New Kuban Transport Minister Appointed as Predecessor Investigated

Yuri Savenko, the first deputy minister of transport and road facilities of Krasnodar Krai, has been appointed acting head of the ministry. The regional transport ministry announced the appointment. It came after the arrest of Minister Alexei Pereverzev, who is accused of fraud.

What Happened

Alexei Pereverzev was detained on January 22. Together with him, two of his deputies — Alexander Dashuk and Alexei Smagliuk — were sent to pre-trial detention. A criminal case is being investigated against the ministry«s leadership, involving embezzlement and violations in the execution of road contracts.

On January 28, it became known that the court changed Pereverzev«s preventive measure: he was transferred from pre-trial detention to a written undertaking not to leave. According to 93.RU, the reason was a cooperation agreement with the investigation — the official gave detailed testimony against other regional officials.

Alexei Pereverzev began working in the regional transport ministry in 2016 as first deputy minister. In September 2017, he became head of the ministry, effectively succeeding Anatoly Voronovsky, who had held the post previously.

What the Case Is About

Earlier, 93.RU reported that Pereverzev is involved in an investigation into the so-called «takeover of road construction projects» in Krasnodar Krai. According to the prosecutor«s office, the scheme was organized by former State Duma deputy Anatoly Voronovsky, who was also detained.

According to supervisory authorities, since 2016, Voronovsky, together with a number of officials, distributed state contracts for road work among affiliated companies. In return, participants in the scheme received kickbacks in the form of a percentage of the estimates.

Contractors who refused to work under such conditions were driven out of the market. The funds obtained were funneled into the shadow economy and used to develop controlled businesses. We wrote more about this scheme here.