department. According to SPARK, in 2016 this department entered into state contracts with the company for a total of 22 billion 472 million rubles. In 2015, the amount of contracts with depstroy was significantly less - 5.6 billion rubles. The company is a subsidiary of MD Group LLC, which is 50% owned by Nizhnevartovskenergoneft LLC from KhMAO.

It is noteworthy that, judging by the data of the SPARK system, Khaidarov previously served as the head of JSC Transneft Kama region in Tatarstan, where he started his labor activity the current head of the depstroy of Moscow, Marat Khusnullin.

Telsicom Group LLC transferred 43 million 300 thousand rubles to ER in 2016, the company's CEO is Elena Gomina. The company is engaged in the purchase and sale of its own real estate. Gomina has a number of other companies that are engaged in real estate transactions in Moscow and the Moscow region: MR City Real Estate, MR Country Property, Investments in Commercial Real Estate CJSC (owned by an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands).

Transferred 43 million and the LSR group of companies, registered in St. Petersburg and engaged in construction and development, its main owner is the former head of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy Andrei Molchanov. It is worth noting that 5% of the shares of the LSR group of companies belong to the Norwegian Norges Bank, while political parties are prohibited from having direct foreign funding.

Tempstroyservice LLC also transferred 44 million rubles of the favorite party. The construction company is registered in Zhukovsky, near Moscow, its owner, Sergey Zlobin, has not yet been noticed in political life.

Energy

JSC "Plant for the repair of electrical equipment" (according to the SPARK system, specializes in the dismantling and demolition of buildings) with CEO Alexei Stepantsev received 7 million 192 thousand rubles of net profit in 2015, but in 2016 he donated 43 million 300 thousand rubles to the party. The parent company is PJSC Moscow United Electric Grid Company, a subsidiary company PAO"Rosseti". But PJSC Rosseti is 88% owned by the Federal Property Management Agency.

CJSC Tsarskoye Selo Energy Company transferred 43 million rubles to United Russia, the parent company is JSC Lenenergospetsremont, which, through PJSC Lenenergo, again belongs to PJSC Rosseti.

43 million 300 thousand rubles were donated to the favorite party by the Moskabelsetmontazh OJSC company, its general director is, according to SPARK, Alexander Yakimets. According to this system, the company ended 2016 with a net loss of just over 272 million rubles. The parent company is PJSC Moscow United Electric Grid Company. PJSC MOESK is 51% owned by PJSC Rosseti.

OJSC Moskabelenergoremont is headed by the same Alexander Yakimets, it transferred to United Russia in 2016 all the same 43 million 300 thousand rubles. The parent company is PJSC Moscow United Electric Grid Company, which is the same as the Plant for the Repair of Electrical Equipment, and the company's net profit in 2015, according to SPARK, amounted to just over 1 million rubles. The ultimate owner of the company is again PJSC Rosseti.

OOO Baltiyskaya Sbytovaya Kompaniya, operating in the energy sector, transferred the same 43 million rubles to the parties. Through IK Impuls LLC, it belongs to NP SRRS, co-owned by Valery Vilkov and Ilya Gavrilov. SPARK shows only one remarkable story about Vilkov: he was once a director charitable organization"Club of Friends of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic" - in this philharmonic, the famous cellist, who is considered close to President Vladimir Putin, Sergei Roldugin, performs as part of a symphony orchestra.

Sigma LLC transferred its 43 million to United Russia. The company is also owned by IK "Impulse". The company is a major state contractor in the energy sector. In 2015, the amount of government contracts amounted to 1 billion 200 thousand, in 2016 - 982 million, for the first six months of 2017 - just over 1 billion rubles.

JSC Sakhaenergo transferred 43 million rubles to United Russia last year, although in 2015 the company's loss, according to SPARK, amounted to 295 million rubles. At the same time, in 2016, the number of government contracts for the company increased dramatically: in 2015, the company concluded contracts with the state for a total amount of 342 million rubles, in 2016 for 8 billion 411 million rubles, and for six months of 2017 - for 9.6 billion rubles. The Company is owned by PJSC Yakutskenergo, the ultimate owner of which is PJSC RusHydro. JSC Teploenergoservice also belongs to PJSC Yakutskenergo and also transferred 43 million rubles in batches. Yakutskenergo itself also transferred 42 million rubles.

Self Sponsors

Among the largest sponsors of EP there are stand-alone donors.

So, in 2016, Tomsk House-Building Company became the most generous of all to the ruling party, it donated 45 million rubles. At the same time, elections to the Tomsk Regional Legislative Assembly were held in the fall of 2016, and the general director of this company, Alexander Shpeter, became a deputy. In the legislature, he entered the construction committee.

In second place is PJSC Okeanrybflot, from which United Russia received last year 44 million 900 thousand rubles. The head of the company, Yevgeny Novoselov, is a member of the presidium of the regional political council of the party, and also manages the regional party support fund.

The third place in terms of love for the party is occupied by the Moscow Regional Fund for Regional Cooperation and Development (after re-registration, most of the EP support funds in the regions received such standard names). The party received 44 million rubles from him.

OOO Trans Partner, a company registered in the Moscow region, also transferred 43.3 million consignments. It is directed by Alexei Migalev.

CJSC "Firma August" made a transfer of the party for 42 million rubles. The company, according to SPARK, is engaged in the production of pesticides. It looks like United Russia funding has brought business success. In 2016, the number of government contracts sharply increased for the company. In 2015, she concluded them in the amount of just over 63 million rubles, and in 2016 - in the amount of 127 million rubles, in the first six months of 2017 - in the amount of just over 62 million rubles.

Edelweiss LLC is engaged in real estate transactions in Moscow, the company also transferred 43 million rubles to United Russia, although its net profit in 2015 amounted to just over 41 million rubles. The company is owned by Nikolai Alexandrovich Zemlyansky. JSC "Druzhba" (engaged in the cultivation of legumes and grains) transferred a batch of 42 million rubles. The majority of the company is owned by Voskhod LLC, which is owned by Biosfera LLC. The co-owner of the company is again Nikolai Alexandrovich Zemlyansky.

Chapter International Institute political expertise Yevgeny Minchenko recalls that in 1995 the party of the nomenklatura "Our Home Russia" was financed mainly by energy companies. In 1999, Unity was also financed by energy companies, as well as Russian Railways satellite companies. And Yuri Luzhkov's "Fatherland - All Russia" was financed with the involvement of funds from the Moscow construction complex. Thus, the set of United Russia's main donors looks quite traditional, Minchenko believes.

The ex-head of the territorial administration of the presidential administration, the ex-deputy head of the plenipotentiary in the Ural Federal District, political consultant Andrey Kolyadin told the site that it can be assumed that today the collection of funds for the party life of United Russia is carried out in a "directive" manner.

