Ministry of Interior initiated proceedings in connection with reconstruction of Bolshoy Drama Theatre. RBC, 7 June 2018
Construction company "BaltStroy" has become involved in a fraud case during reconstruction of the BDT named after Tovstonogov. Earlier the former deputy minister of Culture was rearrested in the course of the second round of the "restorers' case".
The Saint-Petersburg police have begun an investigation of the criminal case of fraud during reconstruction of the Bolshoy Drama Theatre named after G. A. Tovstonogov. According to the Investigation the fraud was committed by unidentified personnel of the construction company "BaltStroy". This information was received by the RBC from advocate Aleksey Dobrynin acting in the interests of the theatre.
"BaltStroy" is a part of billionaire Dmitry Mikhaltchenko's holding company "Forum" who is being tried for smuggling 4.5 thousand bottles of elite alcohol. After the arrest of Mikhaltchenko in March 2016 at least four criminal cases connected with "BaltStroy" and misappropriation in big state contracts carried out by the company and mainly related to the Ministry of Culture, have been opened. "The restorers' case" is the best known of them. It resulted in conviction of Grigory Pirumov, the former deputy minister of Culture (he was detained again during the second round of investigation in May 2018).
Dobrynin clarified: case on paragraph 4 clause 159 of the CC (gross fraud) featuring unidentified personnel of "BaltStroy", was initiated by the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Interior in Krasnogvardeysky district on 31 May; at present the case is in the Public Prosecutor's Office of the city which has to determine its investigative jurisdiction.
The RBC has sent inquiries to the Public Prosecutor's Office and Department of the Ministry of Interior in Saint-Petersburg.
Left without ladders and programmes
Reconstruction of the BDT in Fontanka embankment took place from 2011 to 2014. "BaltStroy" was paid more than ₽3.43 b in total by the FSOI "North-West Board of Directors for Construction, Reconstruction and Restoration" of the Ministry of Culture.
Dobrynin said that the inquiry into possible misappropriation in the course of work had been initiated by the theatre. According to Dobrynin, while carrying out an inspection of the restored buildings in order to confirm the completion of the work, the administration discovered that part of the work had been done improperly and some work hadn't been done at all. The theatre requested the Office of the Public Prosecutor for check-up in order to reveal possible irregularities on the part of the two contractors - "BaltStroy" and the TDM company.
In April 2017 the Office of the Public Prosecutor confirmed the existence of irregularities in the amount of ₽68.7 m. It follows from the injunction issued by the supervisory body (the RBC possesses a copy of the document). Contracts were signed by director of the FSOI Marat Oganesyan (later he became vice-governor of the city and then was arrested on the case of misappropriation during the construction of the stadium "Zenit-Arena").
The Office of the Public Prosecutor came to a conclusion that swivel folding ladders, computers, batteries and audio equipment bought for the theatre had not been provided. Also the theatre didn't get the right to use program software costing more than ₽53 m budget money.
On 1 February this year the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Interior in Krasnogvardeysky district of Saint-Petersburg opened a fraud case during the reconstruction of the BDT. The damage from the fraud was estimated at ₽1 m. Only the TDM company figured in the case as it follows from the decision to institute proceedings (the RBC possesses a copy). "Fontanka" has information that the TDM is affiliated with director of Alexandrinsky Theatre Grigory Popov who figured in the case resulted in the arrest of Oganesyan.
Dobrynin claims that at that time the Investigation didn't pay attention to the irregularities on the part of "BaltStroy". He says that the administration of the theatre appealed to the Office of the Public Prosecutor again (and conducted face-to-face negotiations with the law-enforcement as well) and managed to achieve the initiation of proceedings once more.
The advocate told the RBC: "We had to work hard for four months and collect substantial evidence in the course of our own advocate's inquiry". The materials were handed over to the Investigation "who was not eager to investigate the criminal case persistently". Dobrynin emphasized that the process had been activated due to the Office of the Public Prosecutor.
"BaltStroy" cases"
The former director-general and manager of "BaltStroy" Dmitry Sergeyev and Alexander Kotchenov have been already convicted for fraud in the "restorers' case" for a total ₽164 m during the restoration of cultural heritage sites in different regions including the Pskov Drama Theatre, the manufacturers Aseyev's manor in Tambov region, the fortress of Friedrich the Great in Kaliningrad, Novodevitchy and Predtetchensky monasteries in Moscow, and Museum of Space Exploration in Kaluga.
Sergeyev was put on probation but detained again by the FSS officers at the exit from the court room. Now he is charged with creation of an organized criminal community and fraud in the amount of more than ₽227.5 m during construction works carried out by the "BaltStroy" structures in the President's residence in Novo-Ogariovo.
Kotchenov was also given a suspended sentence and now he is charged with misappropriation of almost ₽100 m during restoration of Izborsk fortress in the Pskov region.
Kotchenov's advocate Timofey Tsagolov told the RBC that he didn't know anything about a new criminal case against the former "BaltStroy" top-manager.
Another case connected with "BaltStroy" has been opened in February this year. The law-enforcement were reported to investigate the theft of money allocated for preservation of the Solovets archipelago monuments.
authors: Margarita Alekhina, Dada Lindell
with participation of Dmitry Serkov