“For Sidorov, this is a serious problem, which can threaten not only with dismissal. "Kingdom of Corruption" by Yuri Trutnev

Vladimir Barinov, Mikhail Rubin

Another corruption scandal flares up in Rosprirodnadzor. The former head of the environmental control department Lyudmila Plyushch and her deputy Daniil Yakovlev are suspected of organizing custom inspections at enterprises and extorting bribes. According to the investigation, after one of these scams, they received a bribe of €90,000 and about 12 million rubles. Both officials have already been arrested.

As the former deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor told Izvestia Oleg Mitvol, Plyushch and Yakovlev are defendants in a criminal case on taking a bribe on an especially large scale. Plyushch has already been removed from his post, and Yakovlev is still on the lists of the leadership of Rosprirodnadzor. A few days ago, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow arrested officials. In the offices of Rosprirodnadzor, searches and seizures of documents were carried out.

According to investigators, in August 2010, in one of the restaurants in the center of Moscow, Plyushch received €90,000 for organizing a departmental audit of one of the enterprises. According to Izvestia, we are talking about a subsidiary of the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC).

The auditors found violations of environmental legislation at the enterprise, after which they drew up an act against the leaders of the enterprise. For this, they were threatened with a fine of several hundred million rubles, - a source in the TFR tells Izvestia. - Officials agreed to mitigate the charge in order to reduce the fine, but for this they received a bribe of 11.8 million rubles.

In November and December 2011, the businessmen transferred the bribe in two equal installments to the account of an affiliated firm, after which the money was cashed out.

According to the investigation, there was an intermediary in this transaction, who received €180,000 for officials, but pocketed €90,000 and disappeared. His name is already known, and now he is put on the wanted list.

Assistant to the head of Rosprirodnadzor Vladimir Kirillov Marina Vtornikova does not comment on the news about the detention of employees of the department.

Izvestia's source in the security services claims that Plyushch and Yakovlev actually created a group of extortionists in Rosprirodnadzor. The scheme of their work was simple: officials arranged inspections of enterprises, found violations there and threatened to bring their leaders to justice with large fines. Following the officials, "fixers" appeared at the enterprise, who offered to settle all problems with Rosprirodnadzor. The grouping worked throughout Russia - from the Far East to the Urals and the Krasnodar Territory.

These people insistently sought my resignation in 2009, now I understand why I interfered with them so much, ”Oleg Mitvol, former deputy head of the department, tells Izvestia. - What the officials in Rosprirodnadzor were doing is just a nightmare.

Mitvol also recalled that the appointment of 31-year-old Lyudmila Plyushch to the post of chief ecologist of the country in 2008 looked very strange. As it turned out, she had minimal experience in public services and the environmental sector.

The first entry in Plyushch's workbook is a cleaning lady in a dermatovenerological dispensary in St. Petersburg, Mitvol tells Izvestia.

[kp.ru, 06/25/2008, "Mitvol comments on new appointments in Rosprirodnadzor": Lyudmila Plyushch has been appointed head of the new department. According to her profile, in 2000 she graduated from the St. Petersburg State Mining Institute with a degree in thermal physics, automation and ecology of industrial furnaces, candidate of technical sciences. Oleg Mitvol, former deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor, commented very emotionally on her appointment:
- The girl, born in 1977, started work on Monday. Judge for yourself. She has a year and a half of civil service experience. And 2.5 years of work experience in the above-mentioned specialty.
According to the official, Presidential Decrees No. 1574 and No. 1131 state that the head of the federal service department, upon admission to the federal department, must have at least 4 years of civil service, or at least 5 years of work experience in the specialty. The federal law on the state civil service of the Russian Federation No. 79 FZ says that filling civil service positions is possible only through a competition, which, according to Mitvol, was not.
- The last place of work of Lyudmila Plyushch is a consultant of the representative office of the company IMC Economics & Warehouse Consulting Limited, - continues Oleg Lvovich. She has never been an inspector. It is simply unthinkable to transfer the entire ecology of Russia into the hands of a person so far from the topic.
The new "super professional team" of the department's leadership makes Oleg Mitvol very worried about the future of Rosprirodnadzor.
- The second person of the agency - Leonov Vladimir Leontyevich - a waiter with 15 years of experience, - the official reveals the secrets of the biography of his former colleague. - Started out as a waste paper packer and casting beater. He was a simple worker, which, of course, is not shameful. He studied at TU-131 as a waiter. Worked in the specialty for 15 years. Then - the post of editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Bespredel" (St. Petersburg), which he held for 2 years. According to Mitvol, Leontiev received a higher legal education in a few months. After that, he worked for 10 years in the legal department of the government of the Leningrad Region. - Inset K.ru]

This is not the first corruption scandal in Rosprirodnadzor. In the summer of 2011, FSB officers detained Nazip Abdullayev, head of the economics and finance department, while receiving a bribe of 1 million rubles. He extorted money for patronage from the director of the subordinate Murmansk Federal State Institution "Arctic Directorate for Technical Support of Supervision at Sea" Vladimir Lazarev.