“I think there is an agreement between the leadership of the United Russia and representatives of this party, who work in such business categories as the construction complex, energy, and the railway industry, on financing party programs. Since it would be a pre-election year, I think most of the funds went to the procedures related to the elections, and part to the party programs. There are many business representatives in United Russia whose money has not run out and will not run out, and we simply do not have the practice of political fundraising and “voting with the ruble” in our country. United Russia participates in a huge number of elections, from municipal to federal, and it is logical that businessmen who want to secure their business or somehow prove themselves in the political field willingly invest in it. Therefore, they finance United Russia,” says Kolyadin.

Money is donated mainly by “necessary” people, who then get some piece of the state budget pie in gratitude, it has been written more than once. But mostly attention is paid to the construction industry, perhaps because the largest sponsor of the party for several years has been the Tomsk House-Building Company Alexander Shpeter and several other development companies. But at the same time, another segment, very sensitive to the wishes of the authorities, is somehow forgotten - numerous contractors of state monopolies. For example, RZD.

How rollbacks work

4.3 billion rubles were received on the accounts of United Russia in 2016 donations- the party has never received so much money from sponsors. EP has received more donations than any other Russian party. For comparison - "Fair Russia" donated 1.2 billion rubles, CPRF- 667 million rubles, and LDPR- 367 million rubles.

The largest part of the donations - 3.9 billion rubles - was made not by citizens, but by legal entities - foundations and private companies. Many of them participate in state tenders and win - they get the opportunity to conclude a multi-million or multi-billion dollar contract with the state.

Human rights activists point to the connection between donations by companies to the fund of the ruling party and victory in state competitions. Thus, the use of hidden schemes for financing parties before the 2016 elections was reported by the movement in defense of the rights of voters "Voice". In their report, the experts noted that party funding mechanisms can operate on the principle of "kickback": the company receives a state contract only if it undertakes to send part of the proceeds to support the party.

Analysis of financial reports of parties for 2016, published on the website of the Central Electoral commissions, showed that this scheme could be implemented in the year of parliamentary elections. Russiangate estimates that 61% of companies － donors of "United Russia" in 2016 are government contractors.

This number does not take into account situations when state contracts are won not by donor companies themselves, but by structures affiliated with them. For example, AO "Sharkhinsky quarry" in 2016, he donated 18 million rubles to the party and never took part in state competitions. However, established by this joint stock company"Construction Company Konsol-Stroy LTD" in 2017 concludes several contracts at once with the Capital Construction Service Republic of Crimea for the design of kindergartens and schools on the peninsula.

Welcome to the world of public order

In the list of donors of the ruling party for 2016, there are companies that received state contracts for the first time in 2016-2017 - that is, immediately after the donation was made. Most of them "United Russia" donated PJSC "Okeanrybflot" - 44.9 million rubles.

The General Director of Okeanrybflot is Evgeny Novoselov. During the elections in 2016, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly Kamchatka Territory . It was in this year that Novoselov's company made a donation to the party that exceeded the legal norms (44.9 million rubles instead of the allowable 43.3 million rubles) and began to receive government contracts.

Another example comes from Ulyanovsk. Solcom LLC (founder and sole owner Valentina Tsareva) in 2016 donated 400 thousand rubles to the party. Despite the fact that the company was founded back in 2009, it began to receive state contracts only after a “charitable” contribution. Construction kindergarten, FOK and schools - total transactions in the amount of 218 million rubles. These contracts are concluded with state institutions of Ulyanovsk and the Ulyanovsk region, which are subordinate to the city administration and the regional government. Both the head of Ulyanovsk Alexey Gaev, and the governor of the Ulyanovsk region Sergey Morozov are members of the United Russia party.

"Kickback" - that is, the money that the contractor returns to the customer who decided to purchase from this particular supplier, usually amounts to at least 10% of the transaction. Two companies from the list of “newcomers” that have signed contracts with subsidiaries fall under these parameters at once. Bashneft .

LLC Chelyab Neft Oil contributed 4 million rubles to the cash desk of United Russia. And in the same year, the company won its first government contract - from Bashneft-Retail LLC in the amount of 325 million rubles.

Another supplier of Bashneft-retail, the AZS Oil company, contributed 3 million rubles and won a contract worth 210 million rubles. Both firms are registered in Chelyabinsk, and in both cases we are talking about the same subject of the contract - the sale of gas stations.

Russian railway track

According to Russiangate estimates, 1/6 of the sponsors of United Russia - that is, 104 companies - did better after making a donation to the leading party: in 2016-2017 they began to receive more government contracts than in all previous years of work.

Among such companies, the most contracts after making a donation were received by contractors of OJSC "RUSSIAN RAILWAYS": immediately after investing from 1 to 43 million rubles, 20 companies began to conclude expensive contracts, one after another, only with Russian Railways structures.

Some of the companies that have made the biggest contributions are linked to a powerful Russian businessman Alexey Krapivin . His name came up in investigations based on "Panama Archive" , "Laundromat" and in texts dealing with corruption in the Russian Railways system.

Among United Russia's sponsors are other companies associated with Krapivin, who won more contracts with Russian Railways in the election year than before. These are LLC TransServiceAvtomatika (in 2016-2017 it won contracts for 1.4 billion rubles), LLC Vostoknefteproduct (7 billion rubles), LLC Transbarrier M (3.4 billion rubles), LLC TransServiceAvtomatika (1 .4 billion rubles), ZhelDorMicroTrans LLC (821 million rubles), TransSignalStroy LLC (6.5 billion rubles), Skandaly.Ru reports.

It is possible that among the sponsors of United Russia there are more companies associated with Krapivin: this business empire is characterized by a large number of firms created specifically for Russian Railways contracts and registered as nominees. Incidentally, as recently reported by the agency "Ruspres", the investigation in the case of Dmitry Zakharchenko is considering the version that billions, found in the apartment of the cash colonel may turn out to be money stolen from railway contracts.

Interesting article?

© REUTERS, Fabrizio Bensch

Russian Railways paid billions to front private companies

MOSCOW“In the biggest country in the world, you can still get rich on the railroad. With an annual turnover of almost a billion passengers and $42 billion, the state-owned Russian Railways opens up endless opportunities for commercial initiative.

It is headed by Vladimir Yakunin, an old friend and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He oversees a company that does international deals, sells bonds to big investors, and designs incredibly expensive new high-speed rail lines. In many respects, Russian Railways is a standard giant corporation.

However, a Reuters investigation has uncovered another side of the state-owned company's work: under Yakunin, it paid billions of dollars to private contractors who hide their ultimate owners and rarely or never show up at the registration address.

A Reuters study of Russian Railways tenders also found contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars awarded to companies that appeared to be competing for government contracts but in fact appeared to be closely linked.

For example, from 2010 to 2013, only two companies participated in 43 tenders for more than $340 million. As it turned out, these two firms were registered on the same day by the same person acting on behalf of the owners, information about which is not disclosed. Both firms opened accounts on the same day at the same bank and reported the same number of employees for two consecutive years. Once they applied for participation in a tender announced by Russian Railways with a difference of one minute. Last October, after Reuters first inquired about the companies, both registered online at the site on the same day.

