A little more than a year has passed since Oleg Belozerov was appointed head of Russian Railways, and the media are already talking about his resignation. During his reign, the railway monopoly did not demonstrate outstanding financial results, and important reforms were postponed. But the income of top managers of Russian Railways increased by 47%.
Now, according to some market participants, they will be returned to, and put at the head of the department (Belozerov left there in 2015 from the post of deputy minister). And the railway monopoly will be headed by the Deputy Prime Minister, who clearly demonstrated his talents as a railway worker during the suburban transportation crisis in 2014. Then, many electric trains were canceled due to the unprofitability of suburban transportation, which led to popular unrest in many regions; some of the most massive protests took place in the Pskov region.
"The topic was discussed for several months, but then informed people they said that everything was at the level of rumors, but now they are waiting for an appointment,” writes Kommersant, citing its source.
It should be noted that the press secretary of the head of the Cabinet of Ministers denied information about possible destination Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Arkady Dvorkovich for the post of President of Russian Railways.
St. Petersburg businessmen from the transport industry remind that the main thing in possible personnel changes is not the appointment of Dvorkovich (he is already on the board of directors of the railway monopoly), but the change of leadership in the Ministry of Transport. They have been talking about what they want to change for a long time. “And this should have been done a long time ago,” note transport businessmen. “That alone is worth it!” The minister does not defend the interests of industry companies, where has this been seen?" As for the change of leadership of the head of Russian Railways, business is neutral about this event. “Belozerov or Dvorkovich, someone else - I don’t expect changes for the better from Russian Railways," noted one of the interlocutors of "DP".
In fact, the businessmen are right: what has changed in Russian Railways since August 2015, when Oleg Belozerov headed the monopoly? First of all, the rhetoric has changed. The new leader spoke out against his predecessor on almost all topics. For example, Yakunin persistently asked the government to increase subsidies and raise tariffs so that Russian Railways could not reduce passenger traffic and develop infrastructure. And Oleg Belozerov announced his readiness to abandon subsidies and excessive indexation of tariffs. Moreover, Belozerov disclosed his income, but Vladimir Yakunin never did this. As he himself said, because of fears for the safety of his family. Belozerov also carried out a personnel purge on the board of the railway monopoly.
In general, Oleg Belozerov began optimistically. Only the results of Russian Railways’ activities, reflected in the company’s reporting, are slightly at odds with the words. For example, according to reporting, the average income (salary and bonus) of each member of the board (and Belozerov is one of them) of the company in the first half of 2016 amounted to 7.4 million rubles per month. Under Vladimir Yakunin, the average income of a board member barely exceeded 5 million rubles per month. But the dynamics of the railway’s production indicators are not so impressive. Passenger traffic fell under Yakunin and continues to fall - primarily due to the reduction in suburban traffic.
The volume of cargo transported by rail is, however, growing, but at a very slow pace - by an average of 1.3% per month compared to 2015; by the end of September, the railway transported 102 million tons of cargo. But revenue is growing noticeably faster due to an increase in tariffs - based on the results of the half-year, income (according to international standards financial statements) increased by 8%, to 1040 billion rubles.
The amount of subsidies from the federal and local budgets decreased by only 1.4 billion rubles, to 28.2 billion rubles. At the same time, the net profit of Russian Railways for six months increased by 73%, to 45 billion rubles.
Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov is pleased with the state of affairs and praises his former subordinate: in his opinion, thanks to competent management decisions Belozerova ensured the break-even operation of Russian Railways with a minimal increase in the tariff burden.
The revision of Russian Railways tariffs has stalled. Oleg Belozerov took the initiative to adjust the price list (a document, a set of formulas for calculating the cost of transportation) in order to eliminate the subsidization of low-income transportation, primarily coal (26% of all cargo transported by Russian Railways), at the expense of the transportation of more expensive cargo. The preparation of the new price list is being delayed; the document is now expected to appear no earlier than 2020. Until this moment, it is planned to make minor changes to the price list.
Market participants do not want to publicly comment on possible personnel changes in Russian Railways, but they do not rule out that Oleg Belozerov may well head the Ministry of Transport, especially after he has gained invaluable experience in managing Russian Railways. Having become a minister, he will be able to control the reform of Russian Railways. “Well, at least he will understand what we are talking about,” summed up a representative of one of the logistics companies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will appoint Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich as president of Russian Railways OJSC. A source close to the management of the corporation reported this to Russian Planet. The current head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov, is likely to become Minister of Transport. It was not possible to find out what kind of consideration is in store for the head of the transport department, Maxim Sokolov.
“The presidential decree on the appointment of Dvorkovich will be published on October 5. There is no information about another date, but a fundamental decision has already been made. Belozerov, as expected, will head the Ministry of Transport,” said RP’s interlocutor. The source also complained about the unsatisfactory state of affairs in Russian Railways: “After Yakunin left, order was never restored.”
We also note that at the time of publication of the article there had not yet been official confirmation of the upcoming high-profile personnel appointment.
General economist
RP’s interlocutor refused to discuss the topic of the chaos going on in Russian Railways. Oleg Belozerov was appointed by the head of state to the post of president of Russian Railways on August 20, 2015. Before joining Russian Railways, he worked for six years as Deputy Minister of Transport. Most likely, Belozerov was tasked with correcting the shortcomings that arose during the 10-year reign of Vladimir Yakunin.
