MOSCOW, August 19 - RIA Novosti / Prime. Almost a year ago, Oleg Belozerov was appointed president of the state-owned Russian Railways (RZD), one of the world's top three railway companies.
Previously, this post was held by Vladimir Yakunin for more than ten years. The change of the head of Russian Railways took place quite quickly. Information about Yakunin's plans to leave Russian Railways appeared on August 17 last year, and already on August 20, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced that Yakunin had submitted a letter of resignation, and Belozerov, who had previously held the position of First Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, was appointed president of Russian Railways.
"This (Russian Railways JSC - ed.), without any exaggeration, is one of the components of the entire Russian economy. A lot depends on Russian Railways in terms of maintaining the competitiveness of the entire country's economy," Russian President Vladimir Putin said to Belozerov at one of the first after appointment appointments.
RIA Novosti tried to find out from the relevant ministries, companies and organizations how the situation in the railway industry has changed with the advent of Belozerov to the post of president of Russian Railways.
"Despite the fact that Oleg Valentinovich Belozerov has been working as president of Russian Railways for only a year, qualitative changes in the work of Russian railway transport are already quite noticeable. In cooperation with the Ministry of Transport of Russia, the company maintains the stable operation of railways and offers new, innovative ideas for the development of the industry" , - Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Maxim Sokolov commented to RIA Novosti.
Profit growth and freight rates
According to Sokolov, thanks to Belozerov's competent management decisions, following the results of the first half of 2016, the company's net profit grew by 1.5 times, the holding's operations were broken even with a minimal increase in the tariff burden, and for the first time in a long period, a course was taken to minimize financial support from the state.
The head of Russian Railways considers the main achievement of the company's profitThe company will continue to work on large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the modernization of the Eastern test site, approaches to ports, and the development of the East-West and North-South transport corridors.The net profit of Russian Railways under RAS in the first half of 2016 increased by 56.6% compared to the same period of the previous year and amounted to 28.6 billion rubles, the company said in a report. As for freight rates, in 2016 they were indexed by 9%, however, due to the application of the tariff corridor, the growth for the whole year should not exceed 7.5%. For the first time in several years, state subsidies for the indexation of the RZD tariff were not allocated.
According to the forecast of the socio-economic development of the Russian Federation, approved by the government, the tariffs for cargo transportation in 2017 are planned to be indexed from January by 4.5%. Belozerov told journalists in May that Russian Railways would not ask for subsidies for freight rates for the next year either.
Russian Railways, continues Sokolov, is actively engaged in attracting cargo to the railway by providing business with preferences within the tariff corridor. In particular, from the beginning of 2016, Russian Railways canceled the export surcharge on the tariff for the transportation of ferrous metals.
The head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia, Igor Artemiev, spoke positively about this decision. “The fact that the leadership of Russian Railways is already beginning to demonstrate flexibility with respect to not just a single company, but a whole class of goods is respectful, this is the right policy to return goods to the railway,” Artemiev said.
In the spring, he told RIA Novosti that the new leadership of Russian Railways had a great deal of confidence. "Including from our side. We must give them the opportunity to work normally. Because if this is a successful reform, we will not get anywhere at all," Artemyev noted.
Interaction with market participants
Alexey Druzhinin, Executive Director of the non-profit partnership "Council of Participants in the Market for the Services of Railway Rolling Stock Operators" (SOZhT), whose participating companies in total control about 70% of the entire rolling stock fleet of the Russian Federation, Alexey Druzhinin, for his part, notes that efforts are visible on the part of the leadership of Russian Railways to improving interaction with operators.
According to him, Belozerov regularly holds expanded meetings with market participants, and joint working groups have been formed at the Center for Branded Transport Services (a branch of Russian Railways) to address operational issues of railway transport.
“We pay great attention to the latest initiatives proposed by the management of Russian Railways in terms of attracting the volume of cargo transportation to the railway. We believe that the initiatives put forward by Russian Railways in the field of tariff regulation will create conditions for attracting goods to railway transport,” says Druzhinin.
In general, he adds, the car turnover has improved, and it can be said that the management decisions made by Russian Railways have improved the operational situation on the network.
Oleg Sienko, General Director of NPK Uralvagonzavod, believes that Belozerov, as a true professional, was able to sort out the key problems between manufacturers and consumers of freight rolling stock in the shortest possible time.
"As a result, with his support, the country's leadership made decisions that actually saved the car building and stabilized the industry, and most importantly, significantly increased the safety of traffic on the railways," Sienko told RIA Novosti.
In addition, the top manager added, the recovery and growth in the level of transportation began almost immediately, and the time for delivery of goods was reduced. The competitiveness of rail transport has begun to grow, especially given the development of the North-South corridor.
Cost optimization
Among the tasks of state-owned companies in recent years is the optimization of costs. Belozerov in October last year at a meeting with Medvedev said that "development is possible only through the optimization of our activities." “It is gratifying to hear, because they usually say: we have already squeezed everything we can, we have already optimized everything, and there are no further opportunities for optimization,” Medvedev answered this.
The work of the new management of Russian Railways in terms of cost reduction was also noted by the Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Anton Siluanov.
“A new management came to Russian Railways, reported that they had reduced the amount of subsidies that come from the budget for the activities of this company. However, tax benefits were received approximately in the amount of the same subsidies. In any case, new people came and began to work on those problems which have not been solved before, and which increase the efficiency of this company, increase its capitalization, increase the level of investments and reduce costs, which is absolutely correct," Siluanov said in March of this year.
