Hit below the waterline

In Vladivostok, at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, assets continue to be seized from the former owners of Vostochnaya Shipyard

The property of former shareholders of the Vostochnaya Verf shipbuilding enterprise Gennady Lazarev and Valery Vasilenko and the company’s shares continue to be turned into state income at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Among the newly seized: educational buildings of the university, which was headed by Lazarev, the Avanta hotel almost in the city center, the popular Champion sports complex, the International Linguistic School, and recreation centers. 34 real estate properties, including industrial facilities, were taken away from Vasilenko. The decision on this was made by the Leninsky District Court of Vladivostok. The shipyard itself was taken away a long time ago and transferred to the jurisdiction of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, and the defendants are being tried.

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Gennady Lazarev is a former deputy of several convocations of the regional Legislative Assembly. Honorary citizen of Vladivostok, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor. President and Vice-Rector for Strategic Development, previously Rector of Vladivostok State University (VVGU, formerly VGUES). Valery Vasilenko is a former prosecutor of the Primorsky Territory (from 1991 to 2005), then deputy chairman of the board of directors of JSC Vostochnaya Verf.

The claim by the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation was filed against Gennady Lazarev and Valery Vasilenko, as well as members of their families, affiliated persons and companies:

“...To Lazarev G.I., Lazareva I.P., Lazarev I.G., Lazareva L.M., Leontyeva T.I., Bayurova E.V., Vasilenko V.V., Buglak O.N., Ilyin A.E., ANOO DPO "PMC", ANPOO "DVTSNO", ANOO DO "TsOR", CJSC "LINCOM", LLC “KEN”, “SIDIMI” LLC, “ODYSSEY” LLC, “AVANTA” LLC, “IMMOBILIARE” LLC,” lists the press service of the Primorye courts.

The property was seized as received “as a result of violation of requirements and prohibitions aimed at preventing corruption.”

The court decision is subject to immediate execution, which means that nothing can be done with the property and shares now (although it is obvious that there will be an appeal).

“Eastern Shipyard” is one of the largest and oldest shipbuilding and ship repair enterprises in Vladivostok, located on the shore of Maly Ulysses Bay. In addition to the fact that fishing, transport and auxiliary vessels with a displacement of up to 4.5 thousand tons leave the stocks (including crab catchers that are built under the investment quota program), the shipyard carries out state defense orders for border guards and the Pacific Fleet.

Over the years, more than 500 small missile ships, minesweepers, torpedo, artillery and missile boats, landing boats, hydrographic vessels, and floating berths have been built here for the Pacific Fleet over the years.

In total, the company accounts for about 30% of state defense orders.

In 2022, the company applied to the Arbitration Court of the Primorsky Territory to declare itself bankrupt. It estimated its own debt to creditors at more than 12.5 billion rubles. The bankruptcy was connected precisely with the failure of the order for the Ministry of Defense - a small sea tanker of project 03182, two floating metal berths and a universal ramp were not handed over to the military, and the department itself refused to build the Mikhail Barskov tanker. Although he was even launched into the water.

In 2018, the same Project 03182 tanker Boris Averkin was laid down at the shipyard (its readiness was estimated at 30–40%). The contract for both auxiliary vessels, concluded back in 2014, was then valued at 7.5 billion rubles. Over time, the ruble depreciated, and sanctions were introduced, and the pandemic hit - in general, “more gold” was required. The Ministry of Defense added 4.3 billion to the shipbuilders, but it was not enough. Both tankers, according to the company’s calculations, were supposed to cost 16.3 billion. No one gave the shipbuilders this amount, but the military, as expected, did not receive the order. Vostochnaya Verf took out a loan of 817.5 million from Promsvyazbank for completion, but did not return it. The Ministry of Defense did not give them this money, moreover, the Moscow Arbitration Court recovered 218 million rubles from the shipyard in favor of the military department under contracts for tankers. And more than 844 million rubles of advance payment on contracts for the construction of two small missile cruisers of Project 22800 Karakurt (work stopped in July 2020). Vostochnaya Verf also had other debts to commercial enterprises.