Russian expert Sergei Lesnichiy said the facts revealed by Reuters indicate an attempt to manipulate tenders for the right to conclude government contracts, which led to an increase in costs to the detriment of Russian Railways.

The forester, who heads the Center for Financial Research, an expert state organization, said that if it is confirmed that someone at RZD made money in this way, it could be qualified as fraud by Russian law. However, according to him, the participation of related companies in a tender for government contracts is not in itself an offense under Russian law, he said.

A Reuters follow-up analysis of bank transfers related to the work of one of RZD's major private contractors found indications that a number of US and Russian financial investigators and analysts considered suspicious banking activity.

The analysis suggested that the millions of dollars paid to Russian Railways went to companies that had nothing to do with the railways. Some of these companies were declared by the Russian authorities to be fictitious and did not conduct any real operations.

These money transfers were made through a small bank co-owned by businessman Andrey Krapivin from 2007 to 2009. The head of Russian Railways Yakunin, as she wrote Russian newspaper Vedomosti once described Krapivin as an old acquaintance and "pro bono adviser" well versed in banking.

Krapivin and several of his business associates were or are directors of major contractors working with Russian Railways.

A Russian Railways spokesman said Krapivin "is not an adviser" to Yakunin, but did not answer the question of whether he had previously been one.

Huge amounts of money are at stake: In 2012, Russian Railways awarded more than $22.5 billion worth of contracts to private contractors and paid over $19.7 billion to its employees.

In March, after Russia annexed Crimea, Yakunin, along with other senior Russians and members of Putin's inner circle, came under US-imposed sanctions. The US Treasury Department described him as "Putin's confidant" (confidant) who "regularly consults with Putin on matters relating to Russian Railways."

He has known Putin since the 1990s, when both lived in St. Petersburg. Putin appointed him head of Russian Railways at the start of his second presidential term in 2005.

Yakunin did not respond to Reuters inquiries regarding the article, but written comments were received from his spokesman at Russian Railways.

“The procurement activity of Russian Railways is carried out in strict accordance with the relevant current legislation,” Alexander Pirkov wrote.

Tenders were organized "as transparently as possible", and procurement activities, according to him, were "repeatedly checked by competent government bodies, including the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation.

Russian Railways reported that all the companies mentioned by Reuters worked in accordance with the law, that they honestly received contracts and performed them properly.

Krapivin did not respond to a letter from Reuters asking for comment. Instead, his son called. Aleksey Krapivin said that his father had nothing to do with railway contractors and the transactions discussed in this article. He said that any suggestion to the contrary would be "bullshit". He declined to comment further.

AUCTIONS

In the eastern part of Moscow, immersed in greenery, there is a house with a red roof and a playground in the yard. Last summer, young men in jeans and T-shirts were going to smoke there.

There is more to this home than meets the eye. The headquarters of the company is registered here, which since 2010 has won contracts from Russian Railways and its subsidiaries for 9 billion rubles ($270 million). The documentation indicates that it employs more than 100 people.

When the reporter was making inquiries in this house, he was approached by a man with a shaved head and tattoos on his arms, who appeared to be in his 40s. cut on the sides, and at the back of the head are collected in a tail.

“They are sitting here. They have an office on the second floor, but they only come once a week,” said the man with the tail.

MPCenter was included in a sample of 10 companies whose activities were studied by Reuters. Together, since 2007, according to tenders and other documents, they have received more than $2.5 billion from Russian Railways.

Reuters chose these firms because they were bidding for contracts for the same types of work, mainly upgrades to signaling systems and train control systems. They were selected from a long list of railway contractors provided by UK-based Russian banker German Gorbuntsov, who survived an assassination attempt in 2012 in London's Canary Wharf business district.

Before leaving Russia, Gorbuntsov, along with Krapivin, owned the Capital Trade Bank, also known as STB. All 10 railway contractors studied by Reuters had accounts with this bank.

At first glance, Russian Railways offers contracts to private contractors through open tenders, where the laws of the market apply. However, several people familiar with the contract allocation process stated that some contractors worked together to win tenders. As they say, this is done either by companies that remain sole participants competition, or by negotiating with competitors to pre-select a winner or inflate prices. Reuters was unable to verify these allegations.

A Reuters analysis of tenders in which these 10 companies participated showed that they did not make much effort to win contracts by lowering the price. Of the 185 cases where the winner was named, 79 were concluded at a price of only 0.5% - to the last penny - below the maximum that was set by Russian Railways. The next 35 winners received contracts at a price 1% below the starting price.

It was difficult to establish the origin and trace the activities of these 10 railroad contractors. The two largest beneficiaries, based on the value of contracts received from Russian Railways, were MPCenter ZhAT and a company called Transservisavtomatika TSA). From 2010 to 2013, they were the only competitors in the fight for contracts worth over $340 million. The IOC and TCA acted as rivals and at first glance seemed to be independent legal entities.

To find out more about them, Reuters decided to look at their head offices. According to the Russian register of legal entities, the headquarters of the IOC was located in the same house with a playground in the yard, where our correspondent did not find anyone. According to the documents, the head office of the TCA was supposed to be located in a 15-story building immediately behind the Moscow Ring Road. There was a business center, a car dealership, a fitness club, a beauty salon, branches of two banks, a flower shop and a grocery store, but there was no sign of TCA's presence. The guard found a mention of her on the computer, but said that her office was not there.

In addition to their elusiveness, the GOC and TCA have other striking similarities, including the fact that they were registered on the same day in 2005 by the same person and that they opened bank accounts on the same day STB.

These intersections were not mere coincidences, said former manager, who worked for both companies at different times in the mid-2000s. These two companies were actually part of the same group and together participated in tenders for Russian Railways contracts, "to ensure" the victory of the owner of the group.

In the documents, the GOC and TCA list two different people as their leaders. None of them responded to repeated requests for comment.

Regarding the two companies, Yakunin's spokesman Pirkov wrote: "They are trustworthy suppliers and fully functioning enterprises."

“The deliveries under the concluded contracts were carried out on time, the products were of the proper quality. No facts of unreliability have been identified.”

Of the 10 checked companies, only one - Zheltransavtomatika - was located at a registered legal address, and Reuters found people working there. The company manager did not respond to written questions.

Four of the 10 companies reported legal addresses where no one has heard of them. Instead of their headquarters, there was a warehouse next to the highway, a car service and an expensive children's goods store in the center of Moscow.

Who owns these companies? The form of ownership of the MPC does not oblige a legal entity to disclose the names of its shareholders. The formal owners of the remaining nine contractors of Russian Railways are a motley company. According to the statutory documents, each firm belonged to one or two individuals, in total, they were owned by 10 women and three men.

Those owners who have been found live in modest Moscow apartment buildings. In one of the shabby buildings, a man listed in official documents as the sole owner of one of the contractors confirmed that he had been the formal owner of the firm until recently. However, in reality, he said, they never really controlled the company's activities, but acted as bogus owners, hiding the real owners of the company.