Such kickbacks, according to investigators, were demanded from all regional FGUs. During the investigation, Abdullayev fully admitted his guilt and made a deal with the investigation. At the same time, he claimed that he was entitled to only 5% of the commission from the amount of the bribe, and the rest went "up". Including his immediate supervisor, deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor Sergei Morgunov, who oversaw key divisions - the management of finance and economics, as well as the management of affairs and legal support.

Sergey Morgunov

Morgunov, as well as the head of Rosprirodnadzor Vladimir Kirillov were interviewed by investigators of the UK, but so far remained in the status of witnesses. True, Morgunov lost his rank of deputy head of the service last fall.

Vladimir Leonov, assistant to the head of the department, may become a defendant in yet another case. [...] It is his visa that is on the documents allowing the import into Russia of a consignment of expired chladone-containing substances, the circulation of which is strictly limited by international agreements. Dangerous goods have been at the St. Petersburg customs for several months, and this fact is being investigated under the article “Abuse of official powers”.

Greenpeace Russia claims that the activities of the leaders of Rosprirodnadzor have long aroused their suspicions.

For example, Norilsk Nickel is the largest polluter - emissions make up 10% of the mass of emissions throughout the country, - Ivan Blokov, director of Greenpeace programs, tells Izvestia. - Roprirodnadzor should intervene, conduct an inspection and force them to compensate for the damage, but they do nothing.

Ecologists do not exclude that a group of high-ranking employees of Rosprirodnadzor participated in the illegal issuance of permits to polluting companies.

Photo: Photo: izhevskinfo.ru

Today, law enforcement agencies detained Vyacheslav Spitsyn, deputy head of the department for environmental regulation and licensing activities of Rosprirodnadzor, for taking a bribe.

The FSB officers caught the official right in his office, at the moment of transferring a bribe in the amount of more than a million rubles from the head of one of the Transneft divisions. During his arrest, Spitsyn tried to throw money in a bag out the window, Lifenews reports.

Almost at the same time, in Krasnodar, another official of Rosprirodnadzor was detained for a bribe of 200,000 rubles. According to Natalya Smyatskaya, an assistant to the head of the regional investigation department, an official of Rosprirodnadzor during an inspection of one of the enterprises revealed a violation - the absence of a water intake project.

The inspector told the founder of a commercial company that for a bribe of 200 thousand rubles he was ready not to indicate the violation found in the inspection report. In addition, he promised the merchant his patronage. He agreed, but reported this to the regional investigative department, the Yugopolis agency reports.

After the transfer of the money, the official was detained by operatives of the FSB department in the region. Now the issue of his arrest is being decided.

At the very end of December, the head of Rosprirodnadzor for the Murmansk region, Ruslan Tishchenko, was detained while receiving a bribe in the amount of 1.5 million rubles, for which he was supposed to approve unreliable emission and waste standards for a large enterprise, OJSC Apatit, writes RIA Novosti with reference to the regional investigative department of the investigative committee.

According to Tatyana Kovaleva, senior assistant to the head of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Murmansk Region, Tishchenko is suspected of taking a bribe on an especially large scale.

On December 26, 2014, he, knowing about the unreliability of information about the quantitative and qualitative indicators of emissions from JSC Apatit, identified as a result of the study, personally received funds in the amount of 1 million 500 thousand rubles from a representative of City Center of Expertise LLC. For this money, he approved the standards for maximum permissible emissions and production waste for Apatit OJSC, bezformata.ru reports.

The head of Rosprirodnadzor was charged with committing the said crime. The court appointed a measure of restraint in the form of detention. A similar punishment was chosen for the bribe-giver - a representative of the City Center of Expertise LLC.

Photo: Photo: blogger51.com

Investigative and operational search activities aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the crime, as well as collecting and securing the evidence base continue.

The head of Bellona-Murmansk Andrey Zolotkov is not surprised by this state of affairs. Rosprirodnadzor controls the activities of large enterprises in the region. It is these enterprises that are the main polluters of the environment.

“Let's take the situation with atmospheric air pollution at the industrial sites of the Kola Mining and Metallurgical Company (a subsidiary of MMC Norilsk Nickel in the city of Zapolyarny and the village of Nikel). laboratory analysis and technical measurements in the Murmansk region "(TsLATI) can not detect anything. So why in this case not assume that the so-called "checks" are "an imitation of violent activity" and, among other things, may have a corruption component " - said Zolotkov.

