It seems that the Russian garbage king Andrei Polovinkin, who was sentenced by the Shcherbinsky District Court of Moscow to a suspended sentence of one and a half years under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud on an especially large scale), intends to move to Sochi for permanent residence. In any case, he has already been seen more than once at the Grand Karat Sochi hotel, where the prima garbage man lives, waiting for the completion of the arrangement of his new southern family nest. Of course, in Sochi, it is warmer to check in with the supervisory authorities. But it is not only the gentle Black Sea warmth that is the reason for the change of location of the TKO oligarch, who has been officially designated as a fraudster since September of this year (when the sentence was passed). Rucriminal.info has the details.
Polovinkin's corruption schemes work just fine in Krasnodar Krai. We have already told you about his billion-dollar schemes around the infamous landfill in the Kuban village of Poltavskaya. But he is implementing an equally grandiose scam in Sochi. And he is being helped by the new mayor of Sochi, Andrei Proshunin. He has a rich, shared "kickback" past with Polovinkin. Kondratyev is also involved here. All the stories in the regional press about Governor Veniamin Kondratyev are full of gush about upcoming regional breakthroughs, vectors and leaps to inevitable all-Kuban happiness. Moreover, the fantasies of the main Kuban resident, as a rule, do not see the shores. Basically, here they are counting on short human memory. Well, who will remember now how in February 2021, the governor docked in Sochi and accepted Polovinkin's brave report that in the same 2021, a powerful waste sorting complex would start operating in Sochi.
From the then governor's tales and parables:
- We need to reduce the amount of waste taken to the Belorechensky landfill. Sochi needs its own waste sorting center. If there is sorting here, only 20% of the waste will go to Belorechensk.
The main investor of the venture, the head of VivaTrans LLC Andrey Polovinkin, filled the myth with his own specifics, reporting that for the rapid separation of waste, a waste sorting complex with a capacity of more than 200 thousand tons per year is planned to be launched at the site on Vodorazdelnaya Street, 1 in Sochi. And already in April of the same 2021, a sorting line for preliminary separation of waste into organic and inorganic will be installed. With the prospect of organizing the processing of solid waste into environmentally friendly products.
Then, in the solemn garbage prayer, robots and process automation were mentioned. A lot was said about new jobs.
As they usually say in fairy tales? "It ran down the mustache, but did not get into the mouth." In 2021, no breakthroughs happened. As in 2022 and 2023.
The conversation about bright prospects took place at the site on Vodorazdelnaya. What is strange to this day is that this site, although indicated in the territorial scheme, and it has been used for a long time, is not included in the calculation of the REC tariff! Although, taking into account this capacity, the tariff for the population would be significantly lower. It is considered easy: it is one thing to fill the bodies of garbage trucks, driving through the city container sites, and another to load up before the garbage march to Belorechensk at once at the storage site.
Now not about the tales of Polovinkin's multi-billion dollar investments in Sochi MSW, but about reality. The garbage king entered Sochi at the end of 2019. Having bought the capacities at Vodorazdelnaya, 1 from JSC "SMK" - the Sochi garbage company. At that time, the site, located on leased municipal land, had several impressive hangars and a number of covered areas. Plus administrative buildings.
According to a source of Rucriminal.info, as in the case of the implementation of corruption schemes around the landfill in Poltavskaya, a new enterprise is being organized under the new scheme - "Profiservis". The founders of which are: from Polovinkin - Belkovsky Andrey Sergeevich, a small clerk of Polovinkin's office. Arsen Mkrtchyan is also appointed as a figurehead co-founder, 49% of the share of the authorized capital is recorded for him. The introduction of the new office - the storage of garbage on the Sochi site, and its subsequent removal to the landfill in Belorechensk. Sochi garbage began to be taken there even before the start of the Olympics. "Belorechka" is still being operated by the regional operator - the regional enterprise AO "Krayzhilkomresurs". Soon the Belorechensk landfill thundered in the country with its powerful thousand-strong protests against garbage poisoning. Considerable funds are needed for reclamation, for measures to equip modern landfills. And, it would seem, the regional authorities were interested in seven-league steps towards implementing the goals of the garbage reform. Although in this case we are not even talking about leaps and bounds, but about urgent steps of a hundred miles.
