Anatoly Serdyukov may be questioned as a witness in the Oboronservis case

As Kommersant has learned, as part of an investigation into a high-profile case involving the sale of real estate, land plots and shares of enterprises belonging to the Ministry of Defense at deliberately reduced prices, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov may soon be questioned. As part of this case, the former head of the property relations department of the Ministry of Defense and member of the board of directors of Oboronservice OJSC, Evgenia Vasilyeva, has already given testimony. Her friend has already been taken into custody. Among other things, the investigation intends to find out how, among the non-core assets sold to businessmen, there was a unique and highly profitable 31st State Design Institute for Special Construction (GPISS), which reconstructed cosmodromes, designed silo launchers for the Strategic Missile Forces, nuclear submarine berths and aerospace defense facilities.

Non-core asset

Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov may become a defendant in a high-profile criminal case initiated by the Main Military Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation on grounds of crimes under Part 4 of Art. 159 (fraud), clause “c”, part 3 of Art. 286 (exceeding official powers), part 3 of Art. 285 (abuse of official powers) and part 2 of Art. 201 (abuse of power) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the Investigative Committee, fraud, the damage from which exceeds 3 billion rubles, was carried out in companies affiliated with Oboronservis OJSC, the chairman of the board of directors of which until recently was Mr. Serdyukov. According to Kommersant's information, the investigation still intends to question him as a witness. Recently, as part of this case, the minister’s neighbor, the former head of the property relations department of the military department, 33-year-old Evgenia Vasilyeva, also testified as a witness; on October 25, law enforcement officers conducted a search of her, seizing documents, jewelry and antiques. Ms. Vasilyeva told investigators that she was not involved in any fraud, but the transactions that law enforcement agencies are currently investigating may indicate the opposite.

One of the most scandalous episodes in this case may be the story of the sale of the 31st GPISS, which suddenly turned out to be non-core, whose board of directors until recently was headed by Evgenia Vasilyeva.

As sources in the Ministry of Defense told Kommersant, back in April 2009, when there was talk of corporatizing the institute, the workforce of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "31st State Research and Inspectorate of the Ministry of Defense of Russia", which was the only specialized parent organization in the country for the design of special objects in the interests of the defense and security of the country , addressed a letter to Defense Minister Serdyukov. In it, the institute’s employees, obviously understanding how the proposed privatization scheme for their organization would turn out, opposed the 31st GPISS becoming part of the Oboronservice OJSC holding company, becoming a subsidiary of Oboronstroy OJSC.

However, the minister was not interested in the proposal of the labor collective to corporatize the enterprise as an independent OJSC, 100% of the shares of which would be owned by the state. In the same 2009, the institute was transformed from a federal state unitary enterprise into OJSC "31st GPISS". And in 2011, the enterprise unexpectedly found itself among the non-core assets of the Ministry of Defense.

The buyer of GPISS was taken into custody

In December, based on the directive of Mr. Serdyukov, the board of directors of Oboronstroy OJSC approved the sale of 70% of the shares of the institute to Vita Project LLC, 29.9% to Sosnovoborelektromontazh OJSC, and another share remained with the state in the person of the Minister of Defense. At the same time, as one of the participants in that story told Kommersant, Mr. Serdyukov, according to the law, could have received a so-called golden share, which would have allowed him on behalf of the state to influence the fate of the enterprise, but for some reason he refused this, limiting himself to an ordinary one.

It is worth noting that the search for a buyer at the 31st GPISS, including the branches of the institute in St. Petersburg, Khabarovsk, Kaliningrad and Balashikha that were merged shortly before the sale, was carried out by Legal Support Center Expert LLC, headed by Ms. Vasilyeva’s close friend, Ekaterina Smetanova.

In February of this year, Ms. Smetanova was caught committing fraud by trying to sell the building of a former military trade office in Samara at a reduced price and without competition. However, as Kommersant learned, a criminal case was opened against her under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud) was recently terminated by the ICR. One of the reasons was allegedly insufficient evidence that she committed a crime. The fact is that during negotiations with the buyer of the Voentorg, Mrs. Smetanova did not voice any amounts, and she could not see the numbers written on paper by the visitor (rollback of 18 million rubles), as evidenced by the doctor’s certificate, since she suffers from myopia. True, Ms. Smetanova was not free for long. Yesterday she was again summoned for questioning by the Investigative Committee, after which she was detained for two days. According to Kommersant's information, this time she became a defendant in a big case about abuses and fraud in the structures of Oboronservis.