Belozerov at a conference call in August of this year confirmed that the vector of the company's development is aimed at increasing internal efficiency, strengthening customer focus, systematic work with costs and rational use of available resources. According to him, in the first quarter, Russian Railways optimized annual expenses by 43.7 billion rubles, and at the moment by another 9.3 billion rubles. “We believe that this is not the limit,” Russian Railways quoted the president of the company as saying.
The Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation also notes the work on optimizing costs. "At the end of last year, expenses on transportation activities were significantly reduced (by almost 40 billion rubles). In the first half of the year, there is also a serious optimization of costs (by 53 billion rubles). The task of replacing state funds of the National Welfare Fund with market borrowings in the amount of 40 billion rubles ", Sokolov lists.
Attention to passengers
One of the important segments of the work of Russian Railways is passenger transportation. Belozerov announced at the end of last year that 2016 was declared the Year of the Passenger by Russian Railways. The company has developed a special plan of several sections. Among them, in particular, the optimization of price offers for passenger transportation, the acquisition of new rolling stock, etc.
"For the first time in the history of railways, the most attentive participation has been given to our passengers," said Sokolov, Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation.
According to him, a comprehensive program for the development of services has been developed, discounts have been provided for children for summer holidays, rolling stock is being updated, high-quality Wi-Fi has been launched at railway stations, passengers' complaints are being carefully considered and measures are being taken.
The Minister recalled the growth in passenger traffic since the beginning of the year by more than 3%, the demand for passenger transportation by high-speed trains and trips in double-decker trains, an increase in traffic in communication with the resorts of the North Caucasus and the Black Sea coast, a positive dynamics of loading (almost 2% over seven months) in difficult economic conditions.
Confidently develop
“In general, I believe that Russian Railways has acquired a responsible leader in the person of Oleg Valentinovich Belozerov, who is able to solve the widest range of tasks for the development of railway transport, maintain the reliable functioning of the industry, and most importantly, ensure the comfort and quality of transportation for passengers,” Sokolov believes.
Russian Railways tariff for 2017 will be linked to budget projections and investment programAccording to the forecast for the socio-economic development of the Russian Federation, approved by the government, tariffs for freight and passenger rail transportation in 2017-2019 are planned to be indexed from January by 4.5%, 4.5% and 4.2%, respectively.“As First Deputy Minister of Transport, Oleg Valentinovich ensured the sustainable functioning of the road sector, was my reliable partner, and I am sure that his professional knowledge and skills will certainly bring positive results in the most important railway industry for Russia,” sums up Sokolov.
"It can be unequivocally said that Oleg Valentinovich's systematic, verified approach to setting goals and achieving goals has shown that even in times of crisis for the economy, the railway industry can confidently develop, and Russian Railways can show good results for the company," the general director of UVZ agrees with the minister.
The change of leadership did not eliminate the corruption component of OJSC Russian Railways
Personnel reshuffles in JSC "Russian Railways" drew the attention of the general public to the processes taking place in the natural monopoly. The departure of Vladimir Yakunin from this non-transparent and very corrupt corporation and the arrival of the former First Deputy Minister of Transport Oleg Belozerov in his place, it would seem, gave a chance for changes in Russian Railways. Alas, so far all the innovations in JSC are only in one direction - for the worse. As before, the railway is a cash cow for a narrow circle of murky individuals and their relatives, pursuing exclusively their own interests.
Wasteful monopoly
With the new leadership, the state corporation continues to squander budget money in record volumes, according to The Moscow Post investigation, citing the second “Prodigal Waste Index” of government customers, published on October 2, 2015 as part of the For Fair Procurement project All-Russian Popular Front(ONF). It is worth recalling that this is not the first time the ONF has pointed to the extravagance of Russian Railways: in April last year, at an off-site meeting in Rostov, ONF experts strongly recommended that the state corporation reduce non-targeted expenses.
It is well known that railroad workers constantly complain about the lack of funds to perform their direct duties, for example, to organize the movement of the same notorious commuter trains. Whether it's a matter of inappropriate spending: in the "Purchase of cars" section, the Russian Railways company with a car for 8.17 million rubles was in second place.
By the way, after the publication of the first “Prodigality Index” by the ONF in July 2015, the railway workers canceled this purchase within 4 hours, but this did not prevent them from placing 4 more applications, which were also included in the “cost rating of state-owned companies”.
As a result, 5th place (7.2 million rubles), 10th place (6.5 million rubles), 20th place (4.9 million rubles) and 40th place (3 .5 million rubles) of the “ONF rating” among the most expensive cars went to Russian Railways, making this state-owned company the leader in the “team standings”.
Obviously, it is on one of these expensive "iron horses" that Mr. Belozerov. In total, the management of Russian Railways spent 22.1 million rubles on 4 new cars. It would be better if the railway workers bought only one car for 8.17 million rubles.
If the career of the new head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov, begins with a scandal over the purchase of expensive cars, then what can we expect from this top manager? Obviously, only new "cuts". And this is not surprising, since Belozerov is considered a "friend of the Rotenberg oligarchs".
St. Petersburg judokas in Belozerov's career
Petersburg media say that Belozerov met Arkady and Boris Rotenberg in the late 1990s, when he worked in " Lenenergo ».
But Belozerov's partner at Lagun OJSC Andrey Kadkin took part in the work of the judo club " Yavara-Neva”, Created by Rotenberg together with Gennady Timchenko.