The cost of transportation was probably in the foreground. Yakunin is remembered for his uncompromising demands for tens of billions of rubles from the budget to subsidize tariffs, which were constantly growing. Yakunin was also blamed for the catastrophic situation with suburban transport. It is obvious that during the year of Belozerov’s work dramatic changes Did not happen. But, apparently, the manager has not lost confidence.
44-year-old Dvorkovich can hardly be called a professional in the railway industry. As Deputy Prime Minister, he oversaw the “real sector of the economy,” including issues in the field of transport. However, it is unlikely that he understands the situation at a detailed level. The figure of Belozerov, who worked from 2004 to 2009 as the head of the Federal Road Agency, looks much more presentable. Judging by Dvorkovich's resume, he is more of a general economist, a liberal expert without a specific specialization.
Rumors about the Deputy Prime Minister's transfer to Russian Railways appeared more than a year ago, when he was elected chairman of the board of directors of the corporation (June 22, 2015). On September 22, 2016, the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov announced that the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Mikhail Fradkov, would be nominated to replace Dvorkovich. Instead, State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin will lead the SVR. It is logical to assume that the tangle of permutations will be unraveled just this week.
Dvorkovich, as president of Russian Railways, will have to solve the most difficult problems. It is possible that the Deputy Prime Minister will take a course towards optimizing the company’s expenses in order to reduce the cost of transportation. First of all, we are talking about commercial transportation carried out by the monopoly. Adequate and transparent tariffs will simplify the work of mining and industrial enterprises. During a crisis, a reasonable tariff policy is an important measure to support the real sector. However, optimization almost always involves mass layoffs and salary cuts.
"Clip" of the President
Dvorkovich's employment as head of Russian Railways and other appointments are part of the president's personnel reshuffle plan, the general parameters of which were apparently determined several months before the September elections. The triumphant victory of United Russia and the sky-high popularity rating will allow Vladimir Putin to carry out all the planned changes in the political elite. Most likely, major events will occur in the coming weeks.
In addition to the above permutations, on this moment it is known that the curator will become the speaker of the newly elected State Duma domestic policy Vyacheslav Volodin. From numerous media reports it follows that the post of first deputy head of the Kremlin administration will be taken by Rosatom director Sergei Kiriyenko. Before the elections, Putin’s most high-profile personnel decision was the decree appointing Anton Vaino as head of the Kremlin administration.
Sergei Ivanov, with whom the president has strong friendly ties, received the post of special representative on environmental issues, ecology and transport. However, according to Russian Planet sources, Ivanov “has not fallen out of the picture” and may work as prime minister for some time. Ivanov, despite rumors of health problems, is the main backup figure.
Give accurate forecast Putin’s personnel policy is, perhaps, completely impossible. In recent weeks, many unconfirmed reports have appeared in the media environment. In particular, publications regarding Kiriyenko’s arrival in the Administration and the resignation of the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, prevail. At the same time, there is no sane expert review these changes. The same Kiriyenko, judging by his work at Rosatom, is a good manager, but he is clearly not suitable for the role of a “gray eminence”.
There are many versions of the “cunning plan” and you can search for the secret meaning as much as you like. One thing can be said for sure: Putin did not rely on changing the elite. So far we are talking only about reshuffles and removal of persons who have discredited their reputation. Almost all the figures are creatures of the head of state, which indirectly indicates his desire to retain the reins of power after 2018. At the same time, Putin is trying to somewhat rejuvenate and update the establishment. This is expressed in the appointment of security officials unknown to the public to gubernatorial posts.
Russian Railways President Oleg Belozerov, as befits the head of a state-owned company, disclosed information about his income. It turned out that last year he earned more than 170 million rubles. Moreover, his income doubled compared to the year before last. The corporation reported that the increase in remuneration is related to the company's success. However, if you take a closer look, the achievements of Russian Railways, and, therefore, Belozerov, leave much to be desired.
Monthly millionaire
Head of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov from his predecessor Vladimir Yakunin One circumstance distinguishes it favorably. The current top manager provides information about his income and property. It is quite possible that this was one of the conditions of his appointment. Yakunin, as we remember, aroused public anger by refusing to disclose his salary, despite even the president’s request. Therefore, the successor can be applauded for publicity. Although, as Dartagnan said before the duel with Athos: “But only for this!”, because there are no other special reasons for praise.
Now to the details. Over the past year, the head of Russian Railways earned almost 173 million rubles. And this is twice as much as in 2015. At the same time, Belozerov, judging by the declaration, is some kind of unmercenary person. He has nothing. No cars, no housing. Perhaps the apartment is 193 meters, but it is not his, but is for free, perpetual use. Yes, and the wife, who earned some “ridiculous” 22 million rubles, has two rare Volga cars from the 60s and a Land Rover SUV.
However, the salary of the head of the monopoly is enough to provide a decent life for the family. So, 173 million rubles per year. By using the simplest mathematical operation, that is, dividing by the number of working days, you can find out that Oleg Belozerov earns about 700 thousand rubles per day. For the vast majority of Russians, the amount is simply incredible. In the capital of our Motherland there are many dreamers who would consider it lucky to receive this much at least per month. In the rest of the country, this is the limit of desire in the form of an annual salary. In remote corners, you can buy one or even a two-room apartment with this money. By the way, as for housing, even despite the insane prices for Moscow real estate, Oleg Belozerov can buy himself a good “three ruble” in the capital every month. For 14 million. With that kind of money you don’t have to worry much about your property.
