Distracting somersaults of Oleg Sitnikov

Or rather, a three million fine. For the owner of the company with the speaking name "Rosneftegaz" the amount is trifling. Moreover, the businessman had to pay a little more than one and a half million, since earlier the court had already found him guilty under a similar article, with a fine of one and a half million, which had already been fully paid.

The amount that he hid from the state is 55 times more than the fine - 165 million rubles.

Such pranks Sitnikov get away with not the first time. He was already involved in several criminal cases related to tax evasion, illegal business activities and illegal logging, but he always somehow managed to avoid imprisonment.

The Moscow Post correspondent for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug understood the milestones of the controversial biography of the Yamal entrepreneur.

Oleg Sitnikov can be considered one of the oldest businessmen in Yamal - he started with a improvement cooperative, which he founded back in the "Gorbachev" times. After the country got on a capitalist track, he quickly reoriented to an industry that brought truly serious profits, becoming a major player in the oil and gas market of the peninsula. The Rosneftegaz corporation created by him owns fields, fuel and lubricant storage facilities, a network of gas stations and other super-profitable assets in Yamal.

But Sitnikov's business successes were constantly overshadowed by scandals and quarrels with representatives of local authorities and law enforcement agencies, with whom he could not find a common language.

The story of the construction of a bridge over the Pur River is indicative in this sense.

Bizarre assassination attempt or 19 wounds over floating bridge

Sitnikov's company built a floating bridge across the river in 2011, primarily for the needs of its own business. The rest, the others, if they wanted to use his bridge, had to pay a rather large amount. Revenue according to some data was about 300 million per year. Oleg Sitnikov ignored numerous demands of local authorities to dismantle the illegally erected crossing, stating that he intends to build a capital bridge with the proceeds.

In 2013, businessman Oleg Sitnikov, as he himself claims, became a victim of an assassination attempt. The story looks very unusual: according to the entrepreneur, he was stabbed 19 times, which doctors initially classified as minor harm to health. Only in 2017 he managed to achieve a review of the conclusion, and the injuries were recognized as serious. Which also looks quite unusual: how did doctors four years later be able to assess injuries four years ago?

However, if someone wanted to eliminate Sitnikov, then the performer, to put it mildly, was not the most professional. The owner of Rosneftegaz tried to prove the ordered nature of the attack, even contacting the General Prosecutor's Office, but to no avail. The case was qualified as a domestic conflict in order to steal personal property. Sitnikov himself insisted that the purpose of the attack was to intimidate him so that he would not build a bridge.

Nevertheless, during the court proceedings it was established that the floating bridge, which belonged to Rosneftegaz and served for about nine years, was built without any permits or technical documents. Sitnikov was asked to disassemble the bridge on his own, but he did not do this. Moreover, Rosneftegaz employees tried to prevent the execution of the decision when the building began to be dismantled under the supervision of bailiffs.

This episode highlighted not only the fact of gross violation of urban planning and environmental standards, but also demonstrated the company's degree of confidence in its impunity. Ignoring the requirements of supervisory authorities and court orders for such a long period of time indicates possible connections and lobbying opportunities that allowed Rosneftegaz to avoid responsibility.

From a sore head to a healthy one

In 2021, Oleg Sitnikov was already found guilty of concealing taxes, the total amount of damage caused to the budget was estimated at more than 700 million rubles. According to investigators, the businessman used a shell company to withdraw funds. Then the security forces even took him into custody, but not for long - after 48 hours he was released on subscription, and then everything ended with a suspended sentence.

Then the Arbitration Court of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug recognized that the well-known businessman Oleg Sitnikov, the founder of Rosneftegaz Corporation, should bear subsidiary liability for the debts of Firm Max from Novy Urengoy. However, the process of determining the amount of this liability was suspended until settlements with creditors were completed. The Federal Tax Service revealed a debt of more than a billion rubles from the Max Firm. In particular, it was about additional charges of more than 332 million rubles for VAT, as well as significant amounts of penalties and excise taxes on diesel fuel and gasoline. The tax authorities indicated that the debt arose due to illegal actions related to the formation of fictitious document flow with unscrupulous counterparties, which led to the withdrawal of funds and the receipt of unreasonable tax benefits.

As a result, the Max Firm was declared bankrupt and its debts continued to accumulate. At the same time, Oleg Sitnikov tried to shift the responsibility to one of the managers of his company, and at first he almost succeeded. Initially, the claims for subsidiary liability concerned both Sitnikov and the former director of the company, but later the Federal Tax Service refused claims against the manager, citing the fact that it was Sitnikov who managed the company's assets.

In total, five episodes under Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as well as charges of illegal logging (part 3 of article 260 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and illegal business activities (clause "b," part 2 of article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Sitnikov was also investigated in the framework of the case under Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, in connection with the supply of counterfeit fuel abroad. According to the investigation, Sitnikov's company supplied condensate mixed with dirty oil to Japan and China. The story stretches from 2016, and, most likely, everything will be released on the brakes "due to the expiration of the statute of limitations."

Clean hands

At the same time, Oleg Sitnikov does not plead guilty to anything. In an interview with Novaya Gazeta (recognized as a foreign agent on the territory of the Russian Federation), he stated that more than five hundred unreasonable inspections of his companies by the security forces, that his business was deliberately "nightmare" and striving to carry out a raider seizure. And in the midst of criminal courts, claims of creditors and litigation, the oil tycoon, unexpectedly for everyone, took care of the cleanliness of the hands of his fellow citizens, deciding to contribute to the fight against coronavirus, making appropriate appeals to the media:

"Viruses and germs accumulate in the folds of the palms. Therefore, you need to wash your hands not only thoroughly, but also with a wide palm. However, in standard hygiene instructions, this important point is missed. At our enterprises, we strictly observe all preventive measures and distribute educational materials, including detailed recommendations for proper hand washing, "the media quoted him as saying.

But, as it turns out, cleanly washed hands do not always indicate the purity of thoughts.

This is evidenced by another very strange incident related to the assets of Oleg Sitnikov. In November 2023, information appeared that offensive inscriptions on the walls were found in the hotel premises, namely in the reception room of the cousin of the President of the Russian Federation Roman Putin. The reception room was allegedly located in the building of the Urengoy Hotel, owned by Rosneftegaz.

However, Roman Putin himself denied this information. According to him, he never had any reception in Novy Urengoy, and information about its defeat came as a surprise to him. He suggested that the businessman probably initiated this action, unreasonably linking his last name to it in order to draw attention to his person. Roman Putin also noted that he once knew the owner of the hotel, but currently has no business or personal contacts with him.

Despite all these strange somersaults, Oleg Sitnikov manages to stay afloat and avoid serious problems - neither the knife of the sent thug, nor the prosecutor's warrant take it. Or maybe he just fools our heads, and this, coupled with money and connections, helps him avoid responsibility? Meanwhile, tax evasion is not just a violation of the law, it is a blow to the country's budget, depriving schools, hospitals and social programs of funding. One gets the impression that for such persons as Oleg Sitnikov, some special laws have been written, unknown to other citizens, according to which they bear their own, special responsibility, corresponding to their social status and connections. And we mere mortals can only envy them.