Officials are seeking to recover 805.5 million rubles from the company

The Capital Construction Department of the Sochi Administration is seeking in court to recover 805.5 million rubles. from one of the largest infrastructure builders in Russia - Omsk NPO Mostovik. Officials say that the general contractor missed the deadline for the delivery of sewerage pumping stations and water pipelines that should be connected to the Olympic venues. Mostovik intends to appeal the claim. In total, the Sochi authorities intend to recover about 4.5 billion rubles from NGOs in court. Experts believe that it is more profitable for the parties to reach a settlement agreement.

The penalty that Sochi officials calculated for Mostovik exceeds the company’s own capital.
Photo: Vasily Deryugin, Kommersant / buy photo

The Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Territory registered a claim by the municipal government institution of the city of Sochi, the Capital Construction Administration (UCS), to recover 805.5 million rubles from the Omsk Research and Production Association (NPO) Mostovik LLC. As arbitration press secretary Kristina Gudmanova told Kommersant, the Sochi authorities are demanding repayment of the debt for delaying construction and installation work at seven sites. The court did not explain which particular objects, but added that Mostovik carried out the construction work within the framework of a government contract concluded on February 20, 2012. The lawsuit will be accepted by the court within five days.

As Kommersant found out, we are talking about a state contract between the authorities of Sochi and NPO Mostovik for the construction of eight water supply and sanitation facilities (sewage pumping stations and water pipelines) for the Olympic venues in Sochi worth 3.079 billion rubles. The results of the auction were summed up on February 16 last year. According to documentation from the government procurement website, the general contractor was supposed to complete the construction work in January 2013.

NPO Mostovik LLC was created in 1982. It built a bridge to Russky Island (one of the largest projects for APEC, cost $1 billion), is a contractor for the construction of the Big Ice Arena in Sochi ($300 million), and won a competition to prepare design documentation for the construction of a stadium in Kaliningrad for the World Cup. The co-owner and general director of the NGO is Oleg Shishov, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Omsk Region, member of United Russia. According to company estimates, the volume of work performed is 45 billion rubles. in year. According to Nalogovik company partner Dmitry Lipatov, last year the value of assets reached 60 billion rubles, equity capital - 3.8 billion rubles, net profit - more than 700 million rubles.

This is not the first legal claim of the Capital Construction Administration against the Omsk enterprise. In April, officials filed a claim with the Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Territory to recover 1.7 billion rubles from Mostovik, and in July - for another 1.9 billion rubles. Court hearings are scheduled for December 20 and January 16. Sochi authorities yesterday refused to comment on the claims against Mostovik, saying only that “the additional agreement to government contracts provides for the collection of a penalty for failure to meet deadlines in the amount of 2 million rubles. in a day".

“After the official document is received by the Omsk association, we will exercise our right to challenge the claim in accordance with the procedure established by law,” Irina Boger, head of the NGO press service, told Kommersant. Ms. Boger could not explain whether the controversial water supply facilities had been completed.

Experts believe that it is more profitable for the Sochi administration to reach a settlement agreement with Mostovik. “If the sanctions turn out to be beyond the company’s capabilities, then it is quite possible that the city budget will not receive anything at all for all its claims,” explained Dmitry Lipatov, partner of the Nalogovik company. The expert also recalled that in 2013, the company’s management stated that the Sochi construction projects for the company were on the verge of losses. “The company covered current losses on unfinished projects in Sochi with income from other construction projects. The amount of legal claims is 4.5 billion rubles. is very noticeable for the company and can reduce its financial stability,” the expert suggested.

In Sochi, not only the authorities, but also law enforcement agencies have complaints against the Omsk Mostovik. In August last year, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the initiation of a criminal case against the management of Mostovik. Security officials believe that the company, together with the top managers of the Olimpstroy Group of Companies, artificially raised 2 billion rubles. overestimated the estimated cost of work during the construction of the luge and bobsleigh track in Sochi. The criminal case was initiated based on the results of an audit by the Accounts Chamber of the expenditure of budget funds by Mostovik. His investigation is not yet complete.

Asker Abishov, Omsk

Sochi authorities went to Mostovik