What do you see in this photograph? If all you see is a river, summer cottages, forest edges, and mushroom clearings, take a closer look. There, way over there, right in the center of the photo, you can see the perfect explanation for why the political regime of Toad_on_the_Pipe so fiercely refuses to ratify Article 20 of the UN Convention against Corruption and reacts so painfully to attempts to add an article on “illicit enrichment” to the Criminal Code. If those measures were implemented, this photograph would create serious problems for certain people in the Kremlin and United Russia. Let me explain in more detail—and I’m sure you’ll enjoy this story. This is the village of Leshkovo in the Istra District of Moscow Region. That is where these remarkable wealthy palaces stand,
Now for each plot separately, in order, so to speak, of increasing interest. One of them belongs to “simple miner” and secretary of the general council of the United Russia party, Sergei Neverov.
I’ve already written about him in detail (promising to write about the neighbors too, which I am now doing). Briefly, let me remind you: Neverov, who loves to portray himself as a “simple miner, a working man,” has never been in business, has spent recent years living off us in public office, has no significant income, yet somehow managed to acquire a “country plot” worth 92 million rubles, which he registered in the name of his mother-in-law—a 75-year-old pensioner from Novokuznetsk. When I wrote about his palace on September 4 of this year, Neverov had the nerve to say that he bought and built all this with “money from the sale of an apartment in Novokuznetsk.” According to his disclosure, Neverov really did own a two-room apartment of 67 square meters in that city. A question for everyone: can we believe for even a second that a 67-square-meter apartment in Novokuznetsk is comparable in value to a huge plot on the bank of the Moscow River and a house that is probably twice the size of the main Palace of Pioneers in Novokuznetsk? Of course not. We understand that Neverov is a disgusting liar and bribe-taker, like everyone in United Russia. And the mysterious sources of his income can be explained in one word only: “corruption.” All right then, on to the neighbors. Meet Igor Nikolaevich Rudensky.
http://www.duma.gov.ru/structure/deputies/131170/ A prominent United Russia member and chairman of the State Duma committee on economic policy.
As for economic policy, Deputy Rudensky is doing very, very well indeed. Plot #1 (2,996 sq. m.) he registered to the country partnership “SOSNY” (“Pines”) (and does not declare it, although he should), while plot #2 (8,213 sq. m.) is registered in Rudensky’s own name. The total value of the 11,209 sq. m. of land is approximately 74 million rubles. And, as we can see, construction of a huge house is underway on the property. Let’s look at Rudensky’s official income: 2006 — 1.2 million rubles 2010 — 1.9 million rubles 2011 — 1.9 million rubles 2012 — 2 million rubles My God. What a shock. What an astonishing anomaly. In 2006, Deputy Rudensky earned 1.2 million rubles, and his bank account held 198,914 rubles and 23 kopecks. He remained a deputy, and in 2008 he bought land for a sum equal to dozens of years of his annual salary at the time. There is no explanation whatsoever for where United Russia member Rudensky got the tens of millions of rubles needed to acquire this marvelous estate. Maybe he found buried treasure. Or maybe he’s simply a thief and a bribe-taker. You decide. And who is this inventive fellow who put what looks like an entire hockey rink on his property? Or who knows what it is—a circus? a gladiator arena? a rodeo field?
This is Nikolai Ivanovich Ashlapov.
See what a stern, strong-willed face he has. There is no doubt that at the moment this photograph was taken, Nikolai Ivanovich was thinking about Russia. He is one of our state construction officials: until recently, head of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Spetsstroiinzhiniring under the Federal Agency for Special Construction” (Spetsstroy of Russia); previously head of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Main Directorate for the Construction of Roads and Airfields under the Federal Agency for Special Construction”; deputy minister of regional development of Russia; acting governor of Krasnoyarsk Territory; and a deputy of the fourth State Duma convocation. Ashlapov is a member of the United Russia party. And it was Nikolai Ivanovich Ashlapov who oversaw preparations for the APEC summit—the very one remembered for monstrous theft, wild price inflation, useless construction, and facilities that began falling apart almost immediately. Ashlapov himself says, “Construction projects like those for the APEC summit are a recipe for overcoming crisis.” That may be true, if by crisis he means a crisis in one’s personal budget. United Russia member Ashlapov clearly overcame that crisis very successfully, judging by the size of his country estate. The estimated value of the plot and house is about 178 million rubles. Apparently, so that the obvious parallels between the inflated cost of the construction projects overseen by United Russia member Ashlapov and the size of his estate would not be too obvious, Nikolai Ivanovich chose not to declare it in full. The actual property consists of three cadastral plots: Plot #1, area 11,347 sq. m. Plot #2, area 750 sq. m., registered to the country non-commercial partnership “SOSNY” Plot #3, area 237 sq. m., registered to the country non-commercial partnership “SOSNY” Neither the second nor the third plot appears in his disclosure. Now let’s move on to the next very remarkable neighbor.
Beautiful, isn’t it? You can tell right away that someone with modern ideas about country living lives here. A European lives here. This is Sergei Eduardovich Prikhodko, deputy prime minister and chief of the government staff.