In addition, Belozerov is well acquainted with Dmitry Kalantyrsky, the former head of the bank " Northern Sea Route”(SMP-Bank), owned by the Rotenbergs.
Tender family of road builders Rotenberg
Of course, the friendship between Belozerov and the Rotenbergs had its “financial equivalent”.
The thing is that the former Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation and the current head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov, from 2004 to 2009 headed Federal Highway Agency("Rosavtodor"), which organized tenders for road construction.
Even then, Belozerov was called in the press "the man of the Rotenbergs."
According to experts, his loyalty to the brothers allowed Rotenberg enter projects for the construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg high-speed highway, the federal highway M-4 Don, M-11 Narva and M9 Baltiya, etc.
10 billion Russian Railways
It would be naive to think that Oleg Belozerov would help Arkady and Boris Rotenberg "out of the kindness of his heart." Spiteful critics claim that Belozerov could take "kickbacks" from the Rotenbergs for "transferring" the most profitable tenders to them.
By the way, at the end of April 2015, Blagosostoyanie, a non-state pension fund (NPF) controlled by Russian Railways, acquired a 38.63% stake in Mostotrest construction company from Marc O’Polo Investments Ltd.
This offshore, like Mostotrest itself controlled by Arkady Rotenberg. It turns out that for almost 40% of the shares of Mostotrest, the Rotenberg structure received 10.04 billion rubles from the Russian Railways fund. Not weak, right?
The fact that Belozerov was appointed head of Russian Railways on August 20, 2015, and the Roitenbergs began to "combine" some of their assets with Russian Railways structures from the end of April of the same year, suggests that the promotion of Deputy Transport Minister Oleg Belozerov to the post of head of Russian Railways could have been planned "special operation" of the oligarch Arkady Rotenberg to seize control of the railway monopoly.
Now this state corporation has actually become a "toy" in the hands of the owner of SMP Bank, and the head of Russian Railways Belozerov, apparently, will do everything that Rotenberg requires of him.
Restless Yakunin
However, even under the former head of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin, "lobbyist motives" were more than once noticeable in the work of this state corporation, and Yakunin himself was often accused of patronizing the commercial structures of his relatives.
Rumor has it that the ex-head of Russian Railways even wanted to move to the Federation Council of the Russian Federation for the sake of a “saving mandate” that gives immunity. At the same time, the Kremlin clearly assisted Yakunin on his way to the senatorship.
For example, on August 20, 2015, it turned out that Yakunin received the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in 2014 (this subtlety was important for entering the Federation Council).
Rumor has it that Vladimir Yakunin simply did not want to be an ordinary senator, and when he was "rolled" with the post of vice-speaker of the Light of the Federation (or even with the position of chairman of the upper house of parliament), he generally lost any interest in senatorship.
Financial "failure" of Russian Railways
Over the past few years, Russian Railways has experienced serious problems. They began long before the financial crisis associated with the collapse of the ruble in December 2014. The thing is that at the end of 2013 the government decided to freeze the tariffs of natural monopolies for 2014. From 2015 to 2017, Russian Railways tariffs are indexed to inflation.
Yakunin said that due to zero indexation, the loss of Russian Railways in 2014 could amount to 60 billion rubles. As a result, the net loss of Russian Railways in 2014 amounted to 99.3 billion rubles. So Yakunin made a mistake with the forecast of “only” 30 billion rubles.
In addition, the management of Russian Railways recalculated the figures for 2013, and due to a change in the methodology and depreciation of assets, the loss for the specified period amounted to about 198.84 billion rubles.
Prior to this, the railway monopoly indicated that in 2013 Russian Railways made a profit of 36.7 billion rubles. It turns out that Yakunin's subordinates, to put it mildly, "cunning."
Counted - wept
The results were disappointing. Despite multibillion-dollar subsidies from the state, a number of regions of Siberia and the Far East still do not have a railway connection, passenger transportation is unprofitable, and indicators of depreciation of fixed assets are high.
Checking the activities of Russian Railways, the auditors paid special attention to the unresolved problem of creating a mechanism for break-even activity in the field of passenger suburban transportation.
“Two-level tariff regulation of this type of transportation, in which the state regulates the tariff for the use of infrastructure, and the subjects of the country — the tariff for the transportation of passengers — needs to be improved. This is confirmed by the fact that a significant part of the suburban passenger companies created as part of the structural reform are operating at a loss,” the Accounts Chamber reports.
By the way, commuter trains are often canceled or delayed altogether. For example, at the beginning of 2015, it was reported about the cancellation or reduction in the number of suburban trains in the Kursk, Bryansk, Smolensk, Kaluga, Oryol and Tver regions.
By the way, at the end of last year, the government agreed to allocate 100 billion rubles to Russian Railways from the National Welfare Fund in 2015. for different projects. And taking into account the fact that in 2016 the monopoly planned to buy 495 locomotives for 71.8 billion rubles, Russian Railways may need even more money from the budget.
It seems that under Belozerov, Russian Railways is going to “milk” the state treasury in the same way as it was under Yakunin. Only this time it will be even more. After all, the new head of the railway monopoly will have to "help" the business of the Rotenberg brothers. So Russian Railways is waiting for new "capital expenditures".
Slaves in the railroad galleys
It is also worth noting that in Russian Railways, under extremely difficult working conditions, extremely low wage levels are observed.
On a plot of almost 7 hectares, there is a complex of six houses, including outbuildings. There is a tennis court. The three-storey main house has a swimming pool, a massage room, a cinema and a greenhouse. Closer to the forest, about 100 meters from the house, there are ennobled ponds.