Recall that in the summer of 2013, the Murmansk Department of Rosprirodnadzor, together with the prosecutor's office, carried out the Kola MMC on the complaint of the Chairman of the Central Council of the political party "Green Alliance - People's Party", former assistant to the head of Rosprirodnadzor Oleg Mitvol.

Despite the fact that the Murmansk Hydromet recorded the excess of the MPC for sulfur dioxide emissions on all days of the inspection, Rosprirodnadzor officially reported that an independent laboratory took measurements at the border of the sanitary protection zone of industrial sites and did not record an excess of the MPC at the time of the inspection.

In the summer of 2014, Roprirodnadzor, conducting a serious scheduled inspection of the Kola MMC, again KDP on sulfur dioxide emissions. However, another federal agency, Gidromed, recorded an excess of the MPC for sulfur dioxide almost daily on the dates of the inspection of the Kola MMC.

According to the former deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor, Oleg Mitvol, at the moment, the detention of officials of the department for bribery, unfortunately, does not surprise anyone.

“The previous leadership created a situation where not the first official was detained in his private office with a cash bribe. At the same time, the previous leader left without answering for such a personnel policy,” Mitvol emphasized in an interview with Lifenews.

Unfortunately, after the resignation of Yuri Trutnev from the post of head of the Ministry of Natural Resources, corruption scandals in the Rosprirodnadzor sponsored by this department did not stop. In particular, the investigators suspected Igor Lola, head of the department of Rosprirodnadzor for the Volga Federal District, and his subordinates of systematically taking bribes. However, the threads from this case can reach the very head of Rosprirodnadzor Vladimir Kirillov, the correspondent of The Moscow Post was told.

Once again, major officials of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources Management (Rosprirodnadzor), which is headed by Vladimir Kirillov, "lit up" in a corruption scandal.

This time the criminal case under Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Receiving a bribe by an organized group" was initiated against the head of the department of Rosprirodnadzor for the Volga Federal District Igor Lola and his subordinates.

She was detained while receiving a bribe of 1 million rubles, which was given to her by a representative of the company Innovative Oil Technologies (INT). The transfer of the bribe was closely monitored by operatives, and the banknotes were marked.

By the way, at the same time there were rumors that Kopylova was only an intermediary in this matter, but in fact this money was intended for the head of the head office of Rosprirodnadzor for Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug Vyacheslav Antipov.

Vyacheslav Antipov

Unfortunately, corruption in Rosprirodnadzor has also reached the Far Eastern Federal District.

By a court decision, the official received a suspended sentence and was deprived of the right to hold senior positions in the public service for two years.

Abdullayev was detained by the FSB in June last year while receiving a bribe. According to the publication, the official extorted money from Vladimir Lazarev, director of the Federal State Institution "Arctic Directorate for Technical Support of Maritime Supervision". For quarterly donations in the amount of 500 thousand rubles, Abdullaev promised "patronage" in the civil service. He demanded a bribe of one million rubles "in advance".

Lazarev, a retired Colonel of the Border Troops, turned to the Federal Security Service and received from operational officers a package with banknotes marked with special forces. Immediately after receiving the bribe, Nazip Abdullayev was detained in his office.

The 62-year-old official pleaded guilty and agreed to a deal with the investigation. He asked to consider his case in a special manner, which provided him with a minimum sentence of four years of probation. When passing the verdict, the court took into account the "impeccable track record" of the official and his advanced age.

Experts interpreted this version in such a way that Morgunov, using his official position, ordered Abdullayev to demand bribes from his subordinates. Further, this bribe from Abdullaev was transferred to Morgunov, although the head of the department of economics and finance himself also took a good percentage. This version, given the extreme corruption of Rosprirodnadzor, seems quite plausible, since the chain of bribes from Morgunov through Abdullayev actually stretches to specific territorial departments.

Vladimir Kirillov

The fact that the investigators got on the trail of the deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor Sergey Morgunov suggests that a whole “corruption network” may soon be uncovered in the leadership of Rosprirodnadzor.

There is only one thing that confuses me in this case. Really, the head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources, Vladimir Kirillov, did not know what was happening in the bowels of his department?

This is quite hard to believe, since Kirillov controls literally everything in Rosprirodnadzor. So it would be quite surprising that the bribes intended for Morgunov would pass by Kirillov's office "unnoticed."

Much more truthful seems to be the version that Morgunov shared the amounts received with Kirillov, and he covered him up for this.

It should be noted that earlier Vladimir Kirillov was called by experts in the field of environmental protection "loyal to Yuri Trutnev", who was previously the Minister of Natural Resources.

Yuri Trutnev

Obviously, this is why Vladimir Kirillov still does not notice what the head of the Department of Nature Management and Environmental Protection (DPiEP) Anton Kulbachevsky, who previously headed the Department of Rosprirodnadzor for the Central Federal District, is “doing” in Moscow.

