A criminal case has been initiated against the head of the construction company's representative office.

In the Saratov office of Volgomost PJSC, documents were seized as part of a criminal case of attempted fraud against and. O. Head of the representative office of PJSC in Krasnodar Mikhail Penin. Mr. Penin has not yet been charged. According to the investigation, the asphalt concrete surface of the M4 Don highway, the reconstruction of which was carried out by PJSC, did not meet the standards, which led to the ineffective use of 15 million rubles. from the federal budget. In addition, the arbitration court is considering a case for the recovery of 1.1 billion rubles. penalties under the claim of the Avtodor Group of Companies. Volgomost PJSC considers the initiation of the case illegal.

As Kommersant learned, employees of the prosecutor’s office of the Krasnodar region seized documents from the office of Volgomost PJSC. The Krasnodar police did not comment on this circumstance, but the regional prosecutor’s office explained that the seizure of documents could have been carried out as part of a criminal case against a group of unidentified persons and the head of the Krasnodar representative office of Volgomost PJSC Mikhail Penin under Part 3 of Art. 30, part 4 art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (attempted fraud on an especially large scale). The case was initiated on May 8 of this year based on the results of an inspection by the prosecutor's office of the Krasnodar Territory of compliance with the legislation on highways and road activities when the contractor performed work on the repair of the M4 Don highway in the Korenovsky district of the Krasnodar Territory. Supervisors identified a discrepancy between the asphalt concrete pavement and GOST requirements, which, in their opinion, led to ineffective spending of funds allocated from the federal budget in the amount of over 15 million rubles. Mr. Penin has not yet been charged.

PJSC Volgomost was founded in 1961. The enterprise, registered in Saratov, includes eight bridge crews, a mechanization department and the Volgoproektstroymost design division. The main activities of the joint-stock company are the construction of bridges, elevated roads, tunnels and underground roads and the operation of road structures. The company's net profit at the end of 2013 amounted to 910.5 million rubles. Operates in more than 15 regions of Russia.

It should be noted that in mid-April, the Moscow Arbitration Court resumed proceedings on the claim of the Avtodor Group of Companies to recover a penalty in the amount of 1.1 billion rubles from Volgomost. under an agreement on the reconstruction of a section of the M4 Don highway in the Krasnodar Territory. The hearing of the claim is scheduled for June 26. Prior to this, the proceedings were suspended until the decision on the dispute regarding the illegality of Avtodor’s unilateral termination of the contract with Volgomost for the reconstruction of a section of the M4 highway came into force. The Moscow Arbitration Court initially upheld Volgomost's claim, but the decision was overturned on appeal.

The contract for the reconstruction of a section of the M4 Don highway in the Krasnodar Territory was concluded in June 2012. The work was supposed to be completed in December 2014, but in October 2014 Avtodor unilaterally terminated the contract and demanded a refund. The state-owned company motivated its decision by the fact that Volgomost was allegedly missing the deadlines for completing the work.

The head of the press service of the Avtodor Group of Companies, Ekaterina Varenova, explained to Kommersant that the company has long been seeking in court the return of budget funds that have been in use by Volgomost PJSC since March 2014. “Then Volgomost received an advance payment as part of the contract for the reconstruction of the M4 Don section. However, the contractor did not fulfill his obligations under the contract, and therefore the amount paid to him is being recovered,” said Ms. Varenova. The Civil Code also said that issues of initiating a criminal case “are not within the competence of Avtodor.” “The state company does not and cannot have anything to do with forceful actions against anyone,” noted a representative of Avtodor.

General Director of Volgomost PJSC Sergei Zinchenko told Kommersant that the company considers the initiation of a criminal case illegal. “We will file an official complaint against the actions of law enforcement agencies,” said Mr. Zinchenko.

Sergey Petunin, Saratov

The investigation proceeded along Volgomost