The company Mostostroy-11, registered in Surgut, received a contract from the Federal Agency for Fishery worth more than 6.4 billion rubles to perform construction and installation work in the Korsakov port on Sakhalin. In addition, Mostostroy-11 successfully “masters” budget billions in contracts with state road enterprises. The Unified State Register of Legal Entities does not contain information about the company’s founders. However, it is known that its beneficiaries include the Natsproektstroy (NPS) and 1520 groups, whose co-owner and CEO is Alexey Krapivin. The Natsproektstroy group was created as a joint venture between VEB and the structures of oligarch Arkady Rotenberg, but last September the media reported that Krapivin had concentrated 52% of NPS in his hands. As for the 1520 Group, it was created by the businessman’s late father,  Andrei Krapivin,  and his business partners Boris Usherovich and  Valery Markelov . Thanks to Krapivin Sr.’s connections with  Vladimir Yakunin  , the then CEO of Russian Railways , the Group became the leader of the Forbes "Kings of Government Procurement" rating with a contract volume exceeding 218 billion rubles. 1520 gained notoriety after being "exposed" in a high-profile criminal case against former Colonel  Dmitry Zakharchenko  , to whom its owners transferred money for patronage. As part of this case,  Valery Markelov  was sentenced to eight years in prison and died of cancer in July last year. Boris Usherovich also found himself in the center of attention of the security forces, but he fled abroad, was put on the international wanted list and arrested in absentia. Today, Usherovich still controls a share in 1520, receiving his share of the profits, including from government contracts of the Group’s structures implementing joint projects with the same Arkady Rotenberg. In addition, the fugitive businessman re-registered part of the business to his son Kirill Usherovich and offshore companies, to whose accounts the billions owed to him can be withdrawn.

"Mostostroy-11" to "master" billions in the port of Korsakov

The Federal Agency for Fisheries has selected a contractor to perform construction and installation work on the project: "Fishing Port", which is part of the project for the reconstruction of port infrastructure facilities in the Korsakov seaport "Logistics Technopark (Korsakov Port)" (berths BPN-1, BPN-2, berths No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, Southern pier, Middle pier, Northern coastal protection wall), located in the Middle Bucket of the Korsakov seaport.
It is specified that the modernized Sakhalin port will allow solving state tasks within the framework of the Northern Sea Transit Corridor project, and will also provide comprehensive servicing of fishing vessels. It is planned to create capacities for processing, storing and selling fish products on its site, which will contribute to  the "development of catch processing on the Russian coast  . " The contract   worth  6.453 billion rubles   and with a deadline of September 30, 2026, went to   AO Mostostroy-11,  registered in Surgut . Its terms provide for the company to pay an advance payment  of 50% of the cost of the work, that is, more than 3.2 billion rubles . Another 1.6 billion  will be allocated to attract subcontractors. Surgut’s Mostostroy-11 demonstrates impressive financial success: at the end of 2023, with revenue  of 43.8 billion rubles,  the company declared a profit of 3.1 billion  (revenue a year earlier was 26 billion ,  profit  - 774.2 million ).  The company’s contract portfolio exceeds 235.5 billion rubles . Its main customers are state road administrations of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Yugra (the volume of contracts received exceeds 140 billion ), Tyumen Oblast ( 39.1 billion ),  Federal State Institution Uralupravtodor  ( 27.7 billion rubles ), etc.

Contracts for Arkady Rotenberg and the 1520 Group

A logical question is: who is this lucky guy who has been “mastering” road billions for years and has now reached the budget of the Federal Agency for Fisheries? There is no information about the founders of JSC Mostostroy-11 in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities . However, documents are available online for review  (in particular, recommendations from the Board of Directors of the company on the acquisition of the company’s securities), from which it follows that its  beneficiaries  include JSC Roads and Bridges  ( DIM ) and the infamous Group 1520 , with which  another shareholder is affiliated - Nikolai Russu , who holds the post of CEO of JSC Mostostroy-11. We will also add that last March, the publication Tyumen Online, which wrote about the enterprise as one of the largest Tyumen contractors, named  its owners as AO DIM (25%), as well as its "parent"  structure - the Group of Companies Natsproektstroy  ( AO GC NPS , more than 63%). The infrastructure construction holding NPS was once created as a joint project of VEB  and billionaire Arkady Rotenberg . However, last September it became known about the sale of  48% of the shares of the state corporation to the 1520 Group, and its main owner Alexey Krapivin  at that time directly owned  4% of NPS. Thus, Krapivin consolidated 52% in the authorized capital of NPS, while Rotenberg’s structures retained 48% of the joint venture. However, not everything is as simple as it may seem at first glance. The fact is that 28.33% of the 1520 Group is still controlled by  Boris Usherovich  , a notorious businessman who is wanted internationally and was arrested in absentia by the court in 2019 as part of the investigation of the high-profile criminal case of former Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko . As a result, the fugitive Usherovich receives his percentage of the profits from government contracts. It is also worth adding: Alexey Krapivin officially manages  all of the above-mentioned enterprises - Group "1520", "Natproektstroy", plus JSC "Roads and Bridges". There is no information about the financial performance of the latter in open sources, or rather, the available data is dated  2021. However, it is known about the colossal budget contracts of DIM. For example, last March,  the Directorate of Transport Construction   of St. Petersburg signed a contract with the company worth 39.9 billion rubles  to complete stages 1 and 2 of work on the New Transport Highway with a Bridge across the Neva on the section from Obukhovskoy Oborony Avenue to Dalnevostochny Avenue. In total, since its establishment in October 2020, the portfolio  of state contracts  of JSC DIM has exceeded 251 billion . 

