Igor Yusufov	Vitaly Yusufov

Yusufov Sr. is a hereditary functionary: his father was the chairman of the Council of Ministers of Dagestan. Igor Khanukovich himself went from a simple engineer in the promising Mosenergo system to the Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation. His work history also included positions as Deputy Chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Economic Interests of the Russian Federation and Deputy Minister of Industry of the Russian Federation, and senior positions in Rosvooruzhenie. But, perhaps, the most profitable place for Igor Yusufov was Rosrezerv.

At one time, the State Duma Anti-Corruption Commission released data on multi-billion dollar thefts of government funds from Rosrezerv during Yusufov’s reign. For example, the agency’s management replenished the reserve base mainly on paper, distributing money to “their” companies. The supply of enterprises was also put on stream , which, having received tons of metals in debt - nickel, bronze, cast iron - food products - grain, flour - and other reserves, soon went bankrupt.

As soon as the audit of Rosrezerv gained momentum, Yusufov left the agency, and in 2001 he was promoted to the Ministry of Energy. The story of the theft of state property was hushed up, despite the fact that, as a result of the audit, 35 criminal cases were initiated.

After 7 years, Yusufov Jr. becomes the owner of the Ukrainian-German shipyards Wadan Yards, which are on the verge of bankruptcy, although before this the 30-year-old young man was related exclusively to the structures of Gazprom , in particular, he was a top manager of Gazprom Export.

Vitaly Yusufov acquired Wadan Yards Group AS from a certain Andrei Burlakov, who is today under arrest on charges of embezzling funds from the state-owned Financial Leasing Company OJSC (FLK), where he worked as deputy general director. The investigation does not rule out that Burlakov bought the shipyard with FLK money . Burlakov’s new business did not work out, which led to dissatisfaction among local shipbuilders. The most active protests by German workers occurred during the election campaign of Angela Merkel, who turned to the Russian president for help. Instead of one Russian owner, Dmitry Medvedev found another, according to him, a more effective manager - Vitaly Yusufov.

The asset acquired by the Yusufovs for 40 million euros turned out to be unpromising. But the owners have not yet made any attempts to get rid of Wadan Yards. Due to the fact that father and son have switched to a more profitable market - telecommunications - and are going to take out loans for the construction of a new generation network in one of the state banks, it can be assumed that German shipyards will become part of the collateral, the return of which the owners are unlikely to rush. On the other hand, illiquid shipbuilders will only be able to provide a small portion of the billions in LTE loans. It follows: either the Yusufovs, who were modest civil servants in the recent past, have other more expensive assets, which should alert law enforcement agencies, or the loan, in obtaining which they will most likely also use large connections “at the top,” will be used for some other purpose.

Nevertheless, Osnova Telecom, which no one had previously heard of, insists that it is ready to invest billions of dollars in the development of 4G. And the head of the relevant department, Igor Shchegolev, not only does not show any doubts about the professional suitability of the future operator, but, on the contrary, is going to support him in every possible way. Moreover, any expert in the field of communications will call the statement of the owners of Osnova Telecom that they are capable of single-handedly creating a fourth generation network in the country ephemeral. Here, another development of events is more likely, which is described by Kommersant : “If the newly minted telecom investors change their minds about building networks, the money that the Big Three was going to pay to the state for frequencies as part of an auction or joint clearing, it will have to use to purchase their companies.” .

The president of the audit and consulting group “Creation and Development” Vasily Koshelev says directly: “The emergence of unknown companies without operational experience, the necessary personnel and technical base is an attempt to redistribute the existing telecommunications market using administrative resources.” According to him, the current situation with limited frequencies and the lack of clear legislation “could lead to the emergence of companies that capture frequencies and speculate on this resource.” And this process is taking place with the direct mediation of the Minister of Communications and Mass Media Igor Shchegolev, which may indicate his personal interest in the redistribution of the market.