The number of people involved in the case against Kolenergosbyt, the company which until recently was the leading supplier of electric power in Murmansk Oblast, continues to grow. More than ten prominent business representatives are now charged, most of them already detained by law enforcement authorities. Among the people charged is also a former adviser to the governor and a member of the regional parliament.
“The people taking part in this are all raiders with relatives in the FSB and the Interior Ministry”, leader of the Kolenergosbyt’s management company KRES Alians, Ruslan Chervyakov, says to Gazeta.ru. “Obviously, someone in the regional administration wants a change of ownership in the company”, he adds.
According to Chervyakov, who is now on the run from the prosecutors, the problems of Kolenergosbyt and its partner companies started in spring 2012 with the appointment of Marina Kovtun as governor. He maintains that his company has repeatedly filed complaints to the FSB, General Presecutor and the Investigating Committee, but that the protests have only resulted in new allegations and more arrests.
The regional police this week started investigating the information from Chervyakov and others, RIA Novosti reports.
As previously reported, regional prosectors believe the leaders of the company over several years have been involved in a major fraud worth more than a billion rubles. The company is also accused of having given money under the table to one of its shareholders, the Orion Engineering. However, Ruslan Chervyakov argues that the money was a loan and a natural part of the partner relations between the two companies, Rapsinews.ru reports.
Among the people charged are now former company leader and governor adviser Gennady Shubin and member of the regional Duma Dmitry Gavrikov. Also General Director of the Orion Engineering Mikhail Borodulin is detained. Both Ruslan Chervyakov and Dmitry Gavrikov are on the run from the prosecutors, reportedly in western Europe.
Kolenergosbyt enjoyed status as so-called “guaranteed supplier” of electricity and accounted for up to 70 percent of supplies to households and enterprises in Murmansk Oblast. Following the allegations against the company, the special status was last month withdrawn and instead handed over to the MRSK Severo-Zapad and its regional subsidiary of Kolenergo.