It is worth noting that Yakunin always appreciated his neighbors in dachas (palaces, mansions, etc.). However, the neighbors of the former head of Russian Railways, as a rule, were influential and wealthy people.
For example, in November 1996, Vladimir Yakunin became one of the founders Dacha cooperative "Lake", along with Vladimir Putin and future oligarch Yuri Kovalchuk.
Cyprus Akulinino
It is very curious that until February 2011, Yakunin himself was the owner of the site in Akulinino, but then the land was transferred to the Cypriot Mirolo Investments Ltd.
The offshore company Mirolo is not a stranger to Yakunin. According to SPARK, this company owns Akulinino LLC in St. Petersburg, which is headed by Sergey Bashkov.
He also heads the legal department of Venture Investments & Yield Management, the investment and management company of Vladimir Yakunin's son Andrey.
Yakunin business clan
Now it’s worth figuring out where Vladimir Yakunin and his family got such wealth from. The Russian oppositionists have already been able to find out many details of how the family business of the Yakunin clan works.
For example, in July 2013, Alexei Navalny published an investigation revealing the offshore schemes of the then head of Russian Railways. The blogger and employees of the Anti-Corruption Foundation discovered a whole "business empire" of Yakunin and his sons, whose firms are registered offshore around the world.
Navalny addressed, in particular, President Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev demanding the resignation of Yakunin and a public investigation into the activities of his family. Applications were also sent to the Prosecutor General's Office, the Investigative Committee, and all parliamentary parties. However, the security forces did not make any claims against Yakunin.
Mr. Yakunin really does not forget about his family. His younger son Viktor Vladimirovich Yakuni n since the mid-2000s, he has been working in the Russian office of the trading company Gunvor at Putin's friend and Yakunin Sr. himself - Gennady Timchenko.
The eldest son of the ex-head of Russian Railways, according to Alexei Navalny, permanently lives with his family in London in a house bought in 2007 for 4.5 million pounds sterling and registered on a Panamanian offshore.
Initially, Andrey Yakunin was a co-founder of Tristar Investment Holdings and served as director of the British investment company Venture Investments & Yield Management (VIYM). According to media reports, VIYM is involved in major development projects on the lands of Russian Railways.
Beloved wife of Yakunin, Natalia, together with the sons of the head of Rostec Sergey Chemezov, his deputy Vladimir Artyakov and the daughter of the head of Transneft Nikolai Tokarev, owns the Meridian hotel complex in Gelendzhik.
Do not think that only Yakunin from the leadership of Russian Railways managed to "get rich" thanks to this state corporation. Take, for example, the former head of the corporate communications department of Russian Railways, Sergei Mikhailov.
So Bobreshov at one time was the president and co-owner of the St. Petersburg non-profit partnership LVB-Holding and LVB-Holding LLC (share - 63%), which includes more than 20 security companies in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Krasnodar, Samara, Pskov and Volgograd.
It is not difficult to guess that following the corporate traditions of the top managers of Russian Railways JSC for working with affiliated structures,.
For example, Russian Railways partners are Krasnodar private security companies from the Rus company and Volgograd private security companies Cobalt-A, Cobalt-S, Cobalt-RT. All of them are part of LVB-Holding. And in Moscow, another "daughter" of this holding - the private security company "Cerberus" is carrying out joint projects with the private security company "RZD-okhrana".
However, apparently, in the case of Bobreshov, “Chekist skill” affected, and he guessed in time to leave the number of owners of LVB-Holding and at least formally transfer powers to his own relative Tatyana Savina, who now owns 63% of the holding. But in fact, Bobreshov still controls it, which means that he receives money from Russian Railways for the needs of his personal business.
Accountant and manager
Next, consider the example of another "continuer of corporate traditions" - the first vice president of Russian Railways Vadim Morozov, responsible for coordinating the production and economic activities of Russian Railways, and Chief Accountant of Russian Railways Galina Kraft .
As it turned out, earlier (from October 2003 to June 2004) Vadim Morozov was the Minister of Railways of the Russian Federation, and Galina Kraft was the Deputy Head of the Finance Department of the Ministry of Railways. But then this "sweet couple" turned out to be co-owners of Zheldorstroy LLC, which, as you might guess from the name, is directly related to the construction of railway facilities.
By the way, Galina Kraft expanded her business to a family business, because her husband, Jacob Kraft, heads the Yamal Railway Company (YaZhDK). Moreover, he owns 10% of the shares of this company. By the way, YaZHDK in August 2015 decided buy a Toyota Land Cruiser 150 PRADO SUV for 2 million 890 thousand rubles and a Mitsubishi L200 pickup truck for 1.7 million rubles for your management . As they say, “you can’t forbid living beautifully” (especially at public expense).
YAZhDK is successfully engaged in transportation from the Korotchaevo station to Yamburg and Nadym-Pristan and is developing the railway infrastructure of the YNAO, attracting investments to complete the construction of the Korotchaevo - Novy Urengoy - Nadym and Novy Urengoy - Yamburg sections. And how can YaZhDK not work successfully if the wife of the head of the company is the chief accountant of Russian Railways.
Gifts for Russian Railways
Now consider the example of the activities of the Moscow company "EVO Impressions" (EVO Impressions), which sells gifts and organizes "corporate parties". It seemed, what does RZD have to do with it? And besides, the owners of EVO Impressions Mikhail Lapidus (70% of the shares of EVO Impressions) and his sister Natalia (15% of the shares) are the children of the senior adviser to the president of Russian Railways Boris Lapidus.