The fictitious founder knew that the company's business was related to Russian Railways contracts, but had no other information about its operations. He suggested that the contractor was controlled by Andrey Krapivin, the same one Yakunin once described as his "pro bono adviser."

“I know Alexei Krapivin,” said the formal founder of the company about the son of Andrei Krapivin. According to him, it was his son who organized the company's business with Russian Railways. According to the founder, Krapivin Sr. was "the main man" behind this business, while his son handled practical matters.

In a telephone conversation, Krapivin's son Alexei said that STB belonged to Gorbuntsov, not his father, and that his father was not behind the railroad contractors. He did not answer further questions. A written statement signed by Andrei Krapivin states that he was a shareholder of STB from 2007 to 2009. The bank's open documentation also indicates that in 2008 it owned a stake in the project.

Yakunin's spokesman did not answer the question of whether Krapivin was related to any of the 10 contractors, but ruled out the possibility of any violations.

TRANSACTIONS

From the steam locomotives of the Revolution and Doctor Zhivago to the double-decker express trains roaring toward the Sochi Winter Olympics, railroads have helped build Russia, becoming a link in the country's geography and a pervasive motif of its culture.

When Vladimir Lenin returned from exile in April 1917 to head the revolutionary movement, he traveled from Finland to St. Petersburg, which played the role of the capital under the tsars, on a steam locomotive. By the 21st century, Russian Railways hoped to modernize the historic railway line and launch electric trains along it, reaching a speed of 220 kilometers per hour.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of this project was a private contractor called Setstroyenergo. In total, Russian Railways paid Setstroienergo almost $1 billion between 2007 and 2013, according to open tender results and a banking database provided by Gorbuntsov.

When, after breaking with business partners, including Krapivin, Gorbuntsov left Russia, he took his laptop with him. It, in addition to other databases of the bank, contained records of millions of transactions carried out through STB from the beginning of 2007 to the end of 2009. The money swirled through the maelstrom of the accounts, which, according to Gorbuntsov, made it difficult for external auditors or tax auditors to trace their path.

To understand what happened to Russian Railways' funds, Reuters studied the financial flows flowing into and out of Setstroyenergo against Gorbuntsov's database records. The authenticity of the archive has been verified through a sample of transactions through independent sources.

Between 2007 and 2009, Russian Railways transferred $772 million to Setstroienergo's STB account, according to the database. These payments and subsequent transactions looked similar to the scheme described by Gorbuntsov.

For example, Russian Railways made 98 payments to Setstroienergo totaling $211 million, but the money went almost instantly to other bank accounts. In each of these transactions, Setstroyenergo received an amount of money from Russian Railways and on the same day or the next business day paid exactly the same amount to a company called Stroymontazh.

The money went to Stroymontazh's account at the Industrial Credit Bank (Inkredbank). This bank was also managed by Gorbuntsov, Krapivin was not his co-owner.

Who controlled Stroymontazh and its Incredbank account is unclear, as is why the company received payments from Setstroyenergo. Stroymontazh was liquidated in 2010, and its owners and management left no traces behind. Setstroyenergo declined to comment.

Gorbuntsov's database contains information about the transactions of both banks: Incredbank and STB. According to these data, Stroymontazh quickly sent the money received to other legal entities. Some of the money went to accounts outside Incredbank and STB, but most circulated through multiple accounts at those two banks.

In the 30 months since 2007, Stroymontazh has transferred just over a third of the funds it has received to accounts outside of STB and Incredbank. Based on open data and conversations with local railroad officials, it appears that the money went to railroad contractors for work such as laying new railroad tracks and installing signaling equipment.

However, almost two-thirds of the funds that Stroymontazh received quickly went to the accounts of other companies opened with STB or Incredbank. A search of corporate and tender documents, court decisions, directories, and press releases found no connection between these companies with railroad operations. It was impossible to find representatives of these firms and ask them for comment.

One of the recipients of the funds was Legatta, whose accounts were serviced by STB. According to published data, Legatta's income for the year by the end of 2007 amounted to only 3800 dollars. However, during the same period, a banking database showed that Stroymontazh paid the company $115 million. Reuters was unable to contact Legatta.

A company called Univold was also a recipient of Stroymontazh funds. From May 2007 to October 2007, according to the database, $67 million was transferred to her. Reuters could not find any data on Univold. In 2010, the company was mentioned in one of the decisions of the Moscow court, which had nothing to do with Russian Railways. It said that the tax authorities demanded that Univold's account with Incredbank be closed because they suspected that the company was not really doing business.

In some companies that received money from Stroymontazh, people registered as formal owners said they knew nothing about the firms they allegedly owned.

Another recipient of funds was a company called Trustcom with accounts in STB. Its owner, Nadezhda Korostyleva, was registered in the south of Moscow according to the documents. The door was opened by her daughter Vasilisa, who said that her mother no longer lived there. According to her, many people came to take an interest in her mother's companies.

“A few years ago, an acquaintance of her friend asked her to establish a company,” said Korostyleva’s daughter. This man made a copy of her passport and asked her to sign some papers.

"Firms are still registered in her name."

In addition to the $772 million Setstroienergo received from Russian Railways from 2007 to 2009, the contractor also won more than $223 million in Russian Railways tenders from 2010 to 2013, according to open data.

Setstroyenergo declined to comment for the article. Public information about this company is limited as it is a private company and may not disclose the names of its owners.

Formally, its head office consists of a single room and is located in an unsightly office center in a block building in the Tushino district in northwestern Moscow. A Reuters correspondent came to this address in work time but no one was there.

*Editor's Note: This article is based in part on bank transactions provided by former Russian banker German Gorbuntsov, who now lives in exile. Reuters confirmed the authenticity of the archive fragments by showing sample account numbers and the names of corporate account holders to employees of Russian tax authorities. They said the data matched their information. A former employee of one of the Russian Railways contractors, who has no connection with German Gorbuntsov, also disclosed internal data on his company's transactions with Russian Railways. These details matched the bank transactions, records of which were preserved in Gorbuntsov's database. Some money transfers from Russia to foreign banks, reflected in the database, were also compared with bank data disclosed in New York on an occasion unrelated to Russian Railways. They also confirmed the authenticity of Gorbuntsov's base.

The materials of InoSMI contain only assessments of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI.

Search by " RZD contractors"results: contractors - 1102, Russian Railways - 381.

