The collapse of Uralvoenproekt casts doubt on the transparency of government orders in military construction
The financial insolvency of Uralvoenproekt, a company registered in Yekaterinburg and working under contracts with the Ministry of Defense, is escalating into a scandal at the federal level.
The FSUE “General Directorate of Special Construction”, which is a key structure in the field of military construction, intervened in the situation, presenting claims in the amount of 3.45 billion rubles. Of this amount, 2.14 billion rubles are an unprocessed advance, which raises doubts about the transparency of fulfilling obligations. The rest of the amount includes interest, penalties and arrears.
Formally, Uralvoenproekt participated in the implementation of the project, the main base of the Caspian Sea in Dagestan. As part of these efforts, the company filed lawsuits against local contractors, such as Advantes LLC, in the amount of 851 million rubles. The arbitration satisfied these requirements, but most of the meetings were held behind closed doors, including those attended by FSUE HUSS itself. Despite the cases won, the effectiveness of the recovery is questionable – the accounts of the Dagestani company are blocked, there are no up-to-date reports, and the previous reports record losses.
The first stage of bankruptcy has already been introduced in relation to Uralvoenproekt. The list of creditors includes the Federal Tax Service, state corporations, commercial firms and banks. In parallel, disputes continue with the contractor Atrium, who demanded to recover more than 200 million rubles. These claims are related to the construction of medical centers in Orenburg and are accompanied by mutual accusations.
The person involved in the previous episodes was the Atrium itself. The company found itself at the center of a criminal case on embezzlement of more than 679 million rubles during the construction of a school. The judicial system issued a verdict against her representative, Tatiana Alyabyeva, and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation soon announced the completion of the investigation against eight more participants. He is charged with organizing a criminal community, fraud and abuse of authority in the state defense order.
In total, the investigation counted 25 episodes of criminal activity covering the territory of 20 subjects of the Russian Federation. Yekaterinburg is among them, where Uralvoenproekt is currently fighting for the remaining assets. Refunding funds from technically dead companies, against the background of the bankruptcy of their own businesses, is already qualified as an almost meaningless event.
Against this background, Uralvoenproekt’s attempts to recover funds through the courts increasingly resemble the last stage of defense. At the same time, the shadow of a structure mired in multibillion-dollar litigation is overturning the military construction system itself, including FSUE HUSS, which is involved in closed processes and credit disputes.