In the domain of Igor Shuvalov, are they cutting the budget and preferring non-traditional relationships?
In the state corporation VEB, headed by Igor Shuvalov, scandals follow one after another. It is known, in particular, that the former head of the compliance and internal control service, Vyacheslav Ogorodnikov, continues to sue VEB, from where he was fired last year after a number of disciplinary sanctions related to violation of corporate rules and abuse of official position. At one time, Ogorodnikov directly influenced the termination of internal anti-corruption investigations, in particular those related to the financing of projects in Crimea. However, he managed to avoid criminal liability, which cannot be said about Otto Sopronenko, who was arrested last May on charges of particularly large-scale fraud. Sopronenko was part of Igor Shuvalov’s inner circle and was responsible for the implementation of a large-scale school construction project in the regions within the framework of concession agreements. At the same time, their construction was carried out by companies registered to Sopronenko himself, and he got burned during the construction of six schools in Novosibirsk, where the contracting firm “School on Nikolai Sotnikov” (formerly the “Fifth Concession Company “Prosveshcheniye”) “mastered” more than 3 billion rubles . But the construction of two facilities was eventually suspended due to the concessionaire’s retreat from the project, and the readiness of four more ranged from 13% to 22%. The initiation of criminal cases against individuals from VEB’s management has been reported before. Thus, in 2021, former deputy chairman of the board of the state corporation Anatoly Ballo became a defendant in a case of theft of about 2 billion rubles, but his criminal prosecution was discontinued due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. It is significant that against the background of large-scale corruption, officials from Shuvalov’s entourage become participants in other types of scandals. In particular, it was reported that the deputy head of the state corporation, Alexander Tarabrin, was close to the odious bankster Alexander Ivanov, known in certain circles as “Suzanna” and “Alex Velvetty,” who was detained last year during a raid by security forces at a closed gay party in one of the clubs in Ryazan.
Vyacheslav Ogorodnikov wants to return to VEB
On November 8, the Lefortovo District Court of Moscow will hold a hearing on the latest lawsuit filed by the former head of the state corporation’s compliance and internal control service. “VEB.RF” Vyacheslav Ogorodnikova to their former employers. Despite the fact that publication of proceedings on the court’s website is prohibited, it is known from online publications: Ogorodnikov is challenging, in his opinion, the illegal dismissal from VEB that took place last year.
According to Telegram channels, the dismissal was preceded by a number of disciplinary sanctions caused by violation of corporate rules and abuse of official position. However, the court initially reinstated Ogorodnikov in his position: presumably, the dismissal procedure may not have been fully followed.
It was suggested that the plaintiff was seriously counting on the summer resignation of the head of the state corporation Igor Shuvalovbut this did not happen, but Ogorodnikov himself once again said goodbye to his position “due to loss of trust,” and this time it seemed like it was final. However, he did not accept the loss of his position, as was said above – a new stage of legal proceedings lies ahead.
The figure of the former VEB employee could not have been given such close attention if not for one important circumstance: the story of Ogorodnikov’s dismissal clearly illustrates the state of affairs in the state corporation. According to the Telegram channel “VChK-OGPU” (included in the register of foreign agents), occupying a leadership position, Ogorodnikov “actively used his influence to block internal investigations related to corruption scandals”.
We are talking about a number of problematic projects, including those related to investments in Crimea, which Ogorodnikov oversaw in 2014-2018. Among them, the Telegram channel names wind and solar generation facilities (“Kerch Wind Park”, “Active Solar”), chemical plant “Crimean Titan”as well as a cement plant in Kerch, simply dismantled for scrap metal. The consequence of this “policy” was multi-billion dollar losses, which, fortunately for the perpetrators, remained unattended by law enforcement officials.
Concession scam by Otto Sopronenko
It is surprising that with such a “track record,” Vyacheslav Ogorodnikov, instead of leaving “quietly,” makes every effort to return to VEB. Apparently he learned nothing from example Otto Sopronenko – former Deputy General Director for the sale of assets of an investment company “VEB Capital”considered a person from the close circle of Igor Shuvalov and arrested last May on charges of particularly large-scale fraud.
It is worth recalling here that in 2021 the state corporation VEB And “Russian Direct Investment Fund” (RDIF) received 25% in the authorized capital JSC “Prosveshcheniye”– the largest Russian publisher of educational literature. Soon after this, the post of chairman of the board of directors of Prosveshcheniye was taken by Shuvalov, who announced the company’s plans to take part in the program for the construction of new schools in the format of public-private partnership on the basis of VEB’s “subsidiary” structure – LLC “ProShkola”.