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1. Contractor Russian Railways Anton Samoilov was sent back for arrest. Contractor Russian Railways Anton Samoilov rolled back to arrest The general director of "Wagon Repair Company-2" was caught extorting 1.65 million rubles. from the carrier for the conclusion of three contracts Original of this material © Kommersant, 04/09/2019, Contractor Russian Railways rolled back to arrest, Photo: vrk2.ru Yuri Senatorov Anton Samoilov “Kommersant” became aware of the details of the criminal case of Anton Samoilov, the general director of Wagon Repair Company-2 JSC (VRK-2), accused of receiving commercial bribery.
Date: 04/09/2019 2. Contractor Russian Railways Sergei Vilensky greased the wheels. Contractor Russian Railways Sergei Vilensky greased the wheels railway Fomina Original of this article © Kommersant.Ru, 12/19/2018 imprisonment - to the former head of the Trans-Baikal Railway ...
Date: 12/21/2018 3. How are the guides related Russian Railways and contractors. ... Yakunin himself, in an interview with Vedomosti in 2009, 67.4% of the bank is controlled by the structures of the SK Most group of companies, which is contractor Russian Railways- for example, for the 2014 Olympic Games, it is building an iron and motor road Adler - Krasnaya Polyana (investments in the project - 227 billion rubles, according to the site Russian Railways). And Millennium Bank itself got the opportunity to organize joint ventures with European companies to ensure another priority of the investment program Russian Railways- high-speed highways...
Date: 09/12/2011 4. Boris Usherovich was recognized as a briber of Dmitry Zakharchenko. According to operational data, the first two now live in the United States, and the co-owner of the company, which is the largest contractor Russian Railways settled in Israel.
Date: 03/19/2019 5. Valery Markelov was recognized as the donor of Dmitry Zakharchenko. According to Kommersant, acquaintance with contractors Russian Railways Dmitry Zakharchenko started it back in the mid-2000s in his native Rostov-on-Don, where he served in the tax authorities.
Date: 03.10.2018 6. Baikal-Virginskaya Mainline. Krapivin is also related to several other companies that control contractors the largest construction Russian Railways". How Aleksey Krapivin controls the largest construction site Russian Railways"In fact, Krapivin's participation in the construction of BAM may be more extensive.
Date: 04/05/2016 7. "He did not allow other friends of the president to join the contracts." *** Where else does the money turn Yakunin's resignation may affect not only the railway contractors, but also on his acquaintances who invest in these contractors and other companies closely associated with Russian Railways. Large investments (almost 30 billion rubles) related to the projects of the state monopoly are managed by another former adviser to Yakunin, Sergei Orlov.
Date: 10/12/2015 8. The main ones for the "construction of the century". While the agreement was Russian Railways competitions have already been played, and contractors started building. Operation " Contractor"In February 2014 Russian Railways announced the largest tender in its history.
Date: 03/01/2016 9. New fellow travelers Russian Railways. After the resignation of Yakunin, the owners of the largest contractor Russian Railways on the Trans-Siberian - UK BSM. In SPARK, these changes are reflected as follows. In December 2015, Obodovsky sold 48% of the shares to the former owners of the company - several individuals, and in August 2016 Korotchenko sold his 49.5%.
Date: 11/14/2016 10. Kings of the state order. Relations Russian Railways and JVs are very long-term. Thus, the contract for the maintenance of electric trains in the amount of €500 million is designed for 40 years. *Partners: for Ural Locomotives - Siemens AG concern *** 6. Gennady Timchenko Gennady Timchenko* Amount of state contracts: 113 billion rubles Customers: Transneft, Federal Network Company, Moscow Department of Transport and Communications In 2007–2009, Timchenko's structures acquired about 80% contractor Stroytransgaz.
Date: 03/02/2012 11. Kings of the state order: who will use $20 billion contractors and is going to build and modernize independently (Transneftstroy). Some companies, such as Rostekhnologii or Rostelecom, are already mastering almost the entire investment program themselves. Maybe this is how state monopolies are protected from "gray" competition and corruption? Here are a few interesting stories. The two largest tenders Russian Railways subsidiaries won...
Date: 03/19/2013 12. Kings of the state order - 2018 (Forbes rating). Security officials and state-owned companies were allowed to classify data about suppliers": The Russian government has made serious adjustments to the public procurement system, allowing state-owned companies not to disclose information about suppliers and contractors receiving contracts, and...
Sinara in 2017 received contracts from Russian Railways by 5.5 billion rubles, and the joint venture "Sinary" with Siemens "Ural Locomotives" - by 12.5 billion rubles.
Date: 02/22/2018 13. Contractor surrendered Alexei Mironov as a patron. To do this, Mr. Mironov allegedly helped Mr. Savranin establish contacts with United Construction Company 1520 and Prodstroy, which were large contractors Russian Railways(according to SPARK-Interfax, in 2015 USC received Russian Railways contracts for 31.4 billion rubles) and, thus, receive contracts for the performance of subcontracted work.
Date: 12/17/2018 14. State order and secret holdings. Therefore, we tried to choose the most interesting, in our opinion, associations contractors Russian Railways, Gazprom and Rosatom. In many cases, the suppliers of the state-owned companies we studied turned out to be other state-owned companies, which also formed entire clusters. We deliberately skip these clusters in the description in order to concentrate on those supplier associations backed by specific people. *** Russian Railways About suppliers Russian Railways Alexey Krapivin and his partners - Boris Usherovich, Valery Markelov...
Date: 05/30/2018 15. Corruption on rails. JSC "NIIAS" fulfilled the 6 millionth contract of 2014 in just a month: the contract was signed on November 25, and the board " Russian Railways"was held on December 27. Another order dated December 25, 2014 for the conclusion of an agreement for the" development of cost estimates for the work of unstable slopes of rock excavations and the current maintenance of structures, facilities and life support systems of tunnels "given contractor only five days, the work was supposed to end on New Year's Eve.
Date: 09/27/2016 16. Shadow of the power engineer. In 2008, Vasiliev founded R-industry Corporation, which became contractor Russian Railways. In 2009-2010 Vasiliev got a stake in contractor Russian Railways- "Innoline" company. In 2011, Vasilyev bought another contractor Russian Railways- Finprom. Yakunin's wife Natalya was a member of the board of directors of Millennium Bank. 67.4% of the bank is controlled by the structures of the SK Most group of companies, which is contractor Russian Railways- for example, for the 2014 Olympic Games, the Adler-Krasnaya Polyana railway and highway are being built ...
Date: 01/23/2012 17. Timchenko is "sleeping" - business is going on. It's a big one contractor Russian Railways with an annual revenue of 70 billion rubles. After joining the shareholders of Timchenko's structures, he has increased the number of contracts from the budgets of all levels.
Date: 01/21/2013 18. Kings of the state order - 2015 (Forbes rating). *** 1. Iskander Makhmudov, Andrey Bokarev Customers: Moscow Metro, Russian Railways Effective shares in the main contractors: 33% - Transmashholding; 16.9% - Metrovagonmash; 24.5% - Oktyabrsky Electric Car Repair Plant; 33 ...
In 2013, it was the second largest oil and gas company after Stroygazconsulting contractor countries.
Date: 03/10/2015 19. For whom and under whom did Laundromat work. Introducing the three largest Russian beneficiaries Alexey Krapivin businessman, contractor Russian Railways Alexey Krapivin From 2011 to 2014, two companies from Belize and Panama (Redstone Financial Ltd and Telford Trading S.A.) received $277 million, or about 8.4 billion rubles, into their accounts with the Swiss bank CBH Compagnie Bancaire Helvetique SA.
Date: 03/21/2017 20. "Divorce" based on "Inspector". Having organized Goldenberg LLC, which actually consists of three people - himself, dad and brother Vadim (the last two often act as vice-chairmen in his companies) - Igor Gitlin immediately received a big contract from Russian Railways by 5.8 billion...
Contractor repaired one sidewalk.
Date: 03/15/2016

“Russian Railways is like a country within a country: with its presidents and bosses,” says the former monopoly contractor. - Shoulder straps are the widest, stars are the most golden. One railway chief once said at a reception: “Without us, there would be no cosmonautics! And how would you bring the rocket?