The arrest in February 2012 of the former head of the environmental control department of Rosprirodnadzor Lyudmila Plyushch and her deputy Daniil Yakovlev indirectly testifies to the morals prevailing in Rosprirodnadzor. They are suspected of organizing contract inspections at enterprises and extorting bribes. According to the investigation, after one of these scams, they received a bribe of 90 thousand euros and about 12 million rubles.

Anton Kulbachevsky himself, during his tenure at the head of the Department of Environmental Protection and Environmental Protection, managed to spend more than 4 billion rubles from the Moscow budget on the purchase of anti-icing materials (PGM) produced by the Ural Plant of Anti-Icing Materials (UZPM). This plant belongs to Dmitry Trutnev, the son of the Minister of Natural Resources Yuri Trutnev.

Anton Kulbachevsky

At one time, the enterprise was created with the aim of processing hazardous waste from the polygons of the Solikamsk magnesium plants into PGM. Now it sells at exorbitant prices to Russian cities PGM based on dirty rock salt and recycled waste.

By the way, in April 2011, Anton Kulbachevsky and the head of the Department of Housing and Communal Services and Improvement (DZHKHiB) Andrey Tsybin held perhaps the most scandalous competition in the history of the capital for the purchase of PGM - all three winners of the competition presented false guarantees. Note that these PGMs, according to environmentalists, are dangerous for the health of Moscow residents.

It would seem that Vladimir Kirillov should immediately intervene and prevent Anton Kulbachevsky from actually "poisoning" the townspeople with these PGMs. But no! Kirillov remained dumb as a fish.

In general, it seems that one well-coordinated “corruption structure” operates in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Rosprirodnadzor. So Muscovites will have to fight against the “malicious” initiatives of Anton Kulbachevsky on their own, since they will not have to wait for help from either Kirillov or Donskoy ...

As the former deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor told Izvestia Oleg Mitvol , Plyushch and Yakovlev are defendants in a criminal case on taking a bribe on an especially large scale. Plyushch has already been removed from his post, and Yakovlev is still on the lists of the leadership of Rosprirodnadzor. A few days ago, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow arrested officials. In the offices of Rosprirodnadzor, searches and seizures of documents were carried out.

- The auditors found violations of environmental legislation at the enterprise, after which they drew up an act against the leaders of the enterprise. For this, they were threatened with a fine of several hundred million rubles, ”a source in the TFR tells Izvestia. — Officials agreed to mitigate the charge in order to reduce the fine, but for this they received a bribe of 11.8 million rubles.

In November and December 2011, the businessmen transferred the bribe in two equal installments to the account of an affiliated firm, after which the money was cashed out.

Assistant to the head of Rosprirodnadzor Vladimir Kirillov Marina Vtornikova does not comment on the news about the detention of employees of the department.

“These people insistently sought my resignation in 2009, now I understand why I bothered them so much,” Oleg Mitvol, former deputy head of the department, tells Izvestia. - What the officials in Rosprirodnadzor were doing is just a nightmare.

“The first entry in Plyushch’s work book is a cleaning lady in a dermatovenerological dispensary in St. Petersburg,” Mitvol tells Izvestia.

Lyudmila Plyushch

- Girl born in 1977, started work on Monday. Judge for yourself. She has a year and a half of civil service experience. And 2.5 years of work experience in the above-mentioned specialty.

According to the official, Presidential Decrees No. 1574 and No. 1131 state that the head of the federal service department, upon admission to the federal department, must have at least 4 years of civil service, or at least 5 years of work experience in the specialty. The federal law on the state civil service of the Russian Federation No. 79 FZ says that filling civil service positions is possible only through a competition, which, according to Mitvol, was not.

- The last place of work of Lyudmila Plyushch is a consultant of the representative office of IMC Economics & Gerdy Consulting Limited, - continues Oleg Lvovich. She has never been an inspector. It is simply unthinkable to transfer the entire ecology of Russia into the hands of a person so far from the topic.

The new "super professional team" of the department's leadership makes Oleg Mitvol very worried about the future of Rosprirodnadzor.

- The second person of the agency - Leonov Vladimir Leontyevich - a waiter with 15 years of experience, - the official reveals the secrets of the biography of his former colleague. — Started as a waste paper packer and casting beater. He was a simple worker, which, of course, is not shameful. He studied at TU-131 as a waiter. Worked in the specialty for 15 years. Then - the post of editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Bespredel" (St. Petersburg), which he held for 2 years. According to Mitvol, Leontiev received a higher legal education in a few months. After that, he worked for 10 years in the legal department of the government of the Leningrad Region. - Inset K.ru]

Such kickbacks, according to investigators, were demanded from all regional FGUs. During the investigation, Abdullayev fully admitted his guilt and made a deal with the investigation. At the same time, he claimed that he was entitled to only 5% of the commission from the amount of the bribe, and the rest went "up". Including his immediate supervisor, deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor Sergei Morgunov , who oversaw key divisions - the department of finance and economics, as well as the administration of affairs and legal support.

