An official investigation was launched against the head of the Federal Property Management Agency Olga Dergunova for traveling abroad without the necessary permission, Vedomosti learned. As the publication points out, this violation may be one of the reasons for her resignation.

Head of the Federal Property Management Agency Olga Dergunova (Photo: Pavel Bednyakov/TASS)

Last week, information appeared in the media again about the impending resignation of the head of the Federal Property Management Agency, Olga Dergunova. Sources of the Vedomosti newspaper spoke about one of the reasons for the possible resignation: according to two officials, whose names the publication does not name, an internal investigation was opened against her.

The publication's interlocutors said that an official investigation against Dergunova was launched because of her travel abroad, for which there was no permission. An acquaintance of the head of the Federal Property Management Agency told the publication that Dergunova went to her dacha in Finland, for some reason without receiving the necessary permission from the minister. As the publication notes, such a violation could lead to deprivation of access to secret documents, which essentially means inevitable resignation. The Ministry of Economic Development did not comment on this information to the publication.

At the same time, the newspaper’s sources call the main reason for Dergunova’s imminent resignation a conflict with the head of the Ministry of Economic Development, Alexei Ulyukaev. According to four federal officials cited by the publication, Ulyukaev tried to speed up the “big privatization,” and Dergunova was in no hurry to carry out some instructions if there were no formal grounds.

Vedomosti's interlocutors claim that the conflict between Dergunova and Ulyukaev began shortly after the appointment of the minister. He instructed Dergunova to transfer the Kislovodsk health resort park to regional authorities, citing the president’s instructions, but Dergunova was against it, fearing misuse of the park, the publication’s sources say. The presidential administration told her that there was no formal order from the president for such a transfer. As an official familiar with Dergunova told Vedomosti, she understood that she would be personally responsible for everything, and said: “At night I sleep peacefully - this is important for me.”

The press service of the Federal Property Management Agency clarified to Vedomosti that by order of April 2015, the Kislovodsk Resort Medical Park was given the status of “national”. In 2016, the FBGU should be created, to which the property complex of the park will be transferred, and until then the Federal Property Management Agency will remain the coordinator of activities for its conservation.

According to the publication’s interlocutors, Dergunova had many defenders among high-ranking officials. In February, according to two officials, she had a conversation with the president, he told her: “For now, work.” But the process could no longer be stopped, Vedomosti notes. According to a friend of Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, even he admitted that it is impossible to carry out privatization in this regime.

Dergunova has served as head of the Federal Property Management Agency since 2012. Kommersant reported about her possible resignation back in January, but then she retained her post. sources On April 7, TASS in the government and banking circles said that Dergunova was leaving her post and going to work at VTB as deputy chairman of the board. This information was confirmed by RBC’s source in the government.

RBC's interlocutor in the government said that three candidates are being considered to replace Dergunova - one former official and two current ones. Previously, the Kommersant newspaper named such candidates as the former deputy head of the Federal Property Management Agency, now the top manager of Norilsk Nickel, Dmitry Pristanskov, the first deputy minister of industry and trade, Gleb Nikitin, and the deputy head of the Presidential Administration, Pavel Fradkov. At the end of January, a source in the financial and economic bloc of the government confirmed to RBC that the main contender is Pristanskov, who worked in the department from 2005 to 2014.

Gazeta.Ru, citing government sources, reported that another possible candidate is Dergunova’s current deputy, Ivan Aksenov. “Dergunova never began to be perceived as a member of the government team. The conflict with the Ministry of Economic Development and the fact that she was characterized as a person closer to the presidential administration than to the White House also had an impact,” explained the publication’s interlocutor. As a market source told the publication, Dergunova has passed the “point of no return” by publicly announcing the intensification of the privatization program. According to him, then the head of the Federal Property Management Agency allegedly said about an order to sell large assets, for example Rosneft, regardless of market conditions and their value.

Vedomosti learned about the head of the Federal Property Management Agency traveling abroad without permission