RZD has everything to meet its own needs: the construction is carried out by the subsidiary RZDstroy, the design is carried out by the subsidiary Roszheldorproekt, the production of sleepers, slabs and other structures is carried out by the subsidiary Beteltrans, security is carried out by the subsidiary RZD -security", communication - "daughter" of "Transtelecom", etc.

“It’s hard for even large private companies that have worked for the railroad to break into this system and survive without monopoly approaches to leadership,” says another former contractor. “Many years ago, our company began repairing access railway tracks for large enterprises, and it turned out to be a very profitable business. But then the railway itself drew attention to this business, and it became unprofitable for the factories to hire me. Do you want to exploit the path? Let it be done by the one who will be shown, otherwise you simply will not hand over this path to those who, according to official duties, must take it. Slowly, the entire commercial sector was taken over. We just left the market."

“You may not have anything at all, except for an administrative resource - the company “Chair and You”, but if you have received a large contract, you can buy everything - equipment and people - and perform the work,” another contractor expresses his opinion and gives his assessment: - According to my experience of working with state-owned companies, if, of course, you are the first in line: the first gives about 30%, then a little less; as a result, crumbs reach the real performer of the work.

The talk that RZD contracts are distributed among its own is untenable, our system of contracts is transparent and open, says a representative of RZD.

Nevertheless, after listening to these conversations, Vedomosti decided to check if there were any links between the management of Russian Railways and its contractors. To do this, we searched SPARK and the Unified State Register of Legal Entities for data on the business of 25 members of the board of Russian Railways and their relatives. And something interesting was found.

Hunter

Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin loves to hunt. “But, unfortunately, last year I went hunting, in my opinion, only twice,” he says. “I don’t have the opportunity to do this more often.”

Yakunin is listed as a co-owner of the Real Hunt company, registered in the Leningrad Region. His partner is Vladimir Vasiliev, a St. Petersburg businessman and owner of the Rus construction group. The company, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources, leases 55,688 hectares of forest in the Priozersky forestry.

“We met him [Vasiliev] 10 years before I came to Russian Railways,” Yakunin recalls. - He was either a small partner, or a hired employee small firm, which produced a calibrated log. This company built houses. And at one time she built my house in the Leningrad region. So Vasiliev and I met. Only now the owner of this company turned out to be not a very decent person, we broke off relations with him, and Vasilyev, according to old memory, was forced to correct all the imperfections in the house, and gradually our relations grew into friendships.

But, Yakunin says, it was not Vasiliev who introduced him to hunting, but “a neighbor in the country who presented a hunting rifle for his 50th birthday.” “I was invited to hunt,” he recalls. — It was 12 years ago. And after some time, when some opportunities appeared, Vasiliev and his colleagues suggested that I become one of the founders of an enterprise that could lease a piece of forest, maintain it, fight against poaching, and it would be possible to periodically hunt in accordance with the license. I agreed. We have a house there on the shore. And we go there from time to time."

Vasiliev's main business is not related to hunting. A few years ago, he founded R-industry Corporation LLC, which works with Russian Railways.

“Russian Railways is our main partner, our main client,” says an employee of R-industry. “We are actively working with them on innovative projects, construction, and logistics.” According to him, one of the company's projects is the Magistral fiber-optic traffic safety system for railway transport, which became relevant after the appearance of high-speed trains in Russia. Now, the source of Vedomosti continues, the system is being tested on the Oktyabrskaya railway. On the R-industry website, you can read that it has entered into “partnership agreements with more than 40 contractor companies” with an annual turnover of about 12 billion rubles.

Vasiliev told Vedomosti that R-industry “was established in 2006-2007. for carrying out commercial activities on the territory of the Russian Federation, and not only for the construction of Russian Railways facilities; the companies of the group participated in Russian Railways competitions, but did not win many. The turnover of "R-industry" in 2010, according to him, was no more than 100 million rubles. "R-industry" is not a general contractor on the orders of Russian Railways, emphasizes Vasiliev. “This company is one of the smaller suppliers,” Yakunin confirms. “But at the same time, they have very good capabilities in carbide cutting tools.”

There is no talk of any serious contracts for R-industry, says a representative of Russian Railways. Contracts totaling 500 million rubles have been concluded with the entire R-industry group this year, but this does not mean that the company will master this entire amount. This year, R-industry received 38.8 million rubles from Russian Railways, last year - 19 million rubles, these were small contracts with the Oktyabrskaya Railway. And all R-industry contracts were won during open electronic trading he concludes.

In 2011, Vasiliev became the main owner of another Russian Railways contractor, the Finprom group of companies, which has been providing monopoly services since the 2000s: it connects electrical networks performs design, maintenance and construction works and also supplies equipment. According to SPARK, since 2011 Vasilyev owns 80% of Finprom-engineering and 40% of Energo-finprom, the main companies of the Finprom group (20 and 10%, respectively, belong to the general director of R-industry, Alexander Yakimets).

“They saw us as a powerful company that has been operating for a long time, and poured their administrative resources into us,” explains Alexander Osipov, general director of Finprom-engineering. He confirmed that Vasiliev and a partner bought Finprom this year and that the deal was a market one and "no one was offended."

According to Osipov, the largest order of "Finprom" is the equipment of railway approaches to the commercial sea port of Ust-Luga (station lighting, traction, feeding substations). This is being done as part of an investment project for the reconstruction of the section Mga - Gatchina - Veimarn - Ivangorod and railway approaches to ports on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland; the cost of the project is 16.4 billion rubles. (data of the general designer "Lengiprotrans"). Vasiliev points out that Finprom performs work not only for Russian Railways, but also, in particular, for Lenenergo.

Vasiliev is also listed as the owner of 50% of Innoline. The company is engaged in innovative and energy-saving technologies - LED lamps, it is said on its website. Among the latest projects of Innoline is the replacement of lamps at the railway station in Vyborg and at the Finlyandsky railway station in St. Petersburg.

His acquaintance with Yakunin does not affect his contracts with Russian Railways, Vasiliev insists, and in general, projects with Russian Railways occupy no more than 10% of his business. “The reasoning that if people hunt together, then they share the profits from the supply of something to Russian Railways, is simply stupid and untenable,” says Yakunin. “My friends, on the contrary, are only more difficult because of all this. I have to blow on water not only for milk, so that they don’t compromise me or themselves.”

