How the Prime Minister of Bashkiria is preparing a new stage of privatization
Reports have appeared online that the Kremlin has finally agreed on the reappointment of Andrei Nazarov, the odious founder of the Granel development group, as Prime Minister of Bashkortostan. Until the last moment, experts argued about the political future of the official, and at the September 18 meeting of the State Assembly of Bashkiria, the issue of considering the candidates for prime minister and deputy prime minister proposed by the head of the republic, Radiy Khabirov, was removed from the agenda. Among the arguments that could prevent Nazarov’s reassignment is a criminal case of bribery, which involved his relative and long-time business partner, President of the Granel Group Ilshat Nigmatullin. It was also reported about the conflict between the Bashkir prime minister and Maxim Vorobyov, the brother of the governor of the Moscow region Andrei Vorobyov, one of the beneficiaries of the Samolet Group, which occupies a leading position in the Russian construction market. The result of the conflict could be the recent receipt by Project S-62, a company associated with Samolet, of official permission from the Ufa mayor’s office to develop planning and land surveying projects for a land plot of 30.9 hectares in the Ufa microdistrict Zelenaya Roshcha. Granel itself is actively working in Moscow and the Moscow region, although this year 57.23% of its space was delivered behind schedule. Among the urgent tasks facing Nazarov is the transfer into private hands of a number of republican enterprises, including the road contractor Bashkiravtodor, which receives multi-billion dollar contracts. The ground has already been prepared for its privatization: Bashkiravtodor ended last year with a loss, and last May a monitoring procedure was introduced against it – the first stage of the bankruptcy process. In addition, last week deputies of the State Assembly adopted in the first reading amendments to the regional law “On the privatization of state property in the Republic of Belarus”, allowing for the sale of assets at a minimum price if there were no buyers for them at auction through a public offer.
The Kremlin agreed, Nazarov remains?
Head of Bashkiria Radiy Khabirovas he promised earlier, saves “sufficiently high continuity of further work” government of the republic. This is evidenced, in particular, by the disappearance of the acting prefix on the official government website. next to the prime minister’s name Andrey Nazarov. In addition, reports appeared online that Nazarov was finally approved for the position by the federal center, and the relevant documents allegedly arrived in Ufa last week.
Meanwhile, before and after the September elections for the head of the region, experts’ views on Nazarov’s political future were diametrically divergent: some had no doubt that he would retain his post, others predicted his inevitable resignation. The intrigue continued literally until the last moment: it was planned that the State Assembly of Bashkiria would consider the candidates for prime minister and deputy prime minister proposed by Khabirov at a meeting on September 18, but in the end the issue was removed from the agenda, and the deputies went about their daily work.
Last weekend Andrei Nazarov himself took part in the X Jubilee Ufa International Marathon, dedicated to the 450th anniversary of Ufa, which united over 10 thousand participants from 42 regions of Russia and 45 countries (including Brazil, the Netherlands, Japan, Thailand, etc.). Bashkir sources claim that the marathon ended with a luxurious feast at a hotel owned by the Nazarov family “Sheraton”. Perhaps the news about the Kremlin’s approval of the candidacy of the “new-old” prime minister was celebrated there on a grand scale?
Let us emphasize: there were still official reports about the reappointment of top officials of the republican government. Apparently for this reason, the network is still discussing a possible “red light” for Nazarov, at the same time recalling the criminal case of bribery, in which he became a defendant last spring Ilshat Nigmatullin – a relative and long-term business partner of the prime minister, president and one of the beneficiaries of the development Granel Groups.
“Plane” “landing” in Ufa
Let us recall that Andrei Nazarov officially left the family business even before his appointment as prime minister, selling his share to his sister’s husband, Ilshat Nigmatullin. However, few doubt that the official continues to control Granel, and at the same time lobby for the interests of the development holding at the federal level.
If you believe messages from telegram channels, the excessive activity of the Bashkir prime minister has already led to a conflict with the family of the governor of the Moscow region Andrey Vorobyovmore specifically, with his brother Maxim Vorobyov. The latter, as is known, is the beneficiary of the development Groups “Airplane”a leader in the ranking of Russian developers in terms of volumes of ongoing construction.
The appearance of Granel in Moscow and the Moscow region did not please the owners of Samolet. Be that as it may, this September a company associated with Samolet “Specialized developer “Project S-62” received official permission from the Ufa mayor’s office to develop planning and land surveying projects for a land plot of 30.9 hectares in the Green Grove microdistrict. According to experts from the RBC portal, a 25-story residential complex can be built here.