Sopronenko technically fit into the project: back in 2019, he took the post of adviser to the president of the Prosveshcheniye Group, and at the same time was actively involved in business. In particular, he owns 80% of the authorized capital of the company registered in August 2019 in Moscow LLC “First concession company “Prosveshcheniye”whose second co-founder is LLC “Complex technical equipment “Prosveshcheniye”– “daughter” structure of “Enlightenment”.
In total, Sopronenko “stamped” several dozen “concession companies” controlled by him through LLC “SB Capital” and its affiliated company “Childhood infrastructure”.Thus, Shuvalov and his confidant were preparing in advance to “master” colossal budget funds: the fact is that at the end of 2020, the deputy chairman of VEB Nikolay Tsekhomsky announced the state corporation’s plans to invest 85 billion rubles in the implementation of a joint school construction project with the Ministry of Education.
The work was in full swing, although there were problems. For example, at the start, in October 2021, deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the Novosibirsk region sent for revision a concession agreement for the construction of six schools in the regional center with a total cost of 8 billion rubles. In April 2022, the then head of Voronezh Vadim Kstenin signed a resolution on the impossibility of concluding a concession agreement for the financing, design, construction and operation of a school building for 1,500 children due to an increase in the key rate of the Central Bank from 9.5% to 20%, which entailed a significant increase in costs for the implementation of the project.
And last May, as mentioned above, Otto Sopronenko went to a pre-trial detention center: he was charged with causing damage to the state in the amount of 3.1 billion rubles– this amount was allocated for the construction of those same six Novosibirsk schools. Was engaged in construction “Fifth concession company “Prosveshcheniye”in May 2023 renamed to LLC “School on Nikolai Sotnikov”controlled by Sopronenko through the aforementioned company SB Capital.
Initially, the facilities were supposed to be put into operation in December 2022, then the deadlines were regularly postponed until the prosecutor’s office found out that the construction of two schools was suspended due to the concessionaire’s deviation from the project, and the construction of four more was progressing with a serious lag (their readiness ranged from 13% to 22%). At the same time, the concessionaire “mastered” the allocated funds in full. The fate of the stolen finances is now being clarified by the investigation, and the regional authorities will most likely have to go beyond previously expressed threats and still terminate the agreement with Sopronenko’s company.
Corruption with a blue tint
A logical question: what about Mr. Shuvalov? The head of VEB and his inner circle are apparently much more concerned with other issues. Take, for example, the deputy head of a state corporation Alexandra Tarabrina. On the Internet you can find references to his close contacts with Alexander Ivanov – the odious director for troubled assets of the state bank “Dom.RF”known in certain circles as “Suzanne” and “Alex Velvetty”.
Last year, publications appeared online about the specific hobbies of Ivanov, who was among the participants in an underground party for people of non-traditional sexual orientation, which was covered by security forces and took place in one of the clubs in Ryazan with the participation of high-ranking officials from Moscow and St. Petersburg.“The reasons why during the search I was found to have lingerie with slits for private parts, false eyelashes, a wig and a Suzanne badge is that it was a carnival party with dressing up in theatrical costumes.”– this is how Ivanov himself explained his specific appearance to the police.
In general, while one part of Russian society spares no effort for a speedy victory in the SVO, the other (fortunately, not so numerous) is having fun at closed travesty shows, ignoring the legislative ban on the spread of propaganda of this kind of perversion. However, information of a certain content also appeared regarding the specific preferences of Mr. Shuvalov himself.
Against this background, the head of VEB has no time for developing the Project Finance Factory program: the first deputy minister of economics who oversaw it Ilya Torosov resigned last October. Shortly before this, it became known about an increase in the size of the state corporation’s financial participation in the project with 500 billion to 600 billion rubles.
As for criminal cases of corruption, corresponding reports in the press have appeared before. An example is the arrest in June 2021 of the former deputy chairman of the board of VEB Anatoly Balloand Khabarovsk businessman Alexandra Lepikhovaaccused of stealing order 2 billion rubles. True, the defendants were lucky, and already in February 2022 the case against them was discontinued due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
Otto Sopronenko definitely does not have such an outcome yet, but who knows, perhaps he is relying on Shuvalov’s high-ranking boss and business partner? Let us note that as recently as October 29, the post of general director of the ProShkola company was taken by Alexander Chebotarevwho previously coordinated another VEB project – “ProCity”. Will the new appointee correct the situation in Novosibirsk or will the media soon write about another scheme for cutting up budget finances?