Mister Efficiency
However, let's not play on the sense of social justice. Still, Oleg Valentinovich is not a simple hard worker, but a person capable of leading such a colossus as Russian Railways. And, judging by the corporation's message, it is a successful leadership. The state-owned company noted that the remuneration to the top manager is determined by the successes over the past year. Russian railways did without government subsidies, balanced financial results, optimized costs, reduced ineffective spending and increased profits 20 times. It sounds very nice. True, in reality this beauty is somewhat blurred.
The points.
Russian Railways really do without government subsidies, which would have been nonsense in the times of Vladimir Yakunin. But let's remember what happened to the monopoly's freight transportation tariffs last year. And they grew by 9%. At the same time, inflation in the country was only 5.4%. Railways are circulatory system Russian economy. Freight transportation tariffs directly affect the cost of goods. By and large, this is an indirect tax that Russians pay, and its beneficiary is Russian Railways. So maybe the reason for the efficiency of the state-owned company is not in Belozerov’s amazing managerial abilities, but in the fact that citizens and businesses chipped in for this efficiency?
Go ahead. Profit. It really grew significantly last year. According to reporting using the Russian accounting system, the company earned 6 and a half billion rubles. And this is really 20 times more profit according to RAS in 2015, when Oleg Valentinovich just came to his post. But there is also international system reporting, which Russian Railways, as a public company, also uses. These data were published almost simultaneously with information on the salary of the head of Russian Railways. So, in 2016, according to IFRS, the monopoly earned about 10 billion rubles, and this is only a quarter more than a year earlier. Isn't the discrepancy too big - 26% and 1900%? Of course, you can count in different ways. But let's not forget about the base effect. If under Yakunin the corporation did not earn anything, then any, even the most minimal success on the calculator will look very impressive. So, before judging the outstanding managerial qualities of Oleg Belozerov and paying him a huge salary, in theory, you should wait at least another year.
Has life gotten better?
However, some conclusions can be drawn even now. Firstly, it is known that this year the monopoly's tariffs increased by 6%. And this is 2% more than predicted inflation. And, secondly, the top manager, who quite recently seemed, in comparison with his predecessor, to be a rather modest person, is already giving the authorities an ultimatum: either let state-owned companies extend tax breaks, or they will raise tariffs. We are talking about property tax. By the way, ordinary Russians have recently discovered its charm by paying significant fees for real estate. But Russian Railways, as it turns out, pays at a preferential rate, saving huge amounts of money. The railway transportation operator also has a preference for VAT - 10% instead of the traditional 18%. And this relaxation alone brings the corporation an additional 10 billion rubles. It turns out that the state-owned company lives in the most favorable conditions for itself, has the opportunity to raise tariffs, and attributes the excess income received from this to the merits of the manager. Correct me if wrong.
But perhaps something has changed dramatically for the better for passengers? Perhaps the trains began to run faster, the platforms were modernized, thanks to new interchanges the traffic jams at countless crossings disappeared, the old carriages saturated with a vile smell were removed? Such confidence. Or maybe something has changed in terms of corruption? After all, that's what they called her main reason resignation of Vladimir Yakunin. Recently, one of the world's largest auditing firms, KPMG, analyzed the contracts of the corporation's passenger subsidiary and found out that the schemes created under the former manager are still in effect. That is, the company continues to turn to the same suppliers, seriously overpaying for their goods, services and work.
We can say for sure that the life of the head of the state corporation has changed for the better. Over the past year and a half, he has made a career breakthrough, began to earn twice as much, one might say, he is confidently following his path in life. But, still, why does the President of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov receive 700 thousand rubles a day? There is, however, a universal answer: “for that.” And, taking into account all of the above, any fact can be substituted here.
A year after Oleg Belozerov took over the post of head of Russian Railways, the main contractors of the state monopoly remained the same: people were changed, but the new ones had not yet had time to agree among themselves
The absence of a serious administrative resource, due to which Russian Railways existed with former president Vladimir Yakunin, his heir is trying to compensate with energy and diligence. At the instigation of the government, he announces the abandonment of budget compensation, a change in the management structure, and the continuation of reforms.
June 15 marks exactly 300 days since the decree appointing Oleg Belozerov as president of Russian Railways was signed. “Ko” tried to figure out what he managed to do during this time and in what direction the company changed.
Who left
Vladimir Putin’s neighbor in the former Ozero cooperative, Vladimir Yakunin, is a charismatic and ambitious leader who had strong administrative resources thanks to his friendship with the Russian President and bowed his head only to him. Before his resignation, it was clear that he was tired of hard work and was pulling this burden, one might say, out of old friendship. Yakunin was asked to work more, because, in general, there was no one to replace him, so he worked. Russian Railways is not only multi-billion dollar financial flows controlled by a person close to the Kremlin, but also a large social burden.
For Yakunin, Russian Railways were what Moscow was for Yuri Luzhkov - a royal fiefdom with service personnel, royal apartments, personal chefs, a luxury car and even a personal plane (almost all flights were made from VIP terminals on a charter board rented by the company). Even though he did not have much knowledge of the technological intricacies of railways, he somehow kept everything under his control. And Russian Railways worked thanks to his skill and ability to achieve more and more multi-billion dollar subsidies and compensation from the budget. Yakunin's subordinates respected him because they were afraid of falling out of favor. However, this was the case when Russian Railways were still a ministry, headed by Nikolai Aksenenko, and many officials who served in the Ministry of Railways now continue to work for senior positions in Russian Railways.
