Employees of the Federal Security Service (FSB) during the operational development of the former minister for “open government” Mikhail Abyzov checked whether there was a withdrawal abroad of funds collected by his SIBEC and RES companies as utility bills for energy resources. This follows from the materials announced in the Moscow City Court, which on April 12 considered appeals against the arrest of Abyzov and the general director of Ru-Com, Nikolay Stepanov. They were rejected.
In the criminal case about the criminal community of Abyzov there is a certificate of the study conducted by the FSB in the framework of operational investigative activities, the accused Stepanov told at the meeting. According to him, the FSB expert found that the transaction, which was imputed to the persons involved in the case as fraudulent, did not involve tariff receipts.
“Having studied the materials of the case in the SIZO, I saw that, in accordance with the expert opinions of the expert Aleshin, who was hired by the FSB of Russia, all these transactions described in the case were conducted at the expense of non-tariff sources, namely the net profit of the companies. They relate to the 91st account (other income and expenses) and are not related to tariff activity. This is explicitly stated in the conclusion of expert Aleshin, ”said Stepanov, adding that the operational certificates from the case with which he had read are from 2017–2018.
The damage caused by the transaction to the shareholders of the company was estimated by the FSB expert at about 2 billion rubles, Stepanov said. TFR, on the other hand, equates to the damage the entire amount of the transaction - 4 billion rubles. RBC sent a request to the FSB.
In the spring of 2017, the Governor of the Novosibirsk Region Vladimir Gorodetsky signed a decree on raising utility tariffs by 15–20%, but after a series of protests, this decision was canceled. SIBECO was the main energy supplier in the region.
A few months later, the FSB began checking on tariff setting in the Novosibirsk region; law enforcement authorities seized documents in the department of tariffs of the region. The regional government officially linked these events with the activities of SIBECO. On the results of the inspection was not officially reported.
Abyzov case
The case is based on a deal with assets within the Abyzov group of companies, as a result of which, according to the investigation, about 4 billion rubles. were taken abroad. We are talking about the assets of Sibenergostroy, which are priced at 186 million rubles. They were sold to the Blacksiris offshore Cyprus offshore company controlled by Abyzov, then several companies were added to them (fictitious ones according to the TFR), and this package offshore was sold to SIBEK and RES companies at a price of 4 billion rubles.
Abyzov owned 95% of SIBECO and RES, so the minority shareholders of these companies suffered from the acquisition of an overvalued asset, according to TFR. In the case of the three victims: these are minority shareholders Akopyan and Rubtsov, as well as the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Almazyuvelireksport. "Almazyuvelirexport" estimated in its statement the amount of damage 10 million rubles.
“I took a piece of paper, a pen, and calculated that in terms of each victim the possible damage will not exceed 400 thousand rubles,” said Stepanov at a meeting on April 12.
The transaction relates to the period 2011-2014. The assets of Abyzov were managed by Ru-Com, which was led by Stepanov. When Abyzov left for civil service, his business was transferred to trust management, however, according to the investigation, the official actually continued to make strategic decisions. Both the ex-minister and Stepanov deny this. However, according to Stepanov, they were tied by good relations: “We are friends with Abyzov families, we often visit each other and on holidays, we go to the bathhouse, we drink wine”.