Security guard

In 2004, former FSB officer Alexander Bobreshov (on the picture) was invited to work at Russian Railways as deputy head of the security department, in 2005 he became vice president of Russian Railways for corporate security.

Before Russian Railways, Bobreshov was the president and co-owner of the St. Petersburg non-profit partnership LVB-Holding (63% share). LVB-Holding, as indicated on its website, includes more than 20 security companies in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Krasnodar, Samara, Pskov and Volgograd.

And some of them work with Russian Railways. For example, the Krasnodar group of security companies "Rus" (on the website) and the Volgograd private security companies "Cobalt-A", "Cobalt-S", "Cobalt-RT" (in advertising) name Russian Railways among their clients. And the Moscow private security company "Cerberus" together with the "daughter" of Russian Railways - the private security company "RZD-protection" - was among the winners of the competition for organizing anti-terrorist protection of Russian Railways facilities for 2009-2010, beating 20 competitors.

SPARK has access to the financial statements of only nine enterprises associated with LVB-Holding. In 2008, their total revenue exceeded 1.37 billion rubles. At "Cerberus" in 2010 in comparison with 2008 revenue doubled: it was 122 million rubles, it became 224.4 million rubles.

An employee of the LVB-Holding says that they no longer have anything to do with Bobreshov: “Yes, Alexander Sergeevich [Bobreshov] was once the founder here. But then he was made a more serious offer, he went to the sovereign's work. After he was told that it was impossible to be both here and at Russian Railways at the same time, he removed his share.

Bobreshov told Vedomosti that, having settled in Russian Railways, he left the founders of all the companies that he created, "so as not to have an affiliation."

But who got Bobreshov's business? According to SPARK, by 2010, 63% of LVB-Holding belonged to Bobreshov's relative Tatyana Savina.

Bobreshov does not deny this. “I don’t think it’s right to forbid former partners to develop further,” Bobreshov explained. — I respect these people. We have developed good comradely and even family relations, but in commercial activity after leaving the Russian Railways, I did not interfere.

A former colleague of Bobreshov at LVB-Holding says that it is not easy to work with RZD: tenders are held there every year and the best contracts go to RZD-Okhrana, while other structures are content with the leftovers. Bobreshov, with his departure to Russian Railways, immediately indicated that there would be no interference on his part in these processes, the former colleague insists.

It's funny, by the way, that the secretary of LVB-Holding knows nothing about Moscow private security companies: "These are not our enterprises." “But they are listed on your website.” “Perhaps we are cooperating with these enterprises.” According to an employee of the holding, “the non-profit partnership “LVB-Holding” was, but it is no longer there<...>because there are people who ask the wrong questions.” “What is a holding in general? That is, we came with you and said: let's dig a hole together. They dug up and forgot that we knew each other, ”he explained.

But Bobreshov's former partner, the owner of Cerberus, Spectra and Granite, confirms that some LVB-Holding companies work with Russian Railways, but this has nothing to do with Bobreshov, and it is difficult to work with Russian Railways, you have to compete with " RZD-protection".

“Bobreshov was indeed a founder in a number of companies that today are part of the LVB-Holding group of companies, but in the period from 2007 to 2009 he withdrew from the membership of all these companies,” says a Russian Railways representative. — In 2001, a non-profit partnership for human rights protection and security “LVB-Holding” was created, but in 2004 it actually ceased its activities. In 2009, Bobreshov resigned as president of the partnership.”

The Russian Railways representative believes that “there is no conflict of interest and there cannot be, since the companies that protect Russian Railways facilities have passed the tenders held by Russian Railways on a general basis, won them and, on this basis, having concluded the relevant contracts, provide security services to Russian Railways.” He notes that not only the companies of the LVB-Holding group protect Russian Railways facilities for which there are not enough resources of RZD-Okhrana, other security companies that have nothing to do with LVB-Holding do this.

Builders

Works on the already mentioned above railway section Mga - Gatchina - Weimarn - Ivangorod performs the St. Petersburg Construction Department No. 308 "(SU-308). In the 1970-1980s, it was part of the Soviet Ministry of Transport Construction and built tracks, stations and houses for railway workers.

In the 1990-2000s. the managers and owners of SU-308, as well as related companies, became partners in Zheldorstroy LLC, which, as indicated during registration, was engaged in the development of gravel and sand pits and civil works.

7.69% each in Zheldorstroy went to the former Minister of Railways Vadim Morozov and the former Deputy Head of the Finance Department of the Ministry of Railways Galina Kraft (on the picture). Since 2005, Morozov has been the first vice president of Russian Railways, and Kraft has been Chief Accountant RUSSIAN RAILWAYS. True, Zheldorstroy itself is no longer active - in 2007, bankruptcy proceedings were opened there. In 1994, Kraft was indeed a co-owner of Zheldorstroy LLC, but withdrew from the project that same year, says a Russian Railways representative.

And the husband of Galina Kraft, the honorary railway worker and honored builder Yakob Kraft, heads the Yamal Railway Company (YaZhDK), in which he owns 10%. YaZhDK was founded in 2003, is engaged in transportation from the Korotchaevo station to Yamburg and Nadym-pristan and develops the railway infrastructure of the YNAO, attracting investments to complete the construction of the Korotchaevo - New Urengoy- Nadym and Novy Urengoy - Yamburg, indicated on the company's website.

“Jakob Kraft is a candidate of technical sciences, the author of projects for the construction of railways in permafrost conditions. Thanks to his scientific developments, he was invited by the leadership of Russian Railways to restore the Yamal railway, which at that time was in a serious crisis, - explains the representative of Russian Railways. - Then YaZhDK was owned by the SevTyumentransput company, which practically did not develop and maintain the route. In order to strengthen the position of Russian Railways in YaZhDK, a decision was made to purchase a stake in this company by Kraft. He is not currently the owner of this share."

Animators

Boris Lapidus

The Moscow-based firm EVO Impressions offers gift-experiences. This is a gift certificate for a certain type of service, the company representative explains: for example, a dance or diving lesson, tailoring shirts to order, and much more. The most expensive impression is that training to pilot a Robinson R-44 helicopter will cost 89,900 rubles, the family coat of arms - 44,900 rubles, a game of billiards with a world champion - 16,900 rubles.

The firm's website lists Russian Railways, RZDstroy, Gazprom Neft and Gazprom Gazenergoset as corporate clients.

The co-owners of EVO Impressions are Mikhail (70%) and Natalia Lapidus (15%), these are the children of Boris Lapidus, senior adviser to the president of Russian Railways, and until 2010, senior vice president of Russian Railways. EVO Impressions was registered in Moscow in 2007. Later, similar companies appeared in Novosibirsk and St. Petersburg.

Mikhail Lapidus told Vedomosti that this business started in 2007 when he saw a similar product (gift experiences) in a department store in London. In the summer of the same year, Lapidus created his own company and began to enter into agreements with "experience providers".