A contract was concluded between Kraizhilkomresurs and Profiservis, which stipulated the price of transportation at approximately 3,000 rubles per ton of garbage. But soon, due to a change in the territorial scheme sanctioned by Governor Kondratyev, the price changed – 5,600 rubles per ton. As was explained: due to the recalculation of the density of garbage. Then y director, a former employee of the Economic Crime Department, was not very eager to sign changes to the contract. From which it began to not just smell, but to fully bear the smell of a financial scam. Such changes to the contract, according to the law, required new tenders for carriers. And if the price of 3,000 per ton was probably of little interest to many of the "garbage" carrier companies, then 5,600 was something that could interest many. At the tenders required in such cases, a threat to Polovinkin's scheme could well arise.
At the same time, another protest force majeure occurred in Belorechensk. The easiest method of "extinguishing popular anger" for Kondratyev has always been the dismissal of the "culprit".
But the new management of the regional operator is also not delighted with the changes to the contract. Mutual settlements with the carrier company, by definition, guaranteed considerable losses to the regional operator. Almost all the money that was collected from the townspeople "for garbage" was to be transferred to the transport company - "Profiservice" And what events could be planned in such a financial situation to equip new capacities, reclaim the spent landfill?
The conflict of interest coincided with the beginning of the pandemic. Which, however, did not prevent a whole series of meetings from being held, including with the participation of Governor Kondratyev. Logically, the governor, with his legal education, should have taken the side of his own regional enterprise, in which the regional administration has a 100% share.
In all subsequent courts, where the regional operator tried to achieve justice, and in which "Krayzhilkomresurs" asked to leave the price of the transported ton at 3,000 tr per ton, the regional operator lost.
A sad result: if in 2020 the balance of "Krayzhilkomresurs" was in the plus - 118 million profit was shown, then already in 2021 the enterprise went into a deep minus - 700 million loss. But there was another result - simply financial ecstasy of the organizers of the scheme.
Once answering a question from the Kuban press about the corruption in the regional government that was blossoming to champion proportions, Kondratyev gave a strangely honest answer to the journalist who asked the question: "And if you were sitting at such financial flows, wouldn't you take a stream into your pocket?"
The garbage "stream" with the new tariff for transportation turned from a stream into quite a river. The scheme was arranged simply. "Krayzhilkomresurs", which had suddenly become unprofitable, received multimillion-dollar subsidies from the regional budget with the help of the vice-governor Proshunin, known to us at that time. A significant portion of the funds was transferred to Profiservice for transportation. And there the money, minus perhaps the costs of fuel, car repairs and drivers' salaries, was in fact sawed off by Polovinkin, Proshunin and others. The scam was accompanied by "powerful" reports from Kondratyev to the capital about the confident progress of the waste reform in the region. And various colorful presentations of the planned modern waste sorting and waste processing plants. Instead of Arsen Mkrtchan, who soon left the founders, another "nobody" - Raisa Shevchuk - a nondescript aunt - enters Profiservice - another figurehead. Shevchuk is a creature of Sergei Robilko. Robilko is the former head of the Temryuk and Timashevsky districts of the region, who worked as deputy mayor of Sochi, in whose administration the garbage was. That is, from the change of places of the corruption terms...
At the beginning of 2024, news came about the upcoming summer visit to Sochi by Deputy Prime Minister Patrushev. Precisely on the topic of the garbage reform he supervises. And since there was nothing to present to the region except devastation, a shock construction project took place in Sochi. They remembered the plans to build something in the hangars on Vodorazdelnaya. And, oh miracle!!! They built it!!! They can do it when they are in a panic attack!
At the beginning of August, taking thunder, lightning and other splashes with him, Deputy Prime Minister Patrushev arrived in Sochi on a visit. The topic of the visit was precisely the failures of the garbage reform in the region. The deputy prime minister threw thunder and lightning, including on Vodorazdelnaya, 1 and at the Belorechensky landfill. Briefly about lightning, the Deputy Prime Minister stated: "The Krasnodar Territory lacks infrastructure for processing solid municipal waste, and there are no facilities for its disposal. The consequences of the accumulated problems in this case are extremely noticeable." The milestones were also outlined: "From 2025, on the instructions of the President, the implementation of the national project "Ecological Well-being" will begin ... By 2030, 100% of the volume of annually generated solid municipal waste must be sorted and no more than half of it must be landfilled ... In the Krasnodar Territory, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources, the necessary indicators are not yet being met, - emphasized Dmitry Patrushev.