Sergey Morgunov

Greenpeace Russia claims that the activities of the leaders of Rosprirodnadzor have long aroused their suspicions.

“For example, Norilsk Nickel is the largest polluter - emissions make up 10% of the mass of emissions throughout the country,” Ivan Blokov, director of Greenpeace programs, tells Izvestia.

“Roprirodnadzor should intervene, conduct an inspection and force them to compensate for the damage, but they do nothing.

Ecologists do not exclude that a group of high-ranking employees of Rosprirodnadzor participated in the illegal issuance of permits to polluting companies.

Vladimir Barinov, Mikhail Rubin

What is behind the arrest of the assistant to the head of Rosprirodnadzor, who started out in the Kremlin guard, and the former director of the "daughter" of Transneft?

An attack on an influential native of Tatarstan, the head of Rosprirodnadzor Artem Sidorov, is in full swing in Moscow. The day before, his assistant from the time of his work as the Minister of Ecology of the Republic of Tatarstan Dmitry Valenza, as well as the former director of JSC Sredne-Volzhsky Transnefteprodukt Rafis Kupkenov, were placed under arrest. According to BUSINESS Online sources, Sidorov could become a victim of the purges he started in the department.

The day before, news appeared about the arrest and initiation of a criminal case against the assistant to the head of Rosprirodnadzor Dmitry Valenza Photo: tatarstan.ru

DETENTION AND ARREST OF ASSISTANT ARTEM SIDOROV

The day before, an information bomb exploded in the media space "Moscow-Tatarstan" - there was news of the arrest and initiation of a criminal case against Dmitry Valenza- Assistant to the Head of Rosprirodnadzor Artem Sidorov. The case was initiated by the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the city of Moscow on the grounds of a crime under Part 3 of Art. 30, part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Attempted fraud on an especially large scale”). also under investigation Rafis Kupkenov, who is called "entrepreneur" in the UK press release. Apparently, we are talking about a very well-known person in Tatarstan - the former director of Sredne-Volzhsky Transnefteprodukt JSC, which serves a number of main oil pipelines in the territory of the republic.

According to the official version of the investigation, in December 2016, an employee of Rosprirodnadzor and his acquaintance entered into a criminal conspiracy to steal money and. O. Head of the Department of Rosprirodnadzor for the Central Federal District Konstantin Eliseev in respect of which an internal audit was organized. “As part of the developed plan, it was supposed to receive 15 million rubles from the person being checked for assistance in resolving the issue of a positive result of the check being carried out against him,” the investigative committee said in a release. Actions are qualified as fraud, because in reality the accomplices did not have such powers, at least formally.

The operation to detain Valenza and Kupkenov on December 26 was carried out by FSB officers with the assistance of the corresponding service of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation. According to law enforcement agencies, both were detained while receiving part of the money and even admitted their guilt during interrogation.

Early in the morning of December 27, a search was carried out in Walenza's apartment, and on the eve at 16:00, the Preobrazhensky District Court of Moscow, at the request of the investigation, chose a preventive measure for him and Kupkenov in the form of detention for two months. Now they are in pre-trial detention center No. 4 of the Federal Penitentiary Service in Moscow. In the near future, the investigation plans to bring charges against them.

Rosprirodnadzor has already responded to the incident with a sparing message: “The Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources confirms the detention of Dmitry Valenza, assistant to the head of Rosprirodnadzor,” the text published on the agency’s website says. - Currently, Rosprirodnadzor is providing all necessary assistance to the investigation. The issue of dismissal of the assistant to the head of Rosprirodnadzor will be resolved in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. The guilt of Dmitry Valenza will be determined by the court.”

Contact i. O. head of the department of Rosprirodnadzor for the Central Federal District at the numbers indicated on website departments, "BUSINESS Online" failed.

“There was NO BRIBE, THE ACTIONS OF MY PROTECTIVE ARE QUALIFIED AS ATTEMPTED FRAUD”

Lawyer of the detained assistant to the head of Rosprirodnadzor Valenza Alexander Polyakov reported that in fact he was detained on December 26 at 19:00, and the report was drawn up at 0:30 the next day. The criminal case, according to him, was initiated by the investigative department of the investigative committee for the Eastern Administrative District of Moscow on December 27.

