Tyumen University Cloakroom Workers Demand Overdue Wages

Cloakroom attendants at Tyumen Industrial University (TIU) have complained that they have not received wages for nearly a year. Nearly 40 workers are without pay, though some continue working at the university.

One of the TIU cloakroom attendants openly appealed to Tyumen Region Governor Alexander Moor, asking him to look into the wage non-payment affecting her and her colleagues. In an interview with 72.RU, the woman said she worked for the company Gold Invest Plus, which provided cloakroom services to the university.

«There are 40 of us cloakroom workers. Each of us has not been paid wages for two months, and the salary was nearly 30,000 rubles ($316 at current rates) per month,» said Lyudmila Andreyevna.

According to the woman, a criminal case was opened against the employer under the article on non-payment of wages. The investigation is being handled by the Investigative Committee for Tyumen«s Central District and the prosecutor»s office. However, after almost a year, the investigation has not been completed, and the cloakroom attendants have not received their money.

On the State Procurement portal, there is indeed a contract between TIU and the cleaning company Gold Invest Plus for 10.5 million rubles ($110,500 at current rates). Under the agreement, the cleaning company was to provide cloakroom services to the university. In other words, Gold Invest Plus hired the workers and was supposed to manage the cloakrooms in 17 buildings of TIU«s universities and colleges.

However, according to published documents, the company failed to meet its obligations: the university systematically complained about incomplete work. Numerous reports contain tables with the phrase «volume does not meet contract terms,» showing the difference between the contracted and actual volume of services provided.

For example, in an October 2024 report, the shortfall amounted to 182,000 rubles ($1,916 at current rates). Similar violations were recorded for November and December 2024, and January and March 2025. As a result, on 9 June 2025, the university terminated the contract with Gold Invest Plus.

According to the Kontur.Focus system, the sole founder of the company is Mikhail Malyutin, who also serves as the general director. The firm was registered in October 2023, with Olga Semenova as the founder at that time. Almost immediately, the company began participating in state procurement tenders, offering cleaning services. Over this period, the company won 7 competitions worth a total of over 27 million rubles ($284,200 at current rates).

The company«s main clients were social and medical organizations in Tyumen and Yugra, as well as universities and colleges. For example, in 2024, the firm signed a contract for cleaning services with the Surgut District Clinical Hospital, halving the price. Shortly after, it signed with the Nizhnevartovsk College. In the end, the company failed to fulfill the contract, and the Yugra Federal Antimonopoly Service (OFAS) added Gold Invest Plus to the list of unscrupulous suppliers. Later, the Tyumen OFAS also added the company to a similar register.

It is noteworthy that around the time the company began having difficulties fulfilling contracts, it entered into litigation with its former founder and a company with a similar name over unpaid rent. The company lost both lawsuits. The company is currently undergoing reorganization and is expected to soon merge into Gold Invest, whose founder and director is Alexander Kuzmin.

The cloakroom attendants continue to wait for payments; some of them are still working at colleges and universities, but now for a different company.

The editorial team contacted the TIU press service for comment, but no response had been received by the time of publication. Attempts to reach representatives of Gold Invest Plus also failed, as the phone numbers available to the editorial team did not answer.

The TIU press service commented on the situation regarding the unpaid wages for cloakroom attendants. The university confirmed that it indeed had a service contract with the company, which was in effect from September 2024 to June 2025.

«Currently, the university and the company have two civil-law contracts for providing services at TIU facilities in Surgut. The university has no information about compliance or non-compliance with labor laws by Gold Invest Plus LLC regarding its employees,» said TIU representatives.

Earlier, we reported how a female employee of a large pharmaceutical company, Yelena P., demanded 20 million rubles ($210,500 at current rates) from her former employer. The woman claimed she had been illegally prevented from working for five years. Read more.