“Vladimir Yakunin got burned because of his ambitions,” says Ko’s interlocutor, a member of the staff of the former head of Russian Railways. “He constantly demanded an increase in transportation tariffs or money from the budget to maintain the company’s work and new projects. The modernization of BAM and Transsib alone was estimated at 562 billion rubles. As long as the state had funds, he was not refused. But a year ago the situation changed, and Yakunin continued to blackmail the government, trying to convince that the company would not survive without subsidies. He was asked to make do with internal reserves, since Russian Railways had become a problem for the budget. This is the only state-owned company that was no longer capable of anything without subsidies. Yakunin took this as a personal insult and hinted at resigning, although he expected that they would keep him and, as always, give him money. But this time it didn't work out. The honor of the uniform did not allow us to play the situation back.” An important role in the resignation was played by the interests of friends of Vladimir Yakunin and his son Andrei, associated with the railway monopoly. At the same time, representatives of other business groups were not allowed to participate in Russian Railways contracts. Yakunin managed the state-owned company based on his own considerations about what was good and bad for it, and did not take into account the interests of others influential people from the president’s entourage, which earned him many ill-wishers.
The volume of multi-year contracts concluded with Russian Railways by companies associated with good friends of Vladimir Yakunin is estimated at approximately 360 billion rubles, and the amount of assets managed by his son’s fund, taking into account loans raised against them, can reach $1 billion.
Who appointed
The candidacy of Oleg Belozerov turned out to be a compromise - it suited both the government and good friends of the president, who had long been interested in contracts with Russian Railways. We are talking about Arkady Rotenberg, Vladimir Putin's sparring partner in judo. He has known Belozerov since the 1990s from work in St. Petersburg. In 2011, Rotenberg suffered a defeat: the Transstroymekhanizatsiya company he controlled was not allowed to participate in the competition for the construction of a section of the railway worth almost 50 billion rubles. The contract went to the Summa group of Ziyavudin Magomedov.
The new head of Russian Railways, like Vladimir Yakunin, comes from the St. Petersburg galaxy of officials, and they say that it is Arkady Rotenberg who is promoting him in career ladder. This cannot be confirmed, but for many years Belozerov in one way or another crossed paths with the companies of Putin’s friend. In the early 1990s, he was actively involved in business - together with entrepreneur Andrei Kadkin, he was a co-owner of Centaur LLP and Lagoon OJSC, which were engaged in the reconstruction of Lenenergo heating mains. Until 2013, Kadkin was a co-owner of 25% of the Yawara-Neva Judo Sports Club LLC together with Arkady Rotenberg, but his name became known thanks to another story - a criminal case of theft of 48 million rubles. from the money allocated for the repair of heat and water supply networks in St. Petersburg. According to the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the total damage to the “pipe case,” as it was dubbed in St. Petersburg, amounted to more than 3 billion rubles.
In the mid-1990s, Belozerov worked at Lenenergo, then was deputy director of LOMO, and in 2002 he moved to Moscow to the position of general director of the Russian Fuel Company (Rostopprom), which supplied coal, peat and petroleum products. In 2004, a 6.19% stake in Rostopprom was purchased by the International Bank for Trade Cooperation, owned by Arkady Rotenberg's SMP Bank.
In 2004, Belozerov headed the Federal Road Agency, and Igor Levitin, a native of Severstaltrans, headed the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation. Later, the shareholders of Severstaltrans and Arkady Rotenberg will have a joint business, one of largest companies in infrastructure construction - Mostotrest. Rosavtodor became a good school for the future head of Russian Railways, where he was able, if not to prove himself, then to declare himself as a potential candidate for a higher position.
And so it happened. In 2009, the official was appointed Deputy Minister of Transport. He oversaw the entire financial block (including JSC Russian Railways), was responsible for the APEC summit, the Universiade in Kazan, and was present at all ministerial meetings. “He doesn’t have the reputation of a reformer or a super-efficient manager,” says one of his friends from the Ministry of Transport. “Neither in Rosavtodor nor in the Ministry of Transport he showed himself particularly well - an ordinary official who tries to do what he is entrusted with.” According to him, the official is very cautious and rarely expresses his position. “Belozerov got into Russian Railways from the reserve candidates. Few people expected Yakunin’s resignation, says one of the advisers to the former president of Russian Railways. – The offer was made first to Sergei Chemezov (head of Rostec), then to Igor Levitin. But they refused. Belozerov claimed that he could handle the company, and besides, his patrons came to the rescue.”
Big purge
The first thing the new manager started with was personnel rotation. The first vice-president of Russian Railways, Vadim Morozov, who held all operational management and was responsible for the general management and coordination of production and economic activities, was dismissed. In 2003–2004 he worked as the Minister of Railways, replacing Gennady Fadeev in this position, and Morozov worked as the first vice-president of Russian Railways for 10 years. While Vladimir Yakunin was solving strategic problems and negotiating with officials, Morozov was solving operational problems and even supervised the investment program of Russian Railways. Together with Morozov, several vice-presidents and chief accountant Galina Kraft, another long-lived monopoly, left Russian Railways.
“Morozov was the main mover in Russian Railways - a marketer, an analyst, a technician,” says one of the former employees of the company’s central office. “He expected to stay, but the relationship with the new leader did not work out. He left offended, with understandable emotions, cutting off loose ends. It became clear to everyone that anyone could lose their chair because of their personal relationship with Belozerov. At first, opposition arose at the level of regional road leaders.”