The lawyer confirmed that his client had already given detailed testimony, but did not specify whether there was a confession of guilt. At the same time, Polyakov refutes media reports that his client was detained while receiving a bribe. “There was no bribe, the actions of my client were qualified by the investigation as an attempted fraud,” the lawyer noted. “It’s hard for me now to give any explanation about what happened, it’s hard to talk about motives. But Valenza personally made a very positive impression on me. Colleagues characterize him exclusively from the positive side. He comes from a decent family, this guy made himself. At one time, while serving in the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Tatarstan, he was recognized as a good operative. He is very worried about his arrest.”

The defender of Valenza does not want to see any underlying reason in the detention of his client. “I would not like to associate what happened with politics in such a way as if it was a struggle between Muscovites and people from Tatarstan. It's not related in any way. My client didn't mean to hurt anyone. He left Kazan and worked in the federal authorities, did not lobby for anyone's interests. But what happened happened, ”said the source of the publication.

According to Polyakov, Kupkenov now has a lawyer by appointment. “We did not contact him, lawyers by appointment usually do not make contact,” the interlocutor of the publication concluded.

Rosprirodnadzor has already responded to the incident with a mean message

« UNFORTUNATELY, THESE GUYS APPEAR TO START EVERYTHING»

A BUSINESS Online source in Moscow, not connected with Tatarstan and close to the former leadership of Rosprirodnadzor, said that he had known in advance about the impending operation. “I had no doubt that this would end, unfortunately, information that some money was being collected has been actively circulating lately,” the source said. - I was sure that the situation would lead to detention. We can guess, but to be honest, I think this is a serious problem for Artem Sidorov too. Since the investigation is underway, I do not want to get ahead of the locomotive. But, as far as I know, appropriate operational monitoring was carried out. There are a lot of questions not only about this particular transfer of money, but also other amounts appear. Unfortunately, apparently, these guys put everything on stream.

The source of the publication noted that during the period of operational observation, which was carried out by the investigators, other illegal episodes committed by Sidorov's subordinates were also revealed. “There were several more such stories, for example, as far as I know, there is a muddy story with the head of Rosprirodnadzor in the Primorsky Territory,” the source said. - There was also a muddy story with the head of the anti-corruption department. Literally 1.5 months ago, there were serious complaints against the head of the department, the conduct of investigative actions at his old place of work. How can a person against whom there are complaints from law enforcement agencies be appointed head of the anti-corruption department? Unfortunately, besides these stories, I have not heard anything else about the work of Rosprirodnadzor, so that any damages and fines are calculated.”

According to the source of BUSINESS Online, the applicant in the case was Eliseev, whose dismissal, by the way, was a matter of time. “The topic with Eliseev has been going on for a long time, they have been planning to fire him for a long time, he is somehow holding on, apparently, this time he still had to declare that they were extorting money from him,” the source noted. - As far as I know, the guys promised to leave him for this money. Imagine: one official takes from another, so as not to be fired from work. Do you understand that this is Sidorov's personal assistant? Now everything depends on the testimony of this young man [Dmitry Valenza]. By the way, Sidorov himself, like his assistant, worked as a policeman. As far as I understand, everything now depends on the testimony of this young man. For Sidorov, this is a serious problem, which can threaten not only with dismissal. I hardly believe that the former policeman made the former policeman his assistant, and he collected money without informing the head. Hard to believe. And the second detainee is a businessman from Tatarstan. Apparently, people came to earn money.”

“HE IS GOAL LIKE A FALCON, IN KAZAN WITH WIFE THEY LIVED IN A STANDARD STALIN HOUSE, WE NEVER LEAVED ABROAD!”

An opposite view of what is happening at the source of the publication, who is closely acquainted with the Walenza family. According to him, three versions of the reasons for the events are now being discussed. First, the criminal case was the result of a confrontation between Sidorov and the old teams of Rosprirodnadzor in the federal districts. The second is a warning shot against Moscow and Tatarstan in the style of "either you agree to our terms, or ...". The third is a big dig under Sidorov personally. “Most often, the second and third versions are combined,” the interlocutor of the publication explained.

The first hypothesis is supported by the inevitable intra-departmental conflict, which Sidorov provoked with his official zeal and desire to restore order in the entrusted department, which has long been thundering with corruption scandals. “He was given certain tasks, including restoring order in the federal districts of Rosprirodnadzor,” the source of the publication noted. - They started from the Far East - they went out with an inspection, as a result of which they took measures, if necessary, fired managers or other persons. This is how they marched from the Far East towards Moscow. Just when this story happened, they were trying to remove the head of Rosprirodnadzor of the federal district for what was happening in the department.”

Appointed in September 2015 as the head of Rosprirodnadzor, Artem Sidorov was the former Minister of Ecology of Tatarstan Photo: rpn.gov.ru

In part, the arrest could also have a symbolic meaning. The reason for such gossip is the personal biography of Valenza - he previously worked in the personal bodyguard of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov. The choice of Sidorov as a victim is explained by his still weak positions in Moscow. “Who can Muscovites touch from among immigrants from Tatarstan? Former construction minister Marat Khusnullin? He sits tightly and for a long time, communicates with many, this is a more serious figure than Sidorov, who came a year ago and did not have time to gain a foothold in his post, ”the source of BUSINESS Online explained.

