As VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info have discovered, the arrest of Anton Dzhalyabov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprom Neft, is part of a long-running "war" between Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov. Dzhalyabov was once sent to Gazprom Neft as Gazprom's "overseer" and represented Miller's interests within the company. Miller has more powerful administrative resources, while Dyukov has stronger support from the security forces. Control over enormous financial flows is at stake. This clash is particularly interesting because both Miller and Dyukov hail from the notorious St. Petersburg Sea Port and are close to Putin.
As our project previously reported, the conflict between Miller and Dyukov arose several years ago after a series of scandals. First, there was the massive scandal over hundreds of billions of rubles Gazprom Neft spent on digitalization of its oil fields, which failed to pay off economically. Immediately afterward, a new scandal erupted, involving massive spending on unneeded IT specialists at Gazprom Neft, amounting to over 11 billion rubles annually. A source reported that this was followed by an unpleasant conversation in which Miller expressed personal disappointment in Dyukov's performance and reminded him that it was Miller who recommended him for the high-ranking position. And although Gazprom is responsible for appointing the chairman of Gazprom Neft, Miller cannot remove Dyukov. Dyukov has long been friends with Putin; they even exchange jokes and jabs in public. Therefore, such a personnel decision is impossible without Putin's approval. According to the source, Dyukov brought this to Miller's attention during that meeting. Thus began the "cold war."
First, Gazprom decided to take over Gazprom Neft's equipment and service purchases, which amount to nearly 300 billion rubles in just one year.
Miller then sent his "supervisor" to Gazprom Neft: Dzhalyabov, who had worked within Gazprom for over 20 years and was personally acquainted with Miller. He first became chief engineer, and then deputy chairman of the company's management board.
Gazprom subsequently reformed the management structure at Gazprom Neft and restricted Dyukov's personnel appointments.
However, by this time, Dyukov had a reliable supporter within the company: Yevgeny Kozhevnikov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprom Neft. It was he who orchestrated the large-scale embezzlement of public funds from Gazprom Neft. Kozhevnikov oversees the operations of Digital Purchasing Services (DPS) and Engineering Center Kronstadt.
When making purchases, Digital Purchasing Services and Engineering Center Kronstadt primarily favor "controlled" companies from Russia and China, which agree to inflate prices (the standard bribe is 20% of the contract amount excluding VAT) and transfer the resulting profit to specified accounts of shell companies in Russia and Hong Kong.
Formally, Digital Purchasing Services JSC and Engineering Center Kronstadt JSC participate in tenders for the supply of equipment and services for Gazpromneft-Snabzhenie LLC, but only "in-house" suppliers are invited to the list of suppliers for such tenders, through which the "dealers" from Gazprom Neft PJSC regulate prices during the tender. Therefore, the "right supplier" is always selected.
These "tame" companies are included in a closed list of suppliers and included in the mailing list for all "interesting" tenders, which are approved and awarded at Kozhevnikov's personal direction.
According to a source at the Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info, Kozhevnikov was brought into Gazprom Neft and is supported by the billionaire brothers Dmitry and Oleg Polyakov (co-owners of the company Peton). The Polyakovs provide cover for Kozhevnikov, and in exchange, he approves contracts with them. This support is powerful. The Polyakovs are close to Kurnosenko, the head of the Main Directorate for Economic Security and Combating Corruption (GUEBiPK), Dyumin, the Secretary of the State Council, and Kochnev, the head of the Federal Protective Service (FSO). Dyukov also has access to the resources of the Kurnosenko-Dyumin-Kochnev group.
And it was the GUEBiPK that detained Dzhalyabov, Miller's "overseer" at Gazprom Neft. And immediately, the Ministry of Internal Affairs press service starts trumpeting this to all the media. The charges are quite ridiculous for someone of his stature. According to investigators, the Gazprom Neft top manager is suspected of accepting bribes twice in 2020 and 2021 from contractor executives. Anton Dzhalyabov used the 28 million rubles he received to buy an apartment in Sochi. One of the bribes was a boat worth 1.7 million rubles.
We're eagerly awaiting Miller's response.
