A new episode may appear in the scandalous case of fraud with military property: investigators have questions for the acting. Director of the Department of Property Relations of the Ministry of Defense Olesya Podgornaya. Previously, the Department was headed by Evgenia Vasilyeva, close to ex-minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who is already accused of fraud.

Podgornaya signed agreements for the purchase and sale of military property in Abakan with Vostochny Transit LLC. In June and August 2012, the Ministry of Defense sold at auction two land plots where the former housing and operational unit of the Siberian Military District was located. The territory is planned to be built up with residential buildings. One of the objects, according to military investigators, was auctioned at a price two times lower than its cadastral value: 67.6 million rubles instead of 136.6 million rubles. Denis Lapteykov, assistant military prosecutor for the Abakan garrison, explained to the Izvestia newspaper that we are talking about land with an area of 16.7 hectares, on which there are 13 facilities: a gas station, a battery station, a military vehicle inspection point, a guardhouse, a control and technical and heating point, seven storage facilities. Three companies participated in both auctions: Siberian Resources LLC, Azimut LLC and Vostochny Transit LLC. The last one won, raising the price by exactly one auction step.

Director of Azimut Maxim Melnikov says that this is the first time the company has participated in an auction with the property of the Ministry of Defense, and everything was done within the framework of the law. General Director of Resources of Siberia Vadim Bogdanov said that the auction was “ridiculous”, “there is nothing to butt heads over”, otherwise “a bunch of other companies” would have taken part in the auction. “There is no free land in Abakan; there has been nowhere to build for a long time. This military unit was abandoned about 10 years ago, all the buildings were destroyed, just bare concrete in a field,” says the businessman.

However, according to Izvestia, immediately after the auction, both Melnikov and Bogdanov became co-founders of the winning company, Vostochny Transit LLC, receiving 25% each. Bidders say that the land assessment was carried out by the Abakan administration. Neither Abakan nor the Ministry of Defense could explain why the cadastral value and the starting price at the auction were twice as different.

Let us remind you that seven criminal cases have already been opened regarding fraud with military property, which was sold after budget injections at reduced prices to controlled companies. Former director of the property department of the Ministry of Defense Evgenia Vasilyeva is under house arrest. The former head of the Expert Legal Support Center Ekaterina Smetanova, her former subordinate Dmitry Mityaev and her husband Maxim Zakutailo were arrested on charges of fraud. Recently, Smetanova fully admitted her guilt .

At the same time, as it turned out, the investigation has no claims against former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. Investigators believe that the fraud with the property took place without his participation; he was deceived by his subordinates.

Vasilyeva's successor may become involved in the Oboronservis case