According to the interlocutor of the publication, the financial situation of the arrested person does not allow him to build the image of a bribe taker out of him. “In the past, he was an honest policeman, after university he went to the police, then worked in the protection of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, left there as an assistant to the then Minister of Ecology Sidorov, worked for a year and a half and moved to Moscow with his boss,” the source listed Valenza’s biography. - Together with his wife, they lived in a rented apartment with their aunt along with three children. He doesn’t even have his own car, I know that he repeatedly intercepted money before the salary. He works from morning to night, constantly on business trips. He's naked as a falcon, wearing Colin's jeans and a Suvari suit. For the last New Year, he gave his wife an annual fitness subscription to visit the gym in the morning. They didn’t have suburban real estate in Kazan, they lived in an ordinary “Stalinka”, they never flew abroad on vacation!”

At the same time, the interlocutor of the publication points to the demonstrative nature of the operation. “The preventive trial was scheduled for 3:00 pm yesterday, but the car with Dmitry stopped on the way from the detention center to the court and stood on the road for about an hour, probably waiting for the media to come to court. The guys were already taken to the prepared press. I believe that the choice of a preventive measure is an indicator of the ordered nature of this whole story. Valenza is too insignificant a person, he is not the head of the department and not a deputy, just an assistant, what kind of media? There are usually no journalists at such small trials, the source is surprised. - It is not clear why the media write that they have admitted their guilt. Maybe they put pressure on him, forced him, somehow bargained ... "

DETAINED BUSINESSMAN RAFIS KUPKENOV

According to a BUSINESS Online source, the second detainee, Kupkenov, also served as Sidorov's assistant. True, in the very department of Rosprirodnadzor "BUSINESS Online" this information has not yet been confirmed. But if this is so, then the ill-wishers of the head of Rosprirodnadzor fired two warning shots at once.

From January 2013 to February 2015, Kupkenov, as already mentioned, held a very significant post - director of a subsidiary of Transneft JSC Sredne-Volzhsky Transnefteprodukt. From July 31, 2015 to this day, he has been the General Director of Gazprom Teploenergo Kazan LLC, engaged in heat and water supply. 49% of the capital of this company is controlled by Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Kazan, headed by Rinat Khanbikov. Another 51% is controlled by Gazprom Teploenergo. That is, today Rafis Enverbekovich heads one of the "granddaughter" structures of Gazprom.

Let us clarify that Kupkenov is not directly involved in any other existing businesses, so it is not entirely correct to call him an entrepreneur.

So, in September 2014, the International Alliance West-East LLC was abolished, where Kupkenov owned only a quarter of the capital. In March 2014, Estra Oil CJSC, which specialized in the wholesale trade in fuel, was liquidated. In July 2011, it ceased operations by merging with another legal entity ExtraOil LLC, the main activity was dental services. In these companies, Kupkenov acted as the sole founder. Also in July 2011, the Almetyevsk LLC Faeton and LLC ARS-industry, engaged in the trade in building materials, were liquidated. In these companies, Kupkenov owned a third of the capital.

Note that Rafis Kupkenov has an influential brother Rifkat Kupkenov, in the past the prosecutor of Almetyevsk, who then moved to the capital. According to our sources, just today he is being escorted to retirement from the post of senior assistant to the prosecutor of Kazan. Whether the two events are connected is difficult to say. Third brother - Iskender Kupkenov well known doctor.

It is believed that Sidorov was a protégé not only from Tatarstan, he was also moved vertically by the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Russian Federation Sergey Donskoy Photo: kremlin.ru

PROTEGUE OF DONSKOY AND FAVORITE OF MINNIKHANOV

Appointed in September 2015 as the head of Rosprirodnadzor, Sidorov was the former Minister of Ecology of Tatarstan. It is believed that he was a protege not only from Tatarstan, but he was also moved vertically by the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation. Sidorov, as they wrote then, got a difficult economy - the chair of the head of Rosprirodnadzor was empty for quite a long time, and his former boss Vladimir Kirillov into voluntary resignation. The lack of "environmental" roots and even the alleged criminal past were blamed on him.

Sidorov, against his background, seemed like an ideal option - a professional ecologist with vast administrative experience in this area. Yes, and with a crystal clear biography. Sidorov received a diploma in environmental engineering from KNRTU-KAI. For two years he worked as a manager in the Ministry of Ecology of the Republic of Tatarstan, then for four years in the Office of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, and finally, in November 2010, he headed the Ministry of Ecology. By the way, then he changed Agliama Sadretdinova, who left the post against the background, and Sidorov had to patch up the reputational gaps of a negative attitude towards environmentalists for quite some time.