Of course, the adviser to the head of Russian Railways, Lapidus, also does not change corporate traditions. So, EVO Impressions turned out to be a supplier of valuable holiday gifts, which were paid for from the budget of Russian Railways, and RZDstroy somehow “suddenly” appeared among the main clients of EVO Impressions.
Thus, it becomes clear that almost all top managers of Russian Railways receive a good income from companies affiliated with them, which become permanent contractors of Russian Railways.
"Magnitsky List" on the Moscow node
Following this, Prevezon began buying real estate in New York. As a result, the court arrested several expensive real estate objects controlled by Katsyv Jr. in the fashionable Manhattan district, as well as funds kept in the accounts of companies controlled by the son of the former Minister of Transport of the Moscow Region. The seized assets were valued at approximately $24 million.
Mutual responsibility smears like soot
It turns out that the son of the vice-president of Russian Railways may be involved in the withdrawal of the equivalent of $230 million from the Russian budget, but the security forces are not doing anything about this.
According to rumors, if earlier the Katsyv family was “protected” by Yakunin, now Belozerov has become a new “roof” for the former minister near Moscow.
An analysis of the "acts" of the majority of top managers of Russian Railways, from the heads of departments to the president of Russian Railways himself, makes it clear how great the scale of corruption in this organization is.
It is obvious that Oleg Belozerov, who was involved in “lobbying scandals”, considered the “Rotenberg man”, could not be appointed to the post of head of Russian Railways. Experts believe that under him in this transport monopoly, the same “mutual responsibility” that had developed even under Yakunin was preserved. In addition, this “guarantee” has become “larger”.
Apparently, the Kremlin has only one chance to save the "Russian Railways" from complete ruin. To do this, it is necessary to urgently expel all the “proteges of Yakunin” from Russian Railways, remove Belozerov from his post and appoint people who are not connected with the financial interests of the “top” of Russian Railways as new top managers.
And the sooner the Kremlin gets rid of Belozerov and the Yakuninists, the better it will be for the railway monopoly. Otherwise, Russian Railways may "collapse" in the coming years.
This spring, the founder of Russ Outdoor Maxim Tkachev and his partners agreed to sell their shares in the company to Laise (a total of 20.72% of the shares). Also, a well-known American investor, founder of the CTC television channel Peter Gervey (21.85%) and Marathon Outdoor Cooperatief (6%) wanted to sell shares in Russ Outdoor. As a result of the transaction, Laysa could become the owner of a 48.57% stake in Russ Outdoor. The remaining 26.43% of the shares would remain with VTB Capital, 25% with the French company JCDecaux, employees of media companies said.
But the deal was delayed due to the fact that Laysa could not agree on a loan. Laisa was ready to pay $46 million for a stake in Russ Outdoor, employees of two large outdoor advertising operators told Vedomosti. And a person close to Laysa claimed that the amount was “much more.”
Will the Minister of Transport "fly" to places not so remote?
As The Moscow Post previously suggested, a radical reshuffle is imminent in the leadership of the state monopoly Russian Railways. It has become known from well-informed sources that Arkady Dvorkovich, Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation, will take the post of President of the Russian Railways. Thus, the ripening rumors from the resignation of the current head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov, are confirmed. Everything has been moving towards this for a long time, given the reputation "earned" by Belozerov.
Scandals in Russian Railways
Corruption has not decreased under the new head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov. On the other hand, the salary of the head of the corporation has increased: over the past year, the top manager earned 86.2 million rubles.
Mr. Belozerov earned 86.2 million rubles in 2015, the railway monopoly reported on its website.
Interestingly, according to the reports of the state-owned company, the salary of top managers in the fourth quarter of 2015 increased by 2.45 times to 469.8 million rubles. The total amount of expenses increased from 373.3 million to 553.5 million rubles. In annual terms, remuneration increased by 14.5% to RUB 1.6 billion!
Note that the official income of the former head of the state-owned company Vladimir Yakunin in Russian Railways was 4-5.5 million rubles a month, depending on the number of business trips and other factors. This is if you do not take into account the income of his family's offices that receive orders from Russian Railways.
Tell me who your friend is...
The career of the new head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov, is built, as a number of experts note, on friendship with Arkady and Boris Rotenberg.
Thus, the loyalty of the current head of Russian Railways to the brothers allowed the Rotenbergs to enter projects for the construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg high-speed highway, the federal highway M-4 Don, M-11 Narva and M-9 Baltiya, etc. d. Participants in the railway market say that the billionaire wants to privatize part of Russian Railways, but Belozerov is not against it.
Oleg Belozerov, head of Russian Railways
Belozerov met Arkady and Boris Rotenberg in the late 1990s while working at Lenenergo. The Rotenbergs were co-owners of the Rostopprom company, which Belozerov headed in 2002-2004.
At the end of April 2015, Blagosostoyanie, a non-state pension fund (NPF) controlled by Russian Railways, acquired a 38.63% stake in Mostotrest construction company from Marc O’Polo Investments Ltd.
The offshore, like Mostotrest itself, is controlled by Arkady Rotenberg. It turns out that for almost 40% of the shares of Mostotrest, the Rotenberg structure received 10.04 billion rubles from the Russian Railways fund.
It is interesting that in the early 1990s Belozerov became a partner of the St. Petersburg businessman Andrey Kadkin.
