THE AK-2 CARRIER WHO SENT THE EX-DEPUTY TO COURT WAS DECLARED BANKRUPT

The company "Avtokombinat-2" (AK-2) went bankrupt. The arbitration of the Saratov Region has opened the procedure of bankruptcy proceedings until September 23. Whether it will be completed or it will be decided to extend it will become clear on September 26, 2023. The lawsuit itself was initiated almost two years ago, in July 2021.

Rusbankrot wrote about the possible bankruptcy of the company back in February 2021. The company was in debt for 105 million rubles. At the same time, the organization, which in the past occupied a virtual monopoly position on the routes of public transport in Saratov, had bad prospects. One of the reasons for this development of events was the criminal case, which in 2018 was initiated against the main owner of the company, deputy of the regional Duma Andrei Belikov.

Investigators believed that it was thanks to Belikov's participation that the transport company illegally received about 450 million subsidies from the budget. At the same time, the deputy was accused of appropriating 15 million rubles of funds personally to himself. In the fall of 2018, he was also accused of commercial bribery from two local entrepreneurs, whom Belikov "allowed" to take their transport to the route assigned to the AK-2.

As a result, the deputy lost his mandate, leaving the post of head of AK-2, which he had held since July 2007. Belikov was charged with falsifying data on passengers with benefits. According to Kommersant, the prosecution believed that in 2014-2017 a large number of beneficiaries were transported on the AK-2 transport, in connection with which the company demanded 7 million rubles of subsidies.

In June 2021, after a long ordeal, Belikov was fully acquitted. The prosecutor's office's attempt to appeal against the sentence of the former deputy was unsuccessful. The regional court did not change the verdict. On July 23, 2021, after almost a three-year break, Belikov officially returned to the management of the enterprise.

The company increased its revenue in 2018-2021 and began to explore new areas of work. However, the firm proved to be vulnerable to supervisory authorities. In 2020, organizations made an additional charge of almost 100 million rubles in income tax. The FAS, which was engaged in cartel collusion in the urban transportation market, fined the company $11.1 million. AK-2 failed to appeal against these decisions.

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