What a serious folder he has there, “for signature.” Looking at Prikhodko’s “dacha,” you realize that skillful use of such a folder can bring in excellent profits. Plot #1 covers 19,817 sq. m., plot #2 covers 8,143 sq. m. Total: 27,960 sq. m., or almost 3 hectares. The first plot was registered as property in 2011, the second in 2008. Why—that will be explained below. There is also a house of 1,580 sq. m. and a bathhouse of 137 sq. m. on the property. Let’s take a closer look at Sergei Eduardovich’s biography: In 1986–1987 — attaché, third secretary of the USSR Foreign Ministry’s Directorate of Socialist Countries of Europe. In 1992–1993 — second secretary, first secretary of the Russian Embassy in the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic. In 1993–1997 — head of section, head of department, deputy director of a department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Since April 9, 1997 — aide to the President of the Russian Federation. Since September 14, 1998 — deputy chief of staff of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation. Since February 2, 1999 — deputy chief of staff of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation and head of the Presidential Directorate for Foreign Policy. Since March 26, 2004 — aide to the President of the Russian Federation. Since May 21, 2012 — first deputy chief of staff of the Government of the Russian Federation. Since May 9, 2013 — acting chief of staff of the Government of the Russian Federation. Since May 22, 2013 — deputy chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation and chief of staff of the Government of the Russian Federation. He has spent his whole life in public service. You could say he devoted it to us. A servant of the people. Now let’s look at his income: In 2012 he earned 10.7 million rubles; in 2011, 6.8 million rubles; in 2010, 6.2 million rubles; in 2009, 6.5 million rubles; and in 2008 (the year Prikhodko bought the plot and began construction), 5.3 million rubles. We take out a microscope and look at the income again, and once again find nothing there that would explain the existence of such luxurious real estate. How much is this plot worth? A large plot of land is for sale nearby at a price of $20,000 per sotka (100 square meters). Let’s even ignore the fact that Prikhodko’s plot is on the riverbank, while the one we’re comparing it to is 300 meters away. At 279.6 sotkas at $20,000 each, that comes to $5.6 million, or 184.5 million rubles. Even if Prikhodko’s income before 2008 had not grown and remained 5.3 million rubles a year, he would have had to work 34 years just to pay for the land alone—living on the street, walking everywhere, and eating nothing. And looking at the photo of “civil servant” Prikhodko, we flatly refuse to believe that he neither ate nor drank for 34 years. And that is without taking into account the cost of building a 1,500-square-meter house, a huge bathhouse, utilities, and so on. And, as usual, the Anti-Corruption Foundation cannot resist putting a cherry on top of this investigation. Today’s cherry is the chief ideologue of United Russia, the man responsible for all domestic policy in the country—Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin, first deputy chief of the presidential administration and member of the bureau of United Russia’s supreme council.
I wouldn’t even call this a dacha. This is more like a “park ensemble.” A pond, galleries of some kind. Apparently there’s a bath complex by the pond, so you can leap straight out of the bathhouse shouting, “Oh, how I love Mother Russia,” and scare off the white swans rocking a fallen star. A landing pad marked with the letter “H,” hinting to us that while ordinary suckers sit in traffic jams, their rulers fly by helicopter. By the most conservative estimate, all this is worth no less than 155 million rubles, and most likely well over 200 million. Let me remind you that since 1996, Monsieur Volodin has been strictly in public service. He could not and cannot legally earn enough to buy and maintain such splendor. Obviously, the monthly operating costs here are greater than his salary. Let’s look at the disclosures: 2012 — 6.7 million rubles, 2011 — 4 million rubles, 2010 — 6.5 million rubles. True, in 2009 there was a mysterious and astonishing income of 350 million rubles from the sale of shares in an oils-and-fats plant, but that only raises questions about how, when, why, and for how much he bought those shares in the first place. In any case, we can see that “civil servant” Volodin owns property whose upkeep exceeds his official annual income. That apparently worries Volodin himself, which is why he too was embarrassed to declare the full land plot.
Plot #2 covers 8,320 sq. m., and plot #1 covers 11,105 sq. m. Total: 19,425 sq. m. The second plot is registered to the “SOSNY” country non-commercial partnership, which has already been mentioned several times in this post. And it is not in the disclosure. The 8,320 sq. m. plot is there, the 744.2 sq. m. house is there, but the 11,105 sq. m. plot held through the “country partnership” and actually used by him is not. Our chief “domestic policy” man is lying and committing fraud in his property disclosure. So what exactly is this “SOSNY” partnership? It seems that United Russia member Volodin takes his cues from his senior comrades in everything: they are famous for the “Ozero” dacha cooperative (a group linked to Putin’s inner circle), whose members effectively became an organized criminal group robbing the country and turned into legal billionaires. And these people created their own “Sosny” dacha cooperative: Here are the founders:
Full extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. The logic is simple: These crafty United Russia crooks came up with a way not to declare plots that belong to them, and created a special “country non-commercial partnership” to which they decided to register part of their land. But the cunning plan of the United Russia men turned out not to be so cunning after all. The thing is, you have to declare not only what belongs directly to an individual, but also what is in actual use—and it does not matter who formally owns it: a country partnership, a mother-in-law, or an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands. This, incidentally, explains the different purchase dates of Sergei Prikhodko’s plots: he simply re-registered a plot that belonged to him from the “country partnership” into his own name. In addition to the plots where the United Russia officials live, the “country non-commercial partnership” owns about 100,000 sq. m. of land, including an 11th–12th century burial mound cemetery, which is a federally protected heritage monument.