Boris and Arkady Rotenberg, Russian billionaires
Mr. Kadkin is now known for the fact that in December 2012 he was arrested in a criminal case on embezzlement of 48 million rubles. from the money for the repair of heating and water supply networks in St. Petersburg. According to the investigative department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the total damage amounted to more than 3 billion rubles. And in the Tverskoy Court, which sanctioned Kadkin's arrest, representatives of the prosecution argued the need for arrest by the fact that Kadkin, in particular, "has extensive connections in state structures."
"Lenenergo"
Working at Lenenergo from 1998 to 2000, Belozerov simultaneously served on the board of directors and was a minority co-owner (0.7%) of the St. Petersburg North-Western Investment and Financial Agency, the main shareholder of which (83.3%) was JSC Lagun . Former employees of this agency noted in their resumes that it "exclusively carried out the entire privatization of enterprises in the Leningrad Region." I wonder if the same fate awaits Russian Railways?
Earlier, Belozerov has already stated that Russian Railways will live without subsidies. Large salaries for top management will be provided through privatization.
It should be noted that all Russian transport is supervised by Maxim Sokolov in the government. Scandal after scandal occurs in the structures of the Ministry of Transport under his command.
The bribery case
About ten employees of the capital's Rostransnadzor, including the head of the Moscow department Igor Surzhik and the head of the southern department of the department Igor Vysotsky, are suspected of taking bribes from several transport companies.
According to investigators, special protection was provided to firms for the money received: managers were informed about planned inspections, and also exempted from paying fines.
With searches at the main office of the Central Administration of State Road Supervision, located on Leningradsky Prospekt, law enforcement officers raided early in the morning on September 28. Shortly before that, they received information that a group of employees of the UGADN was engaged in the fact that they “roofed” a number of commercial companies involved in transportation, both passenger and freight.
For this accommodating management of firms received information about the dates of upcoming unscheduled inspections. And if the system failed, and it was not possible to warn about the “audit”, the patrons helped their wards avoid fines. It has already been established that the amount of bribes exceeded one million rubles, but this is not the limit: the guardians of the law believe that during the investigation this figure will at least double.
The entire list of firms using the "services" of powerful bribe-takers is also established. By the way, the media managed to find out that the leaders of some companies received strange offers of patronage. However, whether they are connected with the scandal in Rostransnadzor is not yet clear.
In June of this year, I received phone calls from strangers who offered to patronize my company, - said the owner of one of the companies engaged in cargo transportation in the capital. - When I clarified what this concept includes, the caller immediately hesitated and offered to meet in person. Then I said that I was not interested and hung up. I haven't received any more calls like this. By the way, from the words of colleagues in the "workshop", I know that they also received similar proposals.
Surveillance?
At one time, employees of Rostransnadzor Timergazeev and Semenov were arrested and convicted in connection with the crash of the ship "Bulgaria".
According to the investigation, they, being responsible for the pre-licensing check, gave a positive conclusion on the readiness of the sub-tenant company "Bulgaria" to comply with the requirements and conditions of the license to carry out activities for the transportation of passengers by inland water transport.
Fraud in Rosavtodor
Employees of the St. Petersburg Department of the Investigative Committee are conducting searches in a criminal case initiated against the deputy head of the department of land and property relations of the federal road agency Rosavtodor. 39-year-old Timofey Meshcheryakov is accused of taking a bribe.
According to investigators, from August 2014 to May 2016, Meshcheryakov received a bribe in the amount of 730 thousand rubles for general patronage in the conclusion, implementation and acceptance of work performed under contracts concluded with commercial structures during the specified period of time.
Experts caught the leadership of "Rosavtodor" in lobbying the interests of Arkady Rotenberg in the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait.
Soon, Mostotrest may become a subcontractor of this project, and Stroygazmontazh will be the general contractor. Both of these companies are controlled by Rotenberg, the correspondent of The Moscow Post found out.
Corruption scandals during the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait continue. The leadership of the Federal Road Agency of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation (Rosavtodor) was suspected of lobbying.
Stroygazmontazh and the Taman Road Administration, controlled by Rosavtodor, signed a contract for the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait.
It is already known that Stroygazmontazh will undertake a little more than half of the work under the contract for a total of 228.3 billion rubles. The most interesting thing is that this company has no experience in building bridges.
In other words, the state order for at least 114.15 billion rubles. will be performed by a structure without experience in the field of bridge construction.
Dubious dissertation
Dissernet found large-scale borrowings in the Ph.D. thesis of the Minister of Transport of Russia Maxim Sokolov. Coincidences with earlier works of other authors were found on 108 pages of Sokolov's work. Coincidences, scientifically speaking, are not formatted according to citation rules. Identical passages sometimes differ only in the replacement of words.
Dietrich
The head of the Ministry of Transport, Maxim Sokolov, is trying to help his old friend Yevgeny Ditrikh in his career as much as possible. In 2015, in particular, the minister achieved the appointment of his comrade as head of the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Transport (Rostransnadzor). Almost immediately from this position, Mr. Dietrich jumped into Sokolov's first deputies.
Eugene Dietrich
Some observers are inclined to consider such a short stay of Yevgeny Ditrikh at the head of Rostransnadzor not so much as a stepping stone to the post of first deputy minister, but as a "business trip" in order to build internal structures within the department in the interests of Maxim Sokolov and place people from the minister's team in key positions. When the task was completed and Rostransnadzor, and especially the financial flows circulating there, were tightly put under the control of people from the Sokolov-Dietrich team, Evgeny Ivanovich went on a promotion, closer to his patron.
