“Important stories”: Mishustin’s new ministers got rid of suspicious assets before their appointment

The new ministers of nature, construction and energy, appointed in November, could own expensive real estate and carry out government contract transactions through relatives. This follows from the investigation of "Important stories".

The new Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology, Alexander Kozlov, at the age of 30 headed the Ministry of Housing and Public Utilities of the Amur Region, at 33 he became the mayor of Blagoveshchensk, at 34 - the head of the Amur Region, and at 37 - the Minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic. According to Important Stories, with each new appointment, Kozlov arranged relatives and friends for prestigious positions in state structures. The publication notes that after Kozlov became the mayor of Blagoveshchensk, his close friend was appointed director of the large municipal enterprise Road Maintenance Department. The relatives of the minister's friend are now also registered companies that bring in billions of rubles in income.

After one of Kozlov's relatives became the head of the Blagoveshchensk Management Company, controlled by the state, it immediately became the largest in the city. At the same time, the company was soon declared bankrupt, but one of the former directors of the organization told Important Stories that the bankruptcy could have been planned.

Also, according to journalists, Kozlov could arrange relatives for the position of heads of the Gorod news agency subordinated to the mayor’s office of Blagoveshchensk, the municipal Operational and Economic Service and the largest management company Amurskaya, in which the state invested half a billion rubles in 2019.

Kozlov himself partially commented on the information, saying, among other things, that the Blagoveshchensk Management Company was not the largest in the city and managed an uncomfortable housing stock with a high risk of non-payment, which is why it went bankrupt.

In addition, as the newspaper notes, Kozlov owned elite housing and tried to hide it by selling it to Spetspromstroy, owned by his relatives. This company owns plots and buildings in Blagoveshchensk and Raychikhinsk, where Kozlov studied and worked, as well as an apartment in the very center of Moscow with an area of ​​76 square meters. In addition, 16 cars, presumably belonging to the Kozlov family, were registered with the company. Moreover, Important Stories notes that both Spetspromstroy and the Kozlovs' income cannot cover all the costs of transport and real estate.

The new Minister of Construction and Housing and Public Utilities Irek Fayzullin, according to Important Stories, is close to the head of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, a member of the State Council under the President of Russia, and Marat Khusnullin, who in 2020 became Deputy Prime Minister and now oversees the Russian construction industry. Moreover, the publication notes that Fayzullin and Minnikhanov lived next door in the village of Ilyino near Kazan. Faizullin also has two houses with an area of ​​144 and 71.5 square meters. meters in the dacha non-profit partnership "Les", which his family acquired in 2009. In total, according to journalists, the Faizullins spent from 20 to 30 million rubles on real estate during that year, with an estimated total income of four million and three hundred thousand rubles a year.

The publication writes that almost a month before taking office, Fayzullin sold the site in Ilyin to the Eurostroyholding + company, the main customer of which is Glavinveststroy, controlled by the Ministry of Construction of the Republic of Tatarstan.

"Important stories" also found expensive plots and houses in the Moscow region from Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov, who worked for state-owned energy companies for many years. They passed to his relatives in 2019.

On November 10, State Duma deputies voted to appoint Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Saveliev to the post of Minister of Transport, and also approved all the candidates proposed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

So, in the lower house of the Russian parliament, Minister of the Far East and the Arctic Alexander Kozlov was approved for the post of head of the Ministry of Natural Resources. His place, in turn, will be taken by Alexei Chekunkov, head of the Far East Development Fund. Irek Fayzullin headed the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Public Utilities. Its ex-head Vladimir Yakushev became the Presidential Plenipotentiary in the Urals Federal District.