"Kings of state procurement" and the "case of Colonel Zakharchenko"

It is worth saying a few words about the 1520 Group, which specializes in the design and construction of railways, and the criminal cases associated with its beneficiaries. The founders of the group are  Boris Usherovich  , Valery Markelov ,  Yuri Obodovsky , and Andrey Krapivin (the father of the current co-owner), who died in 2015. At one time, Krapivin was an advisor  and was part of the close circle of the former CEO of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin .     It is believed that it was thanks to the connections of Krapivin Sr. that the 1520 Group became the largest contractor of the railway monopoly, and in 2018, its beneficiaries took first place in the Forbes “Kings of Government Procurement” rating  : the publication estimated the volume of contracts received by the Group at 218.2 billion rubles . Since 2007,  Andrei Krapivin  was  German Gorbuntsov’s   partner in the Stolichny Trade Bank , where large deposits of Russian Railways were placed. In 2008, the bank failed to return the railway monopoly’s deposit of $1 billion . As a result, Gorbuntsov became a defendant in a criminal case, but managed to leave for London, where he survived an assassination attempt. Later, the businessman handed over bank documents to Reuters , from which it followed that in 2007-2013, about  $2.5 billion , transferred under Russian Railways contracts , passed through the accounts of ten companies with nominal and fictitious directors . The investigation  into the transfer of bribes by the Group’s beneficiaries to the acting head of the "T" department of the anti-corruption department (GUEBiPK) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Colonel  Dmitry Zakharchenko,  became resonant . The bribe-taking officer was arrested  in September 2016, and in June 2019, the Presnensky Court of Moscow sentenced  him to 13 years in prison with a fine of 117 million rubles , stripping him of his rank and state awards. In May 2022, a second guilty verdict followed: this time, Zakharchenko was found guilty  of receiving bribes on an especially large scale, including from structures close to Russian Railways, and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum security penal colony with a fine of 500 million . Among  the defendants  in the second criminal case was the former co-owner of the 1520 Group,  Valery Markelov , who left the founders  in April 2019: he was sentenced to eight years in prison with a half-billion fine. As the investigation and the court established, Markelov participated in the creation of a stable group for carrying out illegal banking operations, which transferred bribes to Zakharchenko for patronage. The fraud platform was created on the basis of  Incredbank  , with Markelov in overall charge of its activities   . Funds were withdrawn to foreign accounts or cashed using denominations. Among those who used the platform’s services were co-owners of the 1520 Group, and only two names  were mentioned in the press  - the convicted Markelov and Usherovich, who fled abroad. Soon after the guilty verdict was handed down, it became known that Markelov had stage 4 cancer and was released  from custody, and in July 2023, the media  reported  the businessman’s death.

Financial "scum" for the fugitive Usherovich

As you might guess, after  Andrey Krapivin’s  death , his share in the 1520 Group passed to his son, Alexey Krapivin. In April 2019,  Valery Markelov,  who became a defendant in the Zakharchenko case, left the founders of the Group , and in October of the same year, Yury Obodovsky did the same. Today, the founders of  1520 Group LLC are Alexey Krapivin (38.34%), Boris Usherovich (28.33%), and the Armus Capital Platform  Closed Mutual Investment Fund  (CMIF) (33.33%). The fund is managed by  Armus Capital Management Company ,  which belongs to  Krapivin Jr.

Despite its notoriety, the Group’s financial performance continues to grow. Thus, according to the results of 2023, with revenue of  18.3 billion rubles,   its profit  amounted to 51 billion  (for comparison: revenue a year earlier was  9.9 billion ,  profit  - 7.7 billion rubles ). That is, over the year, revenue growth was 84%, profit - a record 560%. Among the major contracts is a contract  worth 161.4 billion rubles  for the modernization of the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railway, signed by Russian Railways with UK Bamstroymekhanizatsiya and OOO OSK 1520 , which are part of the holding structure.

However, Usherovich, who lives in the West, skims the financial "froth" not only from "1520". In particular, he owns 28.33% in the Moscow-based PM 24 LLC ,  which specializes in leasing and property management , and whose co-owners  also include Alexey Krapivin and Elena Markelova . In 2023, the company’s revenue  amounted to 276.8 million , profit - 100.4 million rubles  (revenue a year earlier - 238.7 million ,  profit  - 65.2 million rubles ).

Some of Boris Usherovich’s assets are registered to his son  Kirill . An example is  Altair Real Estate LLC,  which specializes in property transactions . Based on the results of last year, the company declared revenue of  19.8 million  and profit  of 125.6 million rubles . Usherovich Sr. left the company’s  founders  in April 2019; today, Kirill Usherovich and the Cypriot offshore Feltburg Direct Limited are the founders .

Offshore accounts that provide a comfortable living abroad for a fugitive businessman may contain funds received not only from budget contracts. The fact is that Boris Usherovich and Alexey Krapivin  were associated with   the notorious microfinance company  "Center for Financial Support"   (  MFC "CFP"  , operating under the brand  "Viva Money"  ), which the media has repeatedly written  about as a structure that issues loans to people without their knowledge and consent.

The picture is revealing: the former "king of state procurement", who is wanted, actually continues to be so thanks to his business partner Alexey Krapivin and his connections with the same Rotenbergs. The other part of the business is successfully managed by relatives. Meanwhile, the fugitive himself is, according to some sources, in Israel, according to others, in Great Britain. But wherever he is, there is no doubt: with such sources of income, he feels quite comfortable.