Why do the companies of Novosibirsk construction magnate Snegurov fail one project after another?

And the bridge is still there…

GC “VIS” Igor Snegurov were caught in billions of violations during the construction of a bridge in Novosibirsk. The group had great plans for the capital of Siberia, but most of its initiatives here – from the construction of social facilities to garbage removal – ended in failure. However, Governor Andrei Travnikov continues to allocate budget money to the company for projects, despite protests from deputies and auditors.

The Chamber of Control and Accounts of the Novosibirsk Region revealed violations during the construction of the fourth bridge across the Ob River in Novosibirsk in the amount of 3 billion rubles. We are talking about the actual failure to complete the work or their non-compliance with the design and estimate documentation. At the session of the regional legislative assembly, the chairman of the PCB Elena Goncharova stated that demands to eliminate violations are being considered in court. At the same meeting, the deputy also shared his observation Dmitry Kozlovsky: despite the fact that the facility was promised to be commissioned first in 2023, then in 2024, not a single employee has been seen at the site today. Other questions from auditors regarding this project can be found in the annual report of the Chamber of Control and Accounts: the technical readiness of the bridge was 59.4% against the plan of 78.7%.

According to the file of arbitration cases, the Novosibirsk region, represented by the local Ministry of Transport and Road Facilities, actually filed a claim against Siberian Concession Company LLC (a subsidiary of VIS Group of Companies) at the beginning of the year, but only for the recovery of a penalty in the amount of 300 thousand rubles. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 15.

Suddenly the price went up

Bridge 4 has a long history of failure. Back in 2013, JSC Central Bridge was created for these purposes, which, according to Seldon Bas, was half-owned by the Novosibirsk City Hall and the regional department of property and land relations. However, friction arose between the shareholders: to the initial authorized capital of 20 million rubles, the regional authorities contributed another 320 million and expected the same step from the mayor’s office, but the city administration was unable to do this due to the lack of funds allocated for this in the budget. During the period of the events described, the governor of the region was Vladimir Gorodetskynow a senator, and the head of Novosibirsk – Anatoly Lokot. As a result, it was decided to liquidate the legal entity.

In 2017, a concession agreement was concluded: the direct work should be carried out by the Siberian Concession Company LLC, created for these purposes, part of the VIS group. The total amount of funding is about 35 billion rubles, of which 26 billion should be allocated from the federal budget, about 3.8 billion for site preparation will come from the budget of the Novosibirsk region, the rest will come from the concessionaire. SKK was able to attract a loan from Gazprombank for 2.4 billion rubles for these purposes. At the same time, travel on the bridge not only had to be paid: the regional authorities guaranteed the investor a guaranteed income of 47 billion rubles – that is, to compensate for the lost income if the fees from motorists were not enough.

The townspeople even went out on pickets about this.

But questions about the project arose quickly. Back in 2019, the Chamber of Control and Accounts stated that prices for materials turned out to be 2 to 3.5 times higher than market prices. In 2021, the investor said that the cost of the work will increase by 6.3 billion – because VAT must be added to the originally planned amount. At the same time, rumors about a possible replacement of the concessionaire began to be discussed more and more actively – the matter came to a letter from the Minister of Transport of the Novosibirsk Region Anatoly Kostylevsky addressed to the first vice-president of Gazprombank Alexey Chichkanovwarning about the risks of early termination of the concession agreement

It was assumed that the facility would be put into operation in December 2023. However, shortly before the cherished date, the governor Andrey Travnikov admitted that the work was being delayed. Moreover, he took credit for this – they say that regional authorities impose such strict requirements on the concessionaire to comply with all standards that this inevitably leads to additional time costs.

Under the wing of monopoly

Now VIS Group of Companies states that the work will be completed by the end of 2024, and there is a whole list of objective reasons for delaying the deadline: the pandemic, anti-Russian sanctions, political turbulence and interruptions in funding. By the way, the project has risen in price again – this time by 9 billion rubles. The company also has an answer to the latest complaints from auditors: errors were found in the project documentation, the development of which the organization had nothing to do with, since this happened before the competition, and certain provisions lost relevance due to the changing situation with foreign trade relations in the country.

VIS Group of Companies was founded back in 2000. She has implemented projects in 23 cities in Russia (*aggressor country) and Europe. Despite all the problems that representatives of the group complained about, at the end of 2023 it received record revenue for the entire period of its existence – 42.9 billion rubles. Compared to the previous year, this is 56.6% more.

Owner of VIS Group of Companies – Igor Snegurov. The company grew up on orders from Gazprom, and some of its managers, such as its former general director Dmitry Doev, later moved to work in the structures of this monopoly. However, the beneficiaries of the group claimed that there was no affiliation between the organizations. Which, however, does not negate the fact that VIS obtained the loan for the construction of the Novosibirsk bridge from Gazprombank.

Lost Opportunity Concession

The construction of a new bridge across the Ob is not the first VIS project in Novosibirsk. However, other initiatives of the group here were associated with scandals. Its daughter Ecology-Novosibirsk was selected as a regional waste management operator in 2019. Despite the repeated garbage collapse in the city, the company was defended by Governor Andrei Travnikov. However, at the beginning of 2023 the company will still deprived registrar status. She was first temporarily and then permanently replaced in this capacity by the municipal unitary enterprise “Spetsavtokhozyaistvo”. Ecology-Novosibirsk itself was soon declared bankrupt, and a criminal case was opened against its leaders for fraud.

Another project was the construction of seven clinics in Novosibirsk under the terms of a public-private partnership. Governor Travnikov also concluded an agreement in 2019, and then it was planned to complete them by the end of 2022, but even a year after the deadline, not all of them were built. Moreover, the same Chamber of Control and Accounts of the Novosibirsk Region reported back at the end of 2022 that not only the construction time of these medical institutions had increased, but also their estimated cost – from 6.5 to 19.5 billion rubles. By the way, in 2022, deputies of the local legislative assembly openly raised the issue of the need to terminate this concession, but these conversations did not end in anything.

All this dubious background does not stop the authorities of the Novosibirsk region from continuing cooperation with the VIS Group of Companies.

I wonder what lies behind such loyalty to the once chosen counterparty in a public-private partnership – the wishes of influential people from the gas monopoly, affiliation with which the concessionaire categorically rejects, or the personal sympathies of Governor Travnikov?