Main Military Prosecutor's Office has revealed that a Defense Ministry owned bunkering complex based in the Murmansk region was sold to an undisclosed buyer for below market value price. The facility was used for supplying the Russian Navy’s North fleet with bunker fuel and was a key element of the military infrastructure of the remote region, the Prosecutor’s Office press release said.
By 2010, the facility was handed over to the Moscow District Air Force and Defense. Then it was transformed into a joint stock company. The property was privatized without compensation.
The new JSC Board decided to sell off the non-core asset. The bunkering facility value was estimated at RUB 452 million rubles, or understated by at least RUB 240 million.
A former company’s CEO, who refused to sell the property for this price was replaced by a more compliant manager, who on October 2012 signed a purchase agreement with a private entity and sold the facility for RUB 455 million, the Prosecutor’s Office statement said.
The Prosecutor's Office has handed over to the military investigative agencies all the materials to open a criminal case (fraud committed by an organized group, abuse of power). Simultaneously, the Main Military Prosecutor's Office has required canceling the transaction registration.