At this point I would normally move on to organizational conclusions and moral lessons, but while working through this case we noticed something strange. Let’s take another look at the satellite image from two years ago and our recent photograph.
We can see two changes. On the left, the United Russia men have acquired another neighbor. The fences of Neverov, Rudensky, and Ashlapov now run right up to the river. So who is this new neighbor? It is Nikolai Sergeevich Shustenko, president of the Basis Group of Companies. His business is tied to budget money just as closely as he is tied to his dacha neighbors. In just the last couple of years, his companies have won tenders worth more than 5 billion rubles, mostly for landscaping and improvement projects in northern Moscow.
Shustenko bought two plots: one for himself, and another, measuring 23,760 sq. m., for his United Russia neighbors (through LLC “Construction of Transport Networks”). Here is the second plot:
From this plot, United Russia member Neverov received 2,140 sq. m. (worth $428,000), United Russia member Rudensky 4,250 sq. m. (worth $850,000), and United Russia member Ashlapov 9,600 sq. m. (worth $1,920,000). Thus, we establish the following fact: Deputy Neverov, Deputy Rudensky, and former deputy Ashlapov received income in kind from businessman Shustenko. He bought land and transferred it for the use and disposal of these crooks. The crooks took the land, stand on it, and fenced it off. The Anti-Corruption Foundation considers this a bribe paid to high-ranking United Russia officials for unknown services. Possibly for “help” in winning landscaping tenders. If Neverov, Rudensky, and Ashlapov want to prove otherwise, let them show the documents under which the land was gifted or sold to them, show that they paid tax on the income (if it was gifted), and explain why the land was not declared. And now for the moral part: I hope you once again understand why the “United Russia” people and the Kremlin are so opposed to introducing “illicit enrichment” into the Criminal Code. If such an article existed, all these miracle dacha owners would end up in the dock, where they would have to explain what money all this was bought with. I hope all of you understand how important it is to support the common struggle of all decent people for the ratification of Article 20 of the UN Convention against Corruption and the introduction of this very concept of “illicit enrichment.” Now for the practical part: In the course of this investigation, the Anti-Corruption Foundation established the following: 1. Senior state official Volodin violated current anti-corruption legislation and submitted a false property disclosure, failing to indicate most of the land plot on which his estate is located. We demand an official investigation and Volodin’s dismissal from public service. Here is our official letter on the matter. 2. United Russia deputies Neverov and Rudensky, as well as former deputy Ashlapov, violated anti-corruption legislation and provided false information in their property disclosures. We demand official recognition of this fact and the expulsion of these crooks from the State Duma. We expect United Russia to expel these people from the party. We ask media outlets to make official inquiries on this issue, since formally we ourselves cannot do so. 3. We accuse deputies Neverov, Rudensky, and former deputy Ashlapov of receiving a bribe from businessman Shustenko and demand a criminal investigation. Statement. 4. We believe that the property owned by state official Prikhodko is nowhere near compatible with his income, and we demand that he explain the source of the funds. Now for the part about cooperation and nationwide civic participation. We would very much like you to help us spread this information. Surely Russian citizens will be curious to look at the dachas of these “servants of the people” and ask with us: “paid for with what money?” We made this wonderful website: http://dacha.fbk.info/
It would be great if you shared the link http://dacha.fbk.info/ everywhere you can. Non-political blogs and communities are especially good. This kind of information is interesting to everyone. If you have an account on Odnoklassniki (a Russian social network popular with older users), please post it there too (or ask your parents to) and urge everyone to share the link. Odnoklassniki is a social network with lots of people aged 50+ who use the internet but don’t read LiveJournal or Facebook—let’s try to reach them. And of course Twitter, VK, Facebook, all of that. There is no link that won’t do some good. Every link, retweet, and post is a jab with a sharp stick at the disgusting toad. LiveJournal now allows embedded tweets, not just images of them. If you click “retweet” right here, you’ll be a champ:
We made an online poster that anyone can put up on their wall. Please do. As usual, for the most active supporters, we also made a poster for offline distribution. Put it up in your apartment building entrance to stir up hatred and hostility toward the social group known as “brazen United Russia crooks who stole money and built themselves palaces.” Journalists and media workers, we understand that not everyone is allowed to publish this kind of information, but it would be great if you at least tried. Many thanks in advance to everyone who has picked up the sharp stick. http://dacha.fbk.info/ And of course, huge thanks to the Anti-Corruption Foundation staff who worked on this investigation. Special thanks to Furious George (he’s incredibly cool) and the brave paraglider pilot @BlackKarlsson. If you like what the Anti-Corruption Foundation does, you can support us—the Foundation exists on donations from citizens.