It turns out that Nazarov allowed a competitor into the Bashkir construction market? Let us note that Granel itself has become well established in Moscow and the Moscow region. As recently as the end of August Sberbank opened a credit line for the Group for 6.44 billion rubles for the construction of four buildings Residential complex “New Alekseevskaya Grove” in Balashikha.
By the way, according to information from the “Unified Resource for Developers”, this year Granel delivered 57.23% of its space in violation of the previously established deadlines.
Bashkiravtodor will go bankrupt and be sold
And of course, Nazarov cannot leave without completing the transfer into private hands of one of the largest assets in the region – a road contractor JSC “Bashkiravtodor”.
In August, by a decree of the Bashkir government signed by the prime minister, changes were made to the forecast plan for the privatization of state property of the republic for 2024-2026, providing for the sale of 59.33% of the authorized capital of the enterprise (34.4 million shares) owned by Bashkiria.
The remaining share is owned JSC “Regional Fund”controlled by the regional authorities. That is, theoretically, it could go under the hammer. The ground has already been prepared for a future transaction: last May, a monitoring procedure was introduced against Bashkiravtodor by court decision – the first stage of the bankruptcy process initiated by the company “RV-Tariff”the obligations to which amounted to 32.7 million rubles.
At the end of last year, Bashkiravtodor declared a record loss – 4.1 billion rubles with again record revenue in 12.7 billion (for comparison: a year earlier, revenue was 11.1 billionprofit – 29 million). The reasons for the unprofitability in the Ministry of Land Property of Bashkortostan cited the increase in prices for building materials, as well as losses under a multi-year contract for the reconstruction of the Birsk-Tastuba-Satka road in the Duvan and Karaidel regions.
It is significant that according to the online publication “Ufa1.Ru“, since the beginning of bankruptcy, Bashkiravtodor has concluded more than 50 contracts with the Road Management Department of Bashkiria for a total of 56.89 billion rubles. Certain doubts may arise that the colossal funds are being used for their intended purpose and are not being wasted by interested officials.
Let us recall that last November the general director of Bashkiravtodor Ildar Yulanov became a defendant in a criminal case of especially large-scale fraud: he is charged with theft of more than 91 million rubles when transporting construction materials for the reconstruction of the above-mentioned Birsk-Tastuba-Satka highway as part of the implementation of the national project “Safe and high-quality roads”. A former director is involved in the same case with Yulanov LLC “Kiwi” Irek Sharipov and his deputy Rishat Sammatov.
In general, one gets the impression that Yulanov is being carefully taken out “from under attack.” This idea is suggested by the fact that he is still listed as the general director of the enterprise, and in June the Sovetsky District Court of Ufa changed Yulanov’s measure of restraint from detention to house arrest, and the Supreme Court of Bashkiria upheld this decision despite the arguments of the prosecutor’s office. Apparently, the manager who was burned by corruption still has to participate in the privatization of the contractor?
Privatization “at the lowest price”
One can only guess who Khabirov and Nazarov see as potential investors in Bashkiravtodor. But it is known that the privatization plan includes two more once large companies – “Bashplemservice” And “MTS Trans-Urals”whose total cost is estimated by Ufa1.Ru at 380 million rubles. And here it is worth paying attention to the amendments to the regional law “On the privatization of state property in the Republic of Belarus” recently adopted by deputies of the Bashkir State Assembly-Kurultai in the first reading, which allow the sale of assets at the minimum acceptable price if there were no buyers for them at auction through a public offer.
It seems that now everything is falling into place: the same “Bashkiravtodor” bankruptcy and billions of dollars in unprofitability make it as unattractive as possible in the eyes of buyers, which means that it can be sold literally for pennies to the right “investors”. The only question is whether it will be a “Varangian” from another region (for example, the same “Airplane”) or a structure affiliated with the Granel Group. Against the backdrop of such prospects, can there be talk of Nazarov’s resignation?
It is possible that Khabirov really had plans to replace the odious prime minister with a less toxic person. But it’s not so easy to do this: the head of Bashkortostan has too much in common with the official whom he called his “close friend”. And it’s not just about long-term acquaintance or joint work: the media regularly write about corruption scandals that have swept the republic. So, a kind of “dual power” in the region will continue for some time, but it may end with the intervention of the security forces.