“It became clear how the corporatization would end after it became clear that Vita Project is 100% owned by Expert. This organization not only found a buyer for itself, but also received a percentage from the institute for organizing the search,” said “ Kommersant" one of the employees of the 31st State Civil Aviation Inspectorate. The shares themselves were sold for 145 million rubles. As employees of the 31st State Civil Inspectorate say, this is at least half the market price. And in order for the appraiser to get the required figure, shortly before the appraisal, about another 140 million rubles were allegedly withdrawn from the institute’s accounts. Shortly after purchasing a controlling stake in the institute, Vita Project was sold to Remiz LLC, owned by a certain Viktor Agibaev.

As for the second owner of the 31st GPISS, OJSC Sosnovoborelektromontazh, this structure is part of the large construction holding Titan-2. The founder of the holding was Grigory Naginsky, now director of the Federal Agency for Special Construction. Previously, in 2003-2010, he was a senator from the Leningrad region, and in 2010-2011, he was the head of cantonment and arrangement, and Deputy Minister of Defense.

Commercial GPISS was served in a state manner

According to operational data, now the owners of the 31st State Civil Aviation Institution are allegedly considering the option of selling the institute, where at least half of the staff is a carrier of secret information, to foreign investors. However, according to the law, as long as at least one share remains with the Ministry of Defense, this is impossible to do. However, if necessary, there is hardly anything that can prevent Mr. Serdyukov from getting rid of it.

By the way, one of the buildings of the 31st GPISS in the very center of Moscow (Smolensky Boulevard, 19), where a library with secret documentation and special laboratories is located, was already sold in August last year to a certain Teorema LLC for 1.6 billion rubles. True, then the institute rented the same building for 120 million rubles. in year.

It is also worth noting that after the 31st GPISS became a purely commercial structure, the Ministry of Defense suddenly began to pump it with orders. At the same time, on the initiative of Mr. Serdyukov, in March 2012, by order of the Russian government, OJSC "31st GPISS" was determined to be the sole executor of the state order placed by the Ministry of Defense for the implementation of research and design work in the field of special, combined arms and general construction in 2012-2013. According to some reports, this year alone the institute has concluded government contracts worth 15 billion rubles. At the same time, the expected profit, which, according to various estimates, could range from 2 to 3 billion rubles, will go not to the state, but to businessmen. Let us note that in 2011, the revenue of the 31st GPISS amounted to 457.5 million rubles, and the net profit was just over 34 million rubles.

And about. The general director of the institute, Mikhail Petrushov, told Kommersant that he was not ready to comment on the circumstances of the corporatization and sale of the institution he heads. By the way, from January 2011 to June 2012, the institute changed four general directors. Kommersant was unable to contact Evgenia Vasilyeva. As it turned out, in August of this year she resigned as chairman of the board of directors of OJSC 31st GPISS and lost her post on the board of directors of OJSC Oboronservice, although on the company’s website her name is still listed among other managers.

The Ministry of Defense did not discuss a possible summons of the minister for questioning, but noted that the 31st State Civil Aviation Inspectorate played an important role in the structure of Oboronservis. “The 31st GPISS was included in the ministry for a long time, being on its balance sheet,” says Kommersant’s interlocutor in the military department. “At the same time, the volume of internal orders for engineering and geological surveys was small, the institute received much more profit for projects on territorial planning. When it was transferred to an open joint-stock company and included in Oboronstroy (a division of Oboronservis - Kommersant ), the structure was endowed with virtually monopoly rights." In addition, according to him, the revenue of JSC 31st GPISS was the largest of all the institutes included in Oboronstroy.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin spoke about the situation around Oboronservis OJSC. “We must wait for the work of the investigative authorities. They have already been given such publicity that will allow them to act fully. I think that we live in a situation, in a country where making this or that case public does not make it possible to forget this case. Let’s hope for an objective investigation,” Mr. Rogozin noted on the Vesti-FM radio station.

Oleg Rubnikovich

The Minister of Defense will be called soon