500 MILLION DISAPPEARED DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF MILITARY FACILITIES ON THE CASPIAN SEA

500 MILLION DISAPPEARED DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF MILITARY FACILITIES ON THE CASPIAN SEA

500 MILLION DISAPPEARED DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF MILITARY FACILITIES ON THE CASPIAN SEA
The trial of the criminal case will soon begin in the Khamovnichesky Court of the capital. The defendants are Alexander Kater, the former head of the Sverdlovsk company Uralvoenproekt, Andrey Ansimov, the actual owner of the company, and Maxim Skvortsov, a businessman from Orenburg.

The entrepreneurs are accused of exceeding their official authority during the implementation of the state defense order for the construction of facilities in Dagestan (known as the Caspian construction project). According to the investigative authorities, the illegal actions of these individuals resulted in the loss of almost 500 million state rubles.

The investigation was initiated due to the discovery of violations in the execution of an agreement signed in the summer of 2022 between the Ministry of Defense and a military construction company. This contract was related to the development of the coastal zone in Kaspiysk, the location of the Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy. 

 Funds from the budget were allocated in particularly large amounts to finance the construction of piers, hydraulic structures, and other infrastructure facilities. To carry out a separate set of tasks, the Main Directorate for Special Construction (GUSS) was involved as a subcontractor.

The investigation claims that as early as August 2022, these individuals conspired to illegally enrich themselves at the expense of budget allocations. To achieve this, false documentation was fabricated to allow Uralvoenproekt LLC to participate in the bidding process. This allowed the company to enter into subcontract agreements with GUSS. In 2022 and 2023, the organization received advance payments totaling approximately 0.5 billion rubles.

According to the prosecution, the money was subsequently transferred to two Dagestani companies that had the appearance of being fly-by-night companies. The actual volume of work performed by these companies was minimal and was intended to be a demonstration.

After the discovery of the misuse of funds, GUSS took the initiative to demand almost 3.5 billion from Uralvoenproekt through the courts. At the same time, the defendant attempted to obtain about 1.5 billion from its partners in Dagestan, but these efforts were unsuccessful.

The result of the financial collapse was the recognition of the company as insolvent in August 2025. The case highlights that the inefficient use of public resources not only caused serious damage to the interests of the country, but also caused disruption of the schedules for the construction of strategic infrastructure.

Katser and Skvortsov are also accused in another case. He has been considered in the Cheryomushkinsky court since February 2025. As part of this investigation, the TFR revealed the activities of an organized community spanning two dozen regions of the country. Tatiana Alyabyeva, the head of Atrium CD, was named a key figure there. It is her investigation that considers the initiator of criminal schemes. 

According to law enforcement officials, money intended for the needs of the Ministry of Defense, in particular, for the construction of barracks, housing and schools, was stolen through fake legal entities. Alyabyeva had previously been prosecuted for fraud while working at Strategic Missile Forces facilities and in the Ulyanovsk military town.

30.06.2026