In December 2007, on the eve of the New Year, the company launched sales. People liked the product, that's why EVO Impressions actively grew, entered St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. The firm now serves thousands of customers every month. Financial indicators Lapidus does not disclose: “There is no need to give guidance to colleagues in the gift shop. The business is profitable and growing rapidly, although the margins are small, like any other retail.”

Employees of Russian Railways and its subsidiaries did buy gifts for themselves from EVO Impressions, admits Lapidus. The company has a wide target audience. This caused the appearance of the Russian Railways logo on its website. But the share of these purchases in total sales is tiny and below the share of, for example, employees of Gazprom and a number of other companies, says Lapidus. Russian Railways and its structures have never been a corporate client of EVO Impressions - unfortunately, he concludes.

Prior to giving impressions, Lapidus was engaged in consulting and was one of the co-owners of the Transbasis company (established in 2004, renamed Business Dialogue in 2007). Russian Railways is a client of Transbasis, which conducts conferences and studies for the monopoly (for example, “a survey of locomotive depots”, “a survey in passenger service directorates”, “a study of the cost of repairing freight cars”, “Moscow-St. Petersburg passenger traffic”). However, as Lapidus reported, he sold his share in Transbasis back in 2007 and now his only business is EVO Impressions.

“Employees of Russian Railways and its subsidiaries, as individuals, did buy such gifts for themselves from EVO Impressions,” confirms a representative of Russian Railways, “but RZD has never had a corporate client relationship with EVO Impressions.” According to him, Mikhail Lapidus sold his share in Transbasis back in 2007, on the basis of it and other companies, a successful event operator Business Dialogue was created, which really is the organizer of various conferences and events with the participation of Russian Railways representatives.

Two incarnations of Yakunin

Vladimir Yakunin heads the boards of trustees of the Center for National Glory and the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, created to "promote the spiritual and moral revival of society on the basis of Orthodoxy." The board of the fund and the center also includes his wife, Natalia Yakunina.

Yakunin began participating in the foundation's programs in the early 2000s, and the center "was largely Yakunin's initiative," a representative of the center and the foundation told Vedomosti: Yakunin's position. Apart from himself - in two such incarnations [the president of the Russian Railways and the chairman of the board of the fund and the center] - there is no connection."

In fact, there is still an indirect connection. In 2004, Yakunin and his wife attended the grand opening of the Moscow Millennium Bank. The bank was then introduced "as a partner in strategic programs" of the center and the fund, a spokesman for the bank said. Natalya Yakunina has been on the board of directors of the bank since June 2004. The former head of Yakunin's secretariat, Sergei Movchan, worked as the general director of Statos LLC in the early 2000s, which owns 32.58% of Millennium Bank, according to SPARK. And the chairman of the board of the bank, Mikhail Baidakov (he and his wife owns 10% of Statos), is at the same time vice president of the center and the fund. Baidakov is also a freelance adviser to Yakunin, as Yakunin himself said in an interview with Vedomosti in 2009.

67.4% of the bank is controlled by the structures of the SK Most group of companies, which is a contractor of Russian Railways - for example, for the 2014 Olympic Games, it is building the Adler-Krasnaya Polyana railway and highway (investment in the project is 227 billion rubles, according to the website RUSSIAN RAILWAYS).

And Millennium Bank itself got the opportunity to organize joint ventures with European companies to ensure another priority of the Russian Railways investment program - high-speed lines. Together with the German Vossloh-Werke - a major producer of rail fasteners — the bank has established Vosslo Fastening Systems Rus CJSC in Russia, which plans to produce these rail fasteners for Russian Railways Olympic venues and high-speed lines. Russian Railways and Vossloh have a cooperation agreement. And with the Italian IPA, the bank created CJSC Modern Railway Technologies, which plans to produce slab bases for high-speed railways in Russia. The cost of projects in the bank is not disclosed.

As Yakunin explained earlier: “Since this is a small bank, unlike the big ones, it chases money, and good ideas are born to it.”

Tore client

It is not always easy for contractors close to Russian Railways to get money from the monopoly. How difficult, said an employee of the company that built a new house for pensioner Elena Golubeva - her old house fell into disrepair during the explosion of the Nevsky Express in November 2009.

“You enter the village, and the women of Lena have a house like a new Russian, with red tiles. The rest of the village there is so dilapidated, the houses are crooked, ”says an employee of the Intromate company that built the house.

After the train explosion and derailment, Vladimir Putin said during a direct line that Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin had already contacted Golubeva and that “everything will be all right with her”: “A lifetime pension of the same kind will be added to her pension of four and a half thousand rubles. from RZD. She will be restored to housing and then relocated closer to a relative, not far from the crash site.”

RZDstroy was instructed to build a new house for the pensioner, and she hired her contractor, the Intromate company. In the past, Intromate belonged to the brother of the first deputy general director of RZDstroy, Gennady Talashkin, Andrey.

"We built a house in as soon as possible, for their own money, - recalls an employee of Intromate. What does it mean to build a house in two weeks? Minus thirty outside. We started on December 20, on the 31st we brought our grandmother there. Tea, coffee, all movies. All "hooray"! We bought her a mug, a cup, a TV there. Worked for cinema. We even poured antifreeze into her boiler. Can you imagine?! So that she, God forbid, does not defrost her heating. That's it. Everything is autonomous. They made her a well, water pumps. And the wallpaper was pasted. And how we started getting cancer for a stone! They ask: why did you buy such expensive wallpapers? We say: this is how the movie was made. Baba Lena was shown on TV. The President on the wire led the control. And when all this subsided, they began to lower us here for money. No, no one said that we would not pay. We will. But there is no piece of paper, this certificate ... “But something you have a big estimate ...” Moreover, the estimate was made in coordination. The manager did not name the amount of the contract, but says that when it came time to pay for the work, it was reduced by "25 percent." RZD could not be reached for comment.

Labor dynasty

Dmitry Morozov son of the first vice-president of Russian Railways Vadim Morozov, manages the branch of the "daughter" of Russian Railways "TransContainer" on the Oktyabrskaya Railway

Anton Akulov son of Russian Railways Vice President Mikhail Akulov, works at the International Union of Railways

Arthur Kraft son of the chief accountant of Russian Railways, works as deputy head of the department for managing subsidiaries and affiliates of Russian Railways

“Russian Railways is interested in attracting professional personnel brought up in the spirit of respect for railway transport and love for this profession, so it is not surprising that the children of Russian Railways leaders choose this profession as their life path, - explains the representative of the Russian Railways. “Moreover, the railway industry has always been distinguished by such a concept as labor dynasties. The company itself is doing everything possible to preserve the dynasties, as this contributes to the formation of stable labor collectives.” 350 billion rubles

This is the Russian Railways investment program for 2011. About 90 billion rubles is support from the state. Priorities: construction of high-speed highways and approaches to the largest seaports, Olympic railway facilities and transport security.