The APEC summit was billed for 15 billion rubles

Another scandal has broken out around Vladivostok’s preparations for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Yesterday, the Accounts Chamber (CA) stated that most of the facilities were built without permits, and 15 billion rubles allocated for construction were spent ineffectively. The auditors have the most complaints against the Far Eastern Directorate of the Ministry of Regional Development (FDM), whose work was supervised by the former deputy head of the ministry, Roman Panov, who is now under arrest.

As of September of this year, out of 67 facilities built in Vladivostok as part of the city’s preparation for the APEC summit, only 23 facilities were officially put into operation, the joint venture said. According to auditors who inspected the administration of Primorye, DDM, and the Rosavtodor Directorate for the Construction of Vladivostok Road Facilities, most of the facilities for the summit were built without permits, and the design documentation and cost estimates for the projects were never examined. “The task was to hand over the facilities for the summit, the work was in emergency mode,” explains one of the federal officials.

The joint venture does not specify which objects are missing documents. According to auditors, the volume of inefficiently used funds reached 15 billion rubles. The total cost estimate for preparing Vladivostok for the summit exceeded 660 billion rubles, of which 31% was allocated by the Russian budget, and almost 64% from extra-budgetary funds. The combined share of the budgets of Primorsky Krai and Vladivostok slightly exceeded 5%.

From the interim report published on the joint venture’s website, signed by auditor Sergei Ryabukhin, it follows that most of the complaints are against DDM. Thus, the directorate, without conducting an examination, approved the estimate for the construction of the Far Eastern Federal University on Russky Island, where the APEC summit was held in September of this year. Initially, it was planned to spend 54 billion rubles on the construction of the university. from the budget of the Russian Federation, then the amount increased to 70 billion rubles.

Previously, the owner of Crocus International (who acted as the general contractor for the construction on Russky) Aras Agalarov explained to Kommersant the adjustment of the estimate by a change in the project: the total area of the future university buildings from the original 200 thousand square meters. m increased to 940 thousand sq. m. m.

Auditors are also confused by the cost of building new apartments for Russky residents. 1.14 thousand square meters were built for resettlers. m of housing for 174.9 million rubles. The joint venture believes that these houses could have been built at half the price. The joint venture also insists that the autonomous water supply system of Russky does not allow providing the island with high-quality drinking water. As one of the federal officials recalls, the idea of laying a water supply system to Russky from the mainland of Vladivostok was actively promoted by the team of the presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District and the Minister of Development of the Far East, Viktor Ishaev. But this would cost the budget 2 billion rubles, while autonomous desalination plants would cost 600 million rubles, says Kommersant’s interlocutor. He cited a letter sent by Russia's Chief Sanitary Doctor Gennady Onishchenko to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in August of this year, which states that "as a result of the study (water samples in Russian - Kommersant ) it was revealed that drinking water meets hygienic requirements."

Yesterday, the joint venture also reported that DDM, before concluding a contract with IG Pioneer LLC, which carried out technical control over the construction of the university and conference center on Russky, transferred about 94 million rubles. In total, Pioneer received over 700 million rubles for its work in Vladivostok. According to SPARK-Interfax, as of November 2011, IG Pioneer LLC belonged to a certain Galina Suvorova. Around these 94 million rubles. At the beginning of November, a scandal broke out: the Chairman of the Government of the Perm Territory, Roman Panov, who was the deputy head of the Ministry of Regional Development in charge of the Far Eastern Directorate, was suspected of theft of these funds. The official is now under arrest. The press service of the Ministry of Regional Development reported that they are ready to provide assistance to the law enforcement agency, as they are interested in an objective investigation of the criminal case initiated as a result of the inspection of the APEC summit facilities.

One of the officials in the Russian government says that back in May, the first Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, who oversaw the preparations of Vladivostok for the APEC summit, sent a letter to the then head of the Ministry of Regional Development Viktor Basargin with a request to conduct an internal audit of the officials supervising the work of the DDM and delaying the progress of construction objects for the APEC summit. Another federal official notes that this letter from Mr. Shuvalov followed the conclusion of the Prosecutor General’s Office, which indicated that the directorate was not actually fulfilling its functions, delaying the completion of projects.

Khalil Aminov

Disturbance of the guard