In the Lipetsk region now it’s like in the fairy tale about “Puss in Boots”. If you ask the locals about the owner of a wonderful lake with trout, in the forest, with beautiful houses on the left bank of Lipetsk, you will hear a confident answer: “Governor Artamonov.” “Whose fields are these with juicy raspberries, fragrant strawberries and cherries?” you ask. “Artamonova,” the villagers will tell you in unison. “Who demolished the Tourist Hotel at the entrance to Nizhny Park in the center of Lipetsk and is building an elite residential complex here?” “Tyumen business partner of the Artamonovs,” local developers whisper sadly. No one will be surprised by the answer to another question - who supplies equipment for Lipetsk hospitals at exorbitant prices? Of course, the leasing company created by Artamonov’s wife in 2007. Details at Rucriminal.info.
The governor's family is not the Marquis of Karabas. Her wealth is real. Do not believe the stories that a rich man, having come to power, does not steal. The family of a former banker in the Lipetsk region took into their hands everything that was in bad shape.
Local businesses felt the redistribution of property. And he flees from the Artamonovs’ Lipetsk to Voronezh, Sochi, Kazan and Moscow. Official data indicates a crisis in the local economy. The region is in 49th place in the Russian Federation in terms of the dynamics of investment in fixed capital in 2023. The volume of paid services to the population for the year is almost zero - an increase of only 0.3%. Retail trade turnover in 2023 increased by only 0.4%. This is the third year that there has been a sharp decline in housing commissioning. In 2021, 1.235 million square meters of housing were delivered. It hasn't happened again since then. In 2023, 770,887 square meters were commissioned in the Lipetsk region. Based on the results of the first months of 2024, the region is 16 out of 18 subjects of the Central Federal District in terms of housing commissioning - a decline of 28.7% compared to last year.
How does the governor's family use power to their advantage? In 2022, the agricultural cooperative "Berries and Point" was created. Here are the nominal directors and founders. Everything is owned and managed by the governor’s son, Anton Artamonov. The head of the region pumps the cooperative with budget money and state land. A month after registration, Berries and Point received a free subsidy from the Department of Agriculture of the Lipetsk Region - 3 million rubles. In September 2023, another 13.7 million rubles. Since January last year, Artamonov’s company has been renting municipal and state land without bidding. Taking advantage of changes in the federal law “On the turnover of agricultural land,” the Department of Property and Land Relations of the Lipetsk Region turned on the “green light” for the governor’s son. Over the year, the cooperative's assets increased by 197% from 6.9 million to 20.5 million rubles. In 2023, the net profit of the Berries and Toch company increased by 993%.
According to a source from Rucriminal.info, the business interests of the governor’s son and friends extend to the assets of the Lipetsk Mortgage Corporation. The regional administration created it in 2002. By the time I.G. Artamonov appeared in the region, the authorized capital of JSC LIK reached 384 million rubles, assets were estimated at 3 billion. Other property included 6 thousand hectares of agricultural land.
In August 2019, the region's largest developer went bankrupt. At this time, the company is run by a former colleague of the governor of the Lipetsk region. JSC LIK was unable to pay off its creditors, whose total claims amounted to 58 million rubles. The bankruptcy trustee, who comes from the same bank as the Lipetsk governor, is selling the bankrupt’s property. The land is being sold at a 70% discount. The cost of lots can easily be reduced by 1 billion rubles. Tyumen and Nizhny Novgorod partners of the Lipetsk governor are buying land plots. In these regions, I.G.’s family is engaged in real estate and leasing. Artamonova.
In 2021, one of the firms of the governor’s wife and son changed its founders and place of registration. And she won the tender for the supply of equipment for the Lipetsk Regional Clinical Hospital. Leasing bondage for 5 years, overpayment for tomographs and endoscopes - 40%. Contracts worth 67 million were concluded at a time when the Lipetsk region budget had a surplus of 35 billion rubles, and the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund was struggling with the question of how to spend the 500 million savings.
During the second gubernatorial term, the Artamonov family will acquire their own serfs.
To be continued
Timofey Zabiyakin
Source: www.rucriminal.info