Sidorov's work as Minister of Ecology was recognized as successful. At least, he did not tarnish the honor of the uniform with major scandals. The minister enjoyed great confidence of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, so even after his appointment to Moscow, Sidorov often visits Tatarstan and is in constant contact with Minnikhanov. In Tatarstan, Sidorov was remembered for his initiative to pay money to citizens for information about unauthorized dumps and illegally developed quarries. Sidorov's asset can also be recorded as a long-term principled "butting" with TAIF around the reconstruction of bio-treatment facilities (BTP) in Nizhnekamsk. There were also scandals with a minus sign - for example, the history of insufficiently careful, according to the environmental community, improvement of the Blue Lakes. He was also reproached for the fact that the minister did nothing against the backfilling of the Volga by the Kazan PSO structures.

Artem Sidorov got a difficult economy - the chair of the head of Rosprirodnadzor was empty for a long time Photo: rpn.gov.ru

“I KNOW THAT THE ATMOSPHERE IN ROSPRIRODNADZOR BECAME BETTER”

BUSINESS Online experts doubt that the current situation threatens Sidorov with resignation, and call the incident a provocation.

Fatih Sibagatullin- Deputy of the State Duma from the Republic of Tatarstan:

- To understand - apparently, staged a provocation. Sidorov fought with them, he wanted to remove him [Konstantin Eliseev] or leave him as a deputy. There are such forces behind him - Zyuganov's first deputy. The person who staged the provocation was an assistant to the communist Vladimir Kashin for 15 years. He supervised the group of our committee on ecology and natural resources, now he is on agrarian issues. Sidorov was given a written instruction to remove him and the entire team. He removed two deputies as well. O. the leader remained.

Timur Nagumanov– Commissioner for the protection of the rights of entrepreneurs of the Republic of Tatarstan:

- I learned about it only from your materials that appeared in your publication yesterday. This is news to me too. I don't know the details. I think that everyone should now focus only on what is happening in the investigating authorities. Only they can really objectively understand the situation, draw some conclusions.

I personally know Artem Sidorov well from the process of working with him, when he was still in the presidential administration, in the Ministry of Ecology. He has always been such a good example of an open statesman. He remains so to this day, even when questions arise within the framework of the council on ecology, we always get such a balanced, competent position from him, practical, negotiating. He is actually a good opponent, a manager, a person who makes very balanced and correct decisions. I can only say good things about him, but I don’t know how this whole story will end. I will follow the materials in the media, because this is also important and interesting for us. I can’t join any of the versions, I don’t know the situation. But I can say for sure that Artem Georgievich works in a position that is complex and resonant in itself, connected with very large issues that need to be regulated specifically for nature protection. There may potentially be conflicts with large corporations, with their interests. Of course, with his inherent healthy rigidity and adherence to principles, he certainly began to work with these issues. I saw this indirectly through his activities. But what really caused it, I cannot say. I can't come up with any version.

I hope that this whole situation does not threaten him with resignation. He will choose the most correct position himself, for sure, as before, he will be open and impartial in this situation.

Oleg Mitvol- former deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor:

“Unfortunately, serious problems are connected with the fact that the assistant manager, instead of dealing with environmental issues, especially since the Year of Ecology has been announced, has dealt with the personnel issue of Mr. Eliseev. He had long been offered to be fired, but, apparently, the assistant manager suggested that he stay. I can’t say anything criminal about Artem Sidorov, because the investigating authorities did not show him anything. But the story itself casts a serious shadow on the team from Tatarstan.

Ivan Blok- Greenpeace Program Director:

- With the advent of a new leader, it got better, at least, the problems of internal relationships, caused, among other things, by the sad story of the old leader, disappeared. I won't dwell on it. But, on the other hand, the trouble is that during the work of Artem Sidorov, the number of inspectors in Rosprirodnadzor was further reduced by the government of the Russian Federation, now there are only 1,900 positions of inspectors left, while their salaries have not risen. Therefore, I can’t say anything bad about the leader, but due to the fact that there are layoffs and small earnings ... As far as I know, territorial inspectors can receive a salary of 12 thousand rubles a month. It is clear that this work is not very stimulating.

I do not undertake to assess the current situation with a bribe. I am familiar with Sidorov, I was much less familiar with the old leader, I know him more from documents and from the old days, when he worked in the Leningrad region, when he committed certain negative actions. According to Sidorov, I didn’t have any negative information, I don’t want to evaluate it negatively. I know that the atmosphere in Rosprirodnadzor has become better. But assessing bribes is a matter for law enforcement agencies.

“For Sidorov, this is a serious problem, which can threaten not only with dismissal. "Kingdom of Corruption" by Yuri Trutnev

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