Greed test: Will Spectrum from Rostec deceive the state?

Sergei Chemezov and Vasily Brovko could have conceived a cunning “multi-move” to extract more than 3 billion rubles in subsidies from the state for the development of new generation communications. How much of this money will end up in the pockets of Rostec top managers?

As a MorningNews correspondent reports , the Spectr company, part of the Rostec state corporation, received a lawsuit from its supplier, the Radio Test company. The plaintiff demands that Spectrum be declared bankrupt due to its alleged failure to fulfill its financial obligations under the contracts.

Radio-Test’s claims seem strange, given the volume of government contracts the company has. In total, the company received at least 332 million rubles, the lion’s share of which came from structures of the