Gennady Lazarev, the largest (if you take into account his family) shareholder of Vostochnaya Verf, publicly announced the theft of more than 1 billion rubles in favor of third-party organizations and 300 million rubles from government procurement money identified during the audit. And he assured that these thefts were allegedly connected with the activities of the former director Igor Miroshnichenko. According to Lazarev, he allegedly, without the approval of the board of directors, at a reduced price, sold to his companies the shares of Vladivostok Enterprise Elektroradioavtomatika JSC (ERA) and Pacific Electrotechnical Company JSC belonging to Vostochnaya Verf. And then the shares, at a ruble apiece, completely passed from the companies into the ownership of Miroshnichenko’s family and partners.

In addition, Lazarev said, Cascade DV LLC, associated with Miroshnichenko, secretly rented out warehouse space and two boats to the shipyard, which in fact it did not need and did not use. As for the tankers for which Miroshnichenko signed contracts, the Ministry of Defense, a year after the competition, arbitrarily changed the design, increasing the displacement. The contract was not re-signed. Is it true,

Miroshnichenko sued Lazarev for libel and won. And in general, neither he himself nor the members of the board of directors of the Eastern Shipyard associated with him have been arrested.

Before the seizure, about 20% of ordinary shares in the authorized capital of Vostochnaya Verf belonged personally to Gennady Lazarev; his family retained influence on the board of directors for many years. In addition, Lazarev served as rector of the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service, which he actually raised from its knees in the 90s and made it the second most important university in Primorye. Not at a loss, of course.

Gennady Lazarev was arrested at the end of March 2024 on charges of organizing a criminal community (Part 1 of Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Together with him, 9 more people were detained for participation in a criminal community. And this is also connected with the university. In particular, according to investigators, no later than 1996, the ex-rector created a criminal community to steal state property under the operational management of the university (about 3,000 sq. m in buildings on Gogol Street, more than 2,000 sq. m in a dormitory on Derzhavina Street, as well as two buildings of more than 7,000 sq. m in the suburbs of Vladivostok, on the street. Tenth).

To transfer state property into personal ownership, he, according to investigators, used a scheme involving the conclusion of government contracts with “his” enterprises and artificial delays in payments. For example, this: the university received 4800 square meters from the state. m of land to accommodate driving school facilities. The university entered into an agreement with a legal entity - and the rights to both the base and the land were transferred to him, a private owner. Or here is a plot of 6000 sq. m for the construction of a race track, which was never equipped (but a parking lot was equipped).

As for Vostochnaya Verf, “through affiliates from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation” (as the prosecutor’s office wrote), more than 6.2 million rubles were stolen from state defense orders.

Moreover, charges have been brought against Innokenty Lazarev (son), Arkady Furman (member of the board of directors, also director of Lazarev's Liga LLC, Linkom CJSC), Oleg Zubakhin (former general director of Vostochnaya Verf JSC, he, according to the investigation, knowingly knowing that there would be no supply of building materials, signed a fictitious invoice for payment of 2.8 million to the commercial organization LLC "Realcom", the head of which was Andrei Shchukin, also arrested).

Valery Vasilenko was “taken” for attempting to illegally take over the shares of a minority shareholder of the shipyard (he himself is not a shareholder). Also arrested along with him were the public adviser to the director of the enterprise, Sergei Kralevich, and Vitaly Shirokov, known under the nickname Mongol.

In 2023, the Frunzensky District Court of Vladivostok, at the suit of Promsvyazbank, recovered 100 million rubles from Gennady Lazarev and his relative Tamara Leontyeva, also a shareholder of Vostochnaya Verf. Vostochnaya Verf took out loans from Promsvyazbank for the completion of tankers. The plaintiff, however, demanded 2.2 billion.

Lazarev's son, Innokenty, was searched on charges that he deceived Rosreestr in order to purchase his mother, Irina Lazareva, 17,000 sq. m. m of land for 2 million (while its cadastral value is more than 25.5 million rubles). On this land stands the huge “family estate” of the Lazarevs. According to some reports, Gennady Innokentyevich is serving house arrest there. And next to it there is another house, on a small plot of 1800 sq. m. m, owned by Linkom CJSC, which is also associated with Lazarev. And all this has now been taken away.

In 2024, an interdepartmental commission from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, the 754th military representative office of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Promsvyazbank, the regional FSB and the United Shipbuilding Corporation worked at JSC Vostochnaya Verf. The real debt of the enterprise was estimated at 8–12 billion rubles. In 2023, the shipyard came under the control of the USC structure, Amur Shipyard PJSC.