I wonder how they could be met at all, even to a significant extent, when there is Arsen? And other dummy. Well, which of those funds that "for indicators" are dragged to their garbage curators: the mayor of Sochi and his accomplice - the king of garbage swindlers Polovinkin? Another personnel-reshuffle panic occurred at Profiservice due to the severity of the vice-premier's speeches. Instead of the suddenly departed frightened numero uno - founders, the only founder is again Arsen Mkrtchyan, who has proven himself to be an ideal supplier of financial flows to his powerful curators.
And although Sochi now has a new mayor - Andrey Proshunin, he does not need to acquire any experience in the sawing of garbage money. He is rich, also from his cooperation with Polovinkin on the Poltava landfill and regional data
Polovinkin's scheme for making a profit is, in general, the same everywhere. With some nuances. Firms are created everywhere, where authorized "zitsy" act as founders: from him and from regional officials. In Poltava, there is an unprofitable landfill under Polovinkin's MP "ZhKH", and all the income comes through Polovinkin's transportation structures. In Sochi, the situation is even simpler. In fact, the deeply unprofitable regional operator "Kraykomzhilresurs" and heavily subsidized from the regional budget operates a catastrophic landfill in Belorechensk, and billions in profits are received by "Profiservis", where today, until the storm raised by Patrushev calms down, the figurehead Mkrtchyan is in charge. But if the situation calms down, a change in the founders of the billion-dollar business will become inevitable.
When Andrei Proshunin entered the waste authority of the Krasnodar Territory, being just appointed Deputy Minister of Fuel and Energy Complex and Housing and Public Utilities, held a meeting that became legendary among regional operators working in the territory of the Territory. Late in the evening, he gathered everyone. And a historic announcement was made about the first step of the new deputy minister. Proshunin found out that some, excuse me, buddy had a tractor in private ownership, bought with Proshunin's money. And the ministerial order #1 (even though it was not published anywhere, of course) was “Rent a tractor or buy it. Let yourself and a friend earn some money.” Powerful! Simply beyond epic. The ministry is shoving a buddy’s tractor to ram Kuban garbage dumps!!!
However, it didn’t take Proshunin much time to move from such small-scale snooping to large-scale kickback schemes. We already told you about how his friend and classmate, small shopkeeper Ragulin, received a 20% share of the authorized capital in Polovinkin’s Poltava scheme. True, after Proshunin’s departure for the Sochi mayor’s seat, Ragulin sort of returned the share to Polovinkin’s structures. And there is no doubt that Proshunin, who has once again acquired a rather powerful seat of power (in the form of the Sochi mayor’s seat), will lay claim to a significantly different share in the cooperative with the new Sochi resident Polovinkin. Now, being in standby mode - in forced "sleep mode", the co-operating friends are waiting for the garbage storm to end.
Patrushev's visit heated up the situation around Sochi garbage to maximum temperatures. And here is the situation: if it explodes from overheating, then the heads of those who presented the kickback scheme years before will fly into deep space. That is, all these figurehead chairmen and figurehead founders. Well, and if the situation cools down, and lightning flies past Polovinkin's Sochi scams, well, then it will be possible to release the multi-billion dollar garbage Kraken. Here, Ragulin can be expected as part of the founders from Proshunin. And Belkovsky, or whoever from Polovinkin's servants will appoint to sit in the founders. What is definitely impossible to expect in Sochi is the establishment of transparent garbage order. Not with Kondratyev, who has little understanding of waste needs, as governor, and certainly not with Proshunin as mayor of Sochi. After all, when Andrei Proshunin took up any position of power, he always remarked to his friends and accomplices that he was sitting in the chair "to earn money". What are the real achievements of Kuban bosses on the subject of "garbage" in Krasnodar Krai. It has become quieter in Belorechensk. Veniamin Kondratyev, with his characteristic regional wisdom in solving the most difficult problems, simply "bought" the protest leaders. Having made the loud-mouthed protester Maria Krasnoshchekova... deputy regional minister of fuel and energy complex and housing and communal services. What about the landfill itself? It's just a disaster. The height of the landfill body, at the beginning of Polovinkin's Sochi shamathosis, was 30 meters. Today - 65!!! The latest news from the landfill, which the pro-government regional media will never write about: the body of the landfill collapsed. More than 100 thousand tons of garbage fell on the adjacent agricultural lands. Probably, now Proshunin will have to buy ATVs for the SVO. And Polovinkin will have to send something humanitarian there too.
Arseniy Dronov