So far, four railway chiefs have changed. Former Deputy Head Federal service Financial and budgetary supervision Anatoly Chabunin was appointed director of internal control and audit, and then became vice president of the company. The former head of the Oktyabrskaya Railway, Oleg Valinsky, was appointed another vice-president. Ex-CEO of Globaltrans Sergey Maltsev became senior vice president. Former Ambassador Russia in Norway, Vyacheslav Pavlovsky received the position of vice president for foreign economic activity.
“The main task of those who come is loyalty, and only then competence,” says Ko’s interlocutor, who is familiar with personnel policy in Russian Railways. “Of course, we can’t do without internal restructuring, but first of all, those who do not get along with the new boss leave; the personal factor comes first, not the professional one.” The problem is that Belozerov does not have his own formed team. It was neither in Rosavtodor nor in the Ministry of Transport. He brought several people from the Ministry of Transport, but, as a rule, Belozerov takes those who are recommended to him to fill the vacant positions.
Here it is worth paying tribute to one of Belozerov’s personnel appointments. His advisor was the former Minister of Railways and President of Russian Railways Gennady Fadeev, who still has authority among the top managers of the railway monopoly. However, they have not forgotten Vadim Morozov - his current position of adviser, it seems, is by no means nominal. "About a year about former first the vice president did not hear anything, but in Lately he began to appear in public, perform at official events“says one of the Russian Railways employees.
Defeat the contractors
Working with Russian Railways has become easier and simpler, market participants interviewed by Ko admit, but corruption has not been systematically overcome. “The result of personnel changes was the disruption of stable ties in the system, which contribute to abuses in the financial and economic sphere,” notes Chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Committee Kirill Kabanov. – Simply put, they changed people, but the new ones have not yet had time to agree with each other. This is a standard situation, and one cannot say that Belozerov has any merit in this. We have not seen any systemic measures to combat corruption. Risks remain."
Just as contractors close to Yakunin remain and continue to work with Russian Railways. For example, last week the FAS failed to challenge a contract for 28 billion rubles. between Russian Railways and OSK 1520, which is the contractor for work on the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railways. OSK 1520 is owned by Group of Companies 1520 LLC, and it, in turn, is controlled by four Russian businessmen. One of them is Alexey Krapivin, the son of Andrei Krapivin, an acquaintance of Vladimir Yakunin. From the documents of the Panamanian company Mossack Fonseca, it follows that Krapivin Jr. also controls PJSC Bamstroymekhanizatsiya, the largest contractor of Russian Railways (“Bamstroymekhanizatsiya” and the related management company of the same name received a total of 177.3 billion rubles out of 301.3 billion rubles. awarded during tenders for the modernization of the Baikal-Amur Mainline and the Trans-Siberian Railway in 2014).
The R-Industry corporation of Vladimir Yakunin’s old friend, St. Petersburg businessman Vladimir Vasiliev, also continues to cooperate with Russian Railways. It builds sidings and tracks on the Sverdlovsk Railway (contracts for 8.12 billion rubles in 2014–2015). Transyuzhstroy Management Company, owned by Anatoly Antipov, a former partner of Russian Railways vice-president for the construction complex Oleg Tony, also remains a major construction contractor of the monopoly. His company works on the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railways, fulfilling a contract to modernize the road worth 62 billion rubles.
Other people's stations
In the fight against the old team, Belozerov has managed to achieve really little so far. However, a serious blow to structures associated with the former president of Russian Railways was the revocation of the license of the small captive bank Millennium on February 5, 2016. The credit institution serviced part of the financial flows of Russian Railways. More likely, new team excluded Millennium from the monopoly's financial system. The free funds of the railway monopoly's subsidiaries, in particular the Federal Passenger Company, were kept on deposits there. At the time of the revocation of the license, the owners of the bank were three “subsidiaries” of Russian Railways (OJSC BET, OJSC ZhTK and OJSC TD Russian Railways), which controlled 35.1% of the bank, OJSC Bamtonnelstroy had 35.08%, OJSC Statos owned 16.96%, OJSC Russian Railways - Development of Stations - 12.86%. General Director and main owner of JSC Russian Railways - Development of Stations (Russian Railways owns only a blocking stake in this structure) Sergey Pak. The board of directors of Millennium was headed by Oleg Toni. In the 2000s, Vladimir Yakunin’s wife, Natalya, was a member of the bank’s board of directors. Mikhail Baidakov, in addition to being a shareholder of the bank (through Statos), worked as a freelance adviser to the president of Russian Railways.
Before the Millennium, top managers of Russian Railways associated with Vladimir Yakunin lost control over all stations in the country, for which they were responsible separate structure monopolies - the Directorate of Railway Stations, headed by Sergei Abramov. This is the former prime minister of Chechnya, who after the death of Akhmat Kadyrov served as acting president of the republic for several months. Abramov was an auditor and monitored the expenditure of budget money for the preparation of the Olympics in Sochi. In November 2007, after three of Abramov’s subordinates were arrested in the Accounts Chamber on suspicion of taking a bribe, the chamber’s board expressed no confidence in him. In December 2007, Abramov received the post of head of the branch of the company "Russian Railways - Directorate of Railway Stations", where he was supposed to centralize and bring under the control of the monopoly all the business that spontaneously operated on its territory.
Where does this trust come from? Probably, the matter is in the political and business connections of Sergei Abramov and his wife Alla Kalashnik, who was connected with the Millennium Bank through a number of structures. Together with Anna Kozlova, she owned ZAO Ice, the parent company of ZAO ARS, the organizer of the Russian Stations bonus card project. On the other hand, the co-founder of ARS was Millennium Bank. Little is known about Anna Kozlova, except that she is the founder and general director of several companies, including those related to IT and the railway business. But, according to the Kontur.Focus service, it was also general director NPO Energia LLC, co-founded by the president’s cousin Igor Putin.
Sergei Abramov attracted Sergei Pak, an old friend of his family, to the station business. Pak and Kalashnik owned shares in the Communications Integration company, which in the 1990s was part of the Telecom holding, which built telecommunications for MGTS, Comstar and Sovintel, and in 2009 they became co-owners of Quadro Project LLC. . “Integration of Communications” began to engage in railway projects, and in 2009, at the initiative of Abramov, the company “Russian Railways – Development of Stations” was created in Russian Railways. Two years later, Sistema Service, which is currently owned by Sergei Pak (49%), bought 74.97% of Russian Railways – Development of Stations from the monopoly. And now this company controls almost 350 stations in the country, it has established more than 40 organizations involved in service, cleaning, design of industrial premises, accommodation of tenants, and leasing of premises. Among them, for example, are LLC Food at Stations, a joint venture with restaurateur Arkady Novikov, or Russian Railways Taxi Center, which provides services for transporting passengers at the capital’s stations. The schemes under which Russian Railways – Development of Stations worked are described in the certificate; one could make good money from them - the company’s turnover at the end of 2013 amounted to 1.2 billion rubles, in 2012 - about 850 million rubles.
After Yakunin’s resignation, the monopoly began to directly look for structures that would take over the management of railway stations. The first partner at Kursky Station last year was the St. Petersburg company NAI Becar. And on October 16, 2015, Russian Railways filed a lawsuit to declare its “daughter” bankrupt. However, until now there have been no hearings on this case. Sergei Abramov was first transferred to the position of adviser to the head of the monopoly, and then left Russian Railways for Rostec.
However, now the Directorate of Railway Stations is headed by an equally interesting personality - the former head of Zheldoripoteka CJSC and Roszheldorproekt OJSC Vitaly Votolevsky. A native of Leningrad managed to work as an adviser to the governor of St. Petersburg on investment in construction. But it is curious that he, like Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Yakunin, has country cottage area in the cooperative "Ozero" near St. Petersburg.
No subsidies
Last August, the new head of Russian Railways was tasked with reducing costs and solving problems with passenger transportation. “There are a lot of complaints here, people are unhappy when routes are canceled, but the railway should receive money for transportation,” said head of government Dmitry Medvedev, announcing Belozerov’s appointment.
At that time, experts assessed the state of Russian Railways as a crisis. Revenue from the sale of tickets in suburban services covered no more than half of the costs of passenger companies; they were provided with subsidies, but despite this, their losses in 2014 reached 6.4 billion rubles. Operating expenses for 2014 according to IFRS amounted to RUB 1.75 trillion. Prepared financial plan for 2016 with tariff indexation of 10% and budget subsidies of 40 billion rubles. needed to be changed.
The refusal of government subsidies to maintain financial stability and major repairs was programmed upon the very arrival of the new leader. “Reducing the burden on the budget and more stringent cost management is what has been expected from the company for a long time,” says former vice-president of Russian Railways Anna Belova. “The company began to change, although in 300 days it is difficult to talk about any economic changes, especially from the outside.”
Will the monopoly be able to do without annual subsidies of 30–40 billion rubles? These revenues were supposed to be closed through the sale of a 25% stake in Transmashholding (TMH) and a reduction in expenses by 45 billion rubles. in 2016. This is what happened: at the end of last year, Russian Railways received 162.4 million euros for TMH. But the deal cannot be called successful. A stake of 25% plus 1 share of Russian Railways was bought in 2007 for 9.2 billion rubles. (262.8 million euros at the weighted average exchange rate for 2007). Thus, the monopoly lost 100.4 million euros on this investment, although it earned 3.2 billion in rubles due to the depreciation of the national currency.
Last year, Russian Railways even received 300 million rubles. net profit for the first time in several years.
“Expenses for transportation activities were optimized by 39.7 billion rubles, hedging accounting was introduced, which made it possible to reduce losses from the depreciation of the ruble by 70 billion rubles, the debt of the Ministry of Health and Social Development was restored from the reserve - 10.9 billion rubles, stakes were sold subsidiaries and dependent companies in the amount of 19.3 billion rubles, and measures were also taken to prevent depreciation of the value of subsidiaries and dependent companies - 18.8 billion rubles,” Russian Railways told Ko. This year it is planned to triple net profit.
What resources make this possible? “The company has developed proposals to optimize operating expenses by 43.7 billion rubles, or 3.2% of the approved planned parameters,” Russian Railways explained. And primarily due to reduced investment. As Oleg Belozerov himself stated, Russian Railways reduced the investment program for 2016 to 424.1 billion rubles. due to a shift in deadlines for a number of projects to modernize the Baikal-Amur Mainline and the Trans-Siberian Railway by 8.3 billion rubles. (in fact, compared to the total construction budget of 554 billion rubles until 2019, the amount of 8 billion rubles is tiny). In addition, Russian Railways expect to receive more than 14 billion rubles this year. from the privatization of subsidiaries, in particular, VRK-3, BET, TsPPK, Kaluga plant "Remputmash", Moscow mechanical plant "Red Put". Another potential source of income is the issue of discount bonds.
The decision of Russian Railways on BAM confirms the thesis about Belozerov’s diligence. Recently, the Accounts Chamber inspected the main construction project of railway workers and made very disappointing conclusions. For example, it turned out that a significant part of the work under the concluded contracts was paid for, but not completed. Some of the contracts were concluded for an amount exceeding the cost of the work under the tender, and Russian Railways also advanced the work to the contractors, although this is prohibited by the order of the monopoly itself.
In 2014, 88 facilities designated for modernization received funding from the National Welfare Fund (NWF). At the end of last year, contracts had been concluded for the modernization of only 72 facilities, but nothing had been done on about half. Some of them did not even have project documentation approved, and there were no construction permits. The first 50 billion rubles. received from the Russian Railways National Welfare Fund in March 2015. As of January 1, 2016, only 3.7 billion rubles had been spent. But we managed to earn money on interest. RUB 4.2 billion was credited to Russian Railways’ account at VTB.
Take Kazan
Previously, the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway project, which was planned to be completed for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, could also be called a state construction project. It did not become such, although even more money will be spent on it than was originally planned. In 2014, when construction was supposed to begin, the volume of investment was estimated at 1.068 trillion rubles. But the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development refused to allocate subsidies from the federal budget and 150 billion rubles. from the National Welfare Fund. In May 2015, Vladimir Yakunin and the head of Chinese Railways Sheng Guangzu signed a memorandum according to which China is ready to allocate 104 billion rubles for the construction of high-speed lines. as a contribution to authorized capital joint company with Russian railway workers and 250 billion rubles. loan. Now design work should be completed in 2016, and construction is scheduled to begin in 2017 with completion in 2020.
If the project had begun to be implemented in 2014, the increase in cost would have been avoided. And now the first vice-president of Russian Railways, Alexander Misharin, sent new figures to the Ministry of Transport: total capital expenditures on the project increased by 131 billion rubles, to 1.19 trillion rubles. As a result, the monopoly is asking for more money from the federal budget for its implementation - 643 billion rubles, and not 505, as two years ago. Russian Railways explains the increase in the cost of the project by inflation and fluctuations in the ruble exchange rate.
Experts consider the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway to be unpromising. “No one needs this road except the Chinese,” says Ivan Rodionov, a professor at the Higher School of Economics. – When the economy declines, transportation falls proportionally, but Russian Railways does not notice this. The company hasn't changed a bit. She remained as bad as she was.” Back in 2014, the Ministry of Finance considered the forecast of passenger traffic to Kazan overestimated and doubted that Russian Railways would be able to return the funds to the National Welfare Fund.
Weakness and strength
The weakness of Oleg Belozerov's administrative resources became apparent at the end of last year. For many years, car manufacturers have unsuccessfully fought with Vladimir Yakunin to update rolling stock, calling on railway workers not to modernize old cars and thereby extend their service life almost indefinitely, but to purchase new technology. In November, Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) was visited by Vladimir Putin, where the long-awaited decision was made - to ban the operation of cars with an extended validity period from January 1, 2016. According to some estimates, 120,000 cars were immediately written off. UVZ management has already announced an increase in production in 2016 to 14,000 cars, while last year the plant built only 3,000 units. This was a clear lobbying victory for the manufacturers over Russian Railways. And it was won just three months after the resignation of Vladimir Yakunin.
Russian Railways has many problems, as well as tasks that need to be solved within a reasonable time. “This includes the development of the Eastern Polygon (BAM, Trans-Siberian Railway, access to China), the Northern Latitudinal Railway (connection of the Sverdlovsk and Northern Railways), the creation of high-speed highways and solving the problems of suburban communication,” lists the director of the Institute of Transport Economics and Transport Policy of the Higher School economics Mikhail Blinkin. “But it all comes down to money.” In his opinion, transport is a business, and any social problems needs to be addressed through the budget, rather than shifting this responsibility to the carrier. Russia spends extremely little on infrastructure development – just over 2% of GDP. For comparison: for developed countries this figure is estimated at about 3%, and China spends about 6%. The contradiction between the interests of the carrier and the maintenance of infrastructure can only be resolved by non-tariff methods - either budgetary funds or private ones. “It is no longer possible to include the infrastructure component in the tariff,” the expert is convinced. “But this is where constant contradictions arise between the officials themselves.”
“Belozerov is valued for his diligence: what he is told, he, without hesitation, transmits to his subordinates, and they must carry it out,” a source close to the Ministry of Transport tells Ko. “As long as nothing critical has happened in Russian Railways, he will remain at his post, and then - depending on how he behaves and shows himself.” “Belozerov’s advantage is his independence from the existing clans in the structure of Russian Railways - he does not owe anything to anyone, he does not have his own business interests related to Russian Railways,” says a representative of one of the rolling stock operators. - So he is free to act, and he was put in the role of a cleaner. Under Yakunin, the company was overgrown with sticky companies that controlled structures affiliated with the management of Russian Railways. The new leader is cleaning them up.”
Andrey Krasavin
"Belozerov system"
Kurgan Russian Railways employees were caught selling positions. Where do kickbacks from state company employees go?
Security forces opened a criminal case against an engineer of the Kurgan regional communications center of Russian Railways." The unnamed employee "is suspected of receiving a significant bribe (part 2 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)," reports the press service of the Ural Investigation Department for Transport of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.
According to preliminary data, an employee of the center took money “for the employment in RCS-3 of JSC Russian Railways of a group of workers on urgent employment contracts for laying a communication cable on the Leshchevo - Zamaraevo - Dolmatovo section of the South Ural Railway."
Anti-corruption fighters say that the system of extortions does not end with “grassroots cadres.” Allegedly, part of the funds goes “up”. One of these people could be the vice-president of Russian Railways, Salman Babaev, who was dismissed a few days ago. Who allegedly “wanted to relax for a long time.” We especially note that the state-owned company declined to comment.
Here we need to remember that in 2016 it became known that the ISR Trans company, affiliated with the former vice-president of Lukoil Iskander Khalilov, suddenly decided not to buy 50% of the railway operator SG-Trans from AFK Sistema. It would seem where Khalilov is and where Babaev is.
But the fact is that it was then that it surfaced - another 50% of the company is owned by an office called “Vector Rail”, associated with Alexei Taicher and the offspring of our today’s “hero” Salman Babaev! The Russian Railways website states that SG-trans is “the largest owner of rolling stock in the Russian Federation for the transportation of liquefied hydrocarbon gases and light hydrocarbon raw materials.”
The names of Salman Magomedrasulovich's beloved sons are Ruslan and Timur, and it turns out that they were able to get a company that services Russian Railways, where until recently their dad sat in the vice-president's chair!
Moreover, in the materials of the case initiated by FAS employees, there is data according to which Vector Rail bought 50% of SG-Trans in 2015, violating the “law on the protection of competition”!!! But it seems that this is not only a violation of competition, but also a conflict of interest!
They say that the reason for the departure of the “unsinkable” Babaev was that Russian Railways literally began to “terrorize” the FAS, which, for example, sharply opposed the idea of such a “targeted increase in tariffs.” In general, the head of the state company Oleg Belozerov and his vice-presidents who remained from the time of Vladimir Yakunin, including Salman Babaev, wanted to increase tariffs by 12%. But the FAS officers did not allow them to do this.
In November 2016, antimonopoly officials initiated a case against Russian Railways. "The department suspects a group of persons of establishing a monopolistic high price for services for the provision of gondola cars for the transportation of mineral and construction cargo on domestic routes. According to the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, in the period from January 1 to August 1, 2016, the increase in the cost of FGC services for the provision of gondola cars for domestic transportation of mineral and construction cargo amounted to 38%. At the same time, rates for the provision of wagons to individual shippers in the period from June 2015 to June 2016 increased by 2.2-2.5 times,” the FAS said in a statement.
It must be said that it is not only antimonopoly officials who are unhappy. Thus, such influential billionaires as the owner of Lukoil Vagit Alekperov and the head of the state-owned Gazpromneft Alexander Dyukov complained to Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich and asked to “prevent the plans of the management of Russian Railways to raise tariffs for the transportation of oil cargo above the inflation rate.” By the way, a subsidiary of Rosneft, the Ryazan Refinery (JSC RNPK), actually filed a lawsuit against Russian Railways! According to Igor Sechin’s subordinates, the subsidiary lost 1 billion rubles. The dissatisfaction of oligarchs and state managers is already modern Russia more serious discontent with the FAS...
Who will be the next to leave?
Mr. Belozerov joined in 2015. Then it seemed that the situation in the "Russian railways“will change dramatically. The employee himself said so, clarifying: “We plan to reach parameters close to break-even - this is the first time in history.”
This, of course, did not happen, but almost immediately, in 2015, the salary of Belozerov and his vice-presidents, whom he left in their places, increased almost 2.5 times - to 469.8 million rubles! And remunerations for top management increased by 14.5% to RUB 1.6 billion. Is it possible to make changes if the same team remains, which year after year could not bring Russian Railways to breakeven?
But now the FAS is putting a lot of pressure on Belozerov and his team. Another top manager, Petr Katsyv, may leave next after Babaev. Why? Katsyv is one of Yakunin’s most scandalous heirs. This year, the American prosecutor's office "suspected the Katsyv group of companies of laundering proceeds received from the theft of 5.4 billion rubles from the Russian budget, discovered by lawyer Sergei Magnitsky." In other words, in the USA they believe that Pyotr Dmitrievich stole money from Russia! What do we think?
With us, Mr. Katsyv simply takes and receives 2.5 hectares of land in Khimki for a company affiliated with him! He gets it for free because he simply asked for it!
We also note that not only American, but also Israeli security officials were interested in Katsyv. It’s worth remembering here that Pyotr Dmitrievich was a defendant in criminal case 40279/08, which was handled by the Tel Aviv district prosecutor’s office! Then they investigated “money laundering by Peter Katsyv as the owner and recipient Money across different bank accounts."
Most likely, Katsyv is the next one to leave Russian Railways.
Greetings from Yakunin
But the most surprising thing is that the business affiliated with Belozerov’s predecessor remained to serve Russian Railways! For example, it still publishes the magazines Sapsan and Sakvoyazh SV, which are distributed on the St. Petersburg-Moscow trains. The Reklamotiv office, which has been working with Russian Railways since 2010, makes money from this. But something else is important: the company is 100% owned by the offshore Truban Co Ltd, which, according to anti-corruption fighters, is behind it. stands the Yakunin family.
There is another respectable company with the appropriate name “Business Dialogue”, which holds forums, conferences and other events of Russian Railways. This company managed to “grab” tenders worth 1 billion rubles from Russian Railways!!! Who owns the company? All the same offshore from Cyprus Trussland Co. Ltd.
Now the security forces are dealing with Russian Railways employees at all levels. Law enforcement officers are trying to identify a system of extortions, thanks to which the top management of the state-owned company is becoming fabulously rich. Babaev recently left, against whom many complaints had accumulated. Katsyv will soon leave his post. And then the matter will come to Belozerov.