How “effectively” these financial flows went at the time of Dietrich is described above ...
Or maybe come back?
Many people associate what is happening in the transport supervisory department with the former industry minister Igor Levitin. Thus, there has long been talk that Alexander Yurchik, the former head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, should be appointed to the post of head of Rostransnadzor.
Igor Levitin
Mr. Yurchik's candidacy received strong support from Presidential Aide, ex-Minister of Transport Igor Levitin, one of the key figures in the industry, under whose leadership significant infrastructure projects were implemented. “It is possible that the appointment of Mr. Yurchik is a kind of foundation for the positions of Mr. Levitin, on the eve of major personnel changes in the transport industry”
According to informed sources in government structures, Levitin, through his connections and pressure, returns his people to the leadership of the transport industry. Does Levitin himself want to enter the same water a second time, replacing the undeciding Sokolov?
Moreover, another department is “crying” for the latter
Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian government, head of the board of directors of Russian Railways Arkady Dvorkovich, according to media reports, will replace Oleg Belozerov as president of the monopoly. In turn, Belozerov may become the Minister of Transport. The reason for the rotation is the unsatisfactory state of affairs in Russian Railways, which, after the departure of Vladimir Yakunin, has not changed for the better. The possible appointment will be a continuation of a major reshuffle in the holding's management. Read more in the material of RIA "FederalPress".
Fundamental reshuffles are expected in the management of the Russian railway monopoly: according to the Russian Planet, Russian Railways President Oleg Belozerov will leave his post, he will be replaced by the head of the company's board of directors, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Arkady Dvorkovich. The main reason for the Kremlin's decision, which is expected to be officially announced on Wednesday, is the unsatisfactory state of affairs in Russian Railways, which has not changed for the better after the departure of former President Vladimir Yakunin. “After Yakunin's departure, order was never restored,” the source said.
Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, introducing the new president Oleg Belozerov to the Russian Railways staff in August last year, from the company to continue to work without disruptions and failures. The possible appointment of Dvorkovich will be the continuation of a major reshuffle in the company's management, when several top managers left their posts following Yakunin.
At the end of September, Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, announced that Mikhail Fradkov would head the board of directors of Russian Railways. Dvorkovich himself, combining public service with a leadership position in the transport monopoly, specializes in economic issues, and in the government oversees, among other things, the transport sector. He was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Russian Railways on June 22, 2015, shortly before the resignation of Vladimir Yakunin.
Russian Railways improved its financial position in 2015-2016, but expects a significant loss next year. Photo: pravda.ru
Judging by reporting companies, last year's figures went up. Thus, a net loss of 44 billion rubles at the end of 2014 was replaced in 2015 by a profit of 318 million rubles, with a planned negative indicator of 26.2 billion rubles. Revenue from transportation exceeded 1,326 trillion rubles (+8.2%), sales profit increased by 43%, to 83.6 billion rubles, with a decrease in passenger turnover by 6.5% and maintaining cargo turnover at the same level, revenue reached 1.5 trillion rubles (+7.8%).
For the six months of 2016, the results also exceeded last year's figures for January-June, net profit under IFRS increased by 70%, to 45 billion rubles, revenue reached 1.040 trillion rubles (+8.08%). The company's forecast for 2016 is also optimistic: according to Russian Railways, net profit could reach 900 million rubles.
However, according to Vedomosti, the company's calculations for 2017 include a loss of 142.4 billion rubles. This is the zero version of the financial plan, taking into account all possible risks, the limiting scenario, drawn up with world and Russian economic and financial forecasts, as well as forecasts for a decrease in loading growth and other main factors on which the state of the monopoly depends. The company itself says that it will continue to optimize costs. According to the newspaper's calculations, the savings should amount to 50.3 billion rubles, subject to a profit of 10 billion rubles.
Also, for RZhD to break even, it is necessary to extend the export surcharge to tariffs or index tariffs for cargo transportation, which may affect producers of crushed stone, coal, ferrous metals and oil products. According to experts, the forecast for the loss is too high, and tariffs can be raised only after assessing the costs. It has been suggested that the corporation named the possible size of the loss in order to obtain favorable financial conditions from the government.
After the departure of Vladimir Yakunin, Russian Railways announced that they would refuse state subsidies. Photo: medialeaks.ru
One of the reasons for the departure of Vladimir Yakunin in August 2015 was the financial component. Thus, a federal official told Vedomosti that the then head of Russian Railways asked for subsidies in the amount of 130 billion rubles to maintain the stability of the monopoly, taking into account the increase in the cost of freight transportation by 7.5% according to the forecasts of the Ministry of Economic Development, or 100 billion rubles with a rise in price by 10%. However, he was offered to limit himself to an amount of 30 or 75 billion rubles. The first option was proposed by the Ministry of Economic Development, the second by Arkady Dvorkovich. At the same time, Yakunin became indignant and said that he could not cut costs and would leave if his request was not supported.
The holding's report for 2015 states that the indexation of freight rates for 2016 was adopted at the level of 9% (including discounts - 7.5%). “For the first time in the last two years, the company will ensure a balance of activities without providing a state subsidy for the overhaul of railway infrastructure facilities,” Oleg Belozerov is quoted in the report as saying. Last year, the volume of state support for Russian Railways amounted to 157.9 billion rubles, of which 105.8 billion were subsidies from the federal budget. In 2016, Russian Railways was left without state support - after the departure of Yakunin, the monopoly for the first time did not ask for financial assistance from the state.
According to Kommersant, no decision has yet been made to index Russian Railways tariffs for 2017 above the inflation rate. “Also, the proposals of Russian Railways on differentiated indexation of tariffs by type of cargo were not reflected in the protocol,” the newspaper writes. At the same time, last week the monopoly offered to index tariffs by 6.8% against a possible 4.5%. The option of general or selective indexation by types of cargo was considered: the maximum growth was provided for the cheapest (by 8.2%), the minimum - for third-class cargo (+2.2%). The effect of indexation was estimated at 39.5 billion rubles. The option of simultaneously canceling the export surcharge for two years was also considered.
In addition, in 2016, Russian Railways planned to raise about 14 billion rubles from the sale of securities of subsidiaries - OJSC Central Suburban Passenger Company (25% minus 3 shares), OJSC BetElTrans (50% minus 2 shares), OJSC VRK -3" (100% minus 1 share), JSC "Kaluga plant" Remputmash "(75% minus 2 shares), as well as the Krasny Put mechanical plant.
The current president of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov, took over as president of the holding on August 20, 2015, officially took office the next day. One of the first documents signed by the president of Russian Railways was an order to award Yakunin with the badge "For Merit in the Development of the Corporation" 1st degree. Previously, Arkady Dvorkovich or Alexander Misharin was called a possible successor to Yakunin. At the same time, the media reported that the Rotenbergs contributed to the appointment of Belozerov. Also, market participants doubted that the industry would benefit from the appearance of Belozerov in the company.
ALL PHOTOS
Oleg Belozerov, First Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, has been appointed head of the Russian Railways OJSC, who allegedly became an ambassador a year ago and can now be elected a senator from the Kaliningrad region. This was stated by the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, whose words are quoted by Interfax.
“I have decided to appoint you as the head of the Russian Railways Joint-Stock Company with simultaneous dismissal of the post of First Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation,” Medvedev said. He instructed Belozerov to immediately begin his duties.
The Prime Minister recalled that Belozerov has become a competent specialist in the field of transport in recent years, he has long been involved in roads, and after becoming First Deputy Minister of Transport, he began to deal with railways.
"Tomorrow all the transfers of duties will be completed. I think that Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, as chairman of the board of directors of Russian Railways, will introduce you," Medvedev added.
He pointed out that the activity of Russian Railways in the field of passenger transportation causes many comments. "There are a lot of complaints here. People are unhappy that the routes are being canceled. On the other hand, the railway should receive money for this and not just be at a loss, but have resources for development," the prime minister said.
Recall that earlier, due to the debts of the regions to carrier companies, part of the electric trains in several regions of the Russian Federation was canceled. They were returned only after devastating criticism of President Vladimir Putin.
Belozerov thanked Medvedev for his trust. He noted that the railways as a whole reflect the state of our country. "Together with the government and the Russian Railways team, we will focus on continuing to improve the efficiency of the company, including in socially-oriented areas, on the transportation of goods, on increasing the speed of movement and on improving the efficiency of investments in the industry," Belozerov said, quoted by TASS.
Yakunin has not yet commented on Belozerov's appointment. In response to calls from RBC, Yakunin wrote an SMS: "Go to hell, I have a deep night!" He did not respond to clarifying questions sent via SMS.
Belozerov's career began in St. Petersburg
A native of the Latvian SSR, Belozerov studied in St. Petersburg. He graduated from St. Petersburg University of Economics and Finance in 1992 with a degree in economics. Then, from 1998 to 2000, he worked at JSC "Lenenergo": first as a deputy commercial director, then as a commercial director, head of the logistics and transport department.
He already has experience in managing an enterprise: from 2002 to 2004, Belozerov was the general director of the Russian Fuel Company. Now he is 45 years old.
In July 2004, Belozerov moved to the Federal Road Agency of the Russian Federation, becoming its deputy head, and in November he headed the department. In 2009, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation. In 2007, while fulfilling this position, he promised the Russians smooth roads without holes.
In May 2015, he took the post of first deputy head of the Ministry of Transport, follows from his biography posted on the website of the department.
As reported, the acting governor of the Kaliningrad region, Nikolai Tsukanov, who is participating in the election campaign for the position of head of the region, nominated the now former head of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin as a candidate for the Federation Council. Yakunin agreed to leave Russian Railways and registered as a candidate member of the Federation Council.
Yakunin has a diplomatic background: he ended a six-year diplomatic career in 1991 as First Secretary of the USSR Permanent Mission to the UN. Headed Russian Railways Yakunin in June 2005. In January of this year, he said he might leave his post due to demands to release income data. His competitors for the post of senator from the Kaliningrad region are the mayor of Kaliningrad Alexander Yaroshuk and the current senator Oleg Tkach. To become a senator without living in the Kaliningrad region, he had to get the rank of ambassador.
The press suggests that it was decided to remove Yakunin due to the fact that he managed the state corporation inefficiently. This opinion, as follows from the review of the InoPressa portal, is shared by Bloomberg observers. A Just Russia candidate for governor of the Kaliningrad region, Pavel Fedorov, called Yakunin's alleged departure to the Federation Council an "honorary pension," Kaliningrad.ru quotes him as saying.
Six years ago, the media reported on the list of reservists who could be appointed to positions of responsibility during a personnel reshuffle. Belozerov was not among them. But there was, by the way, Leonid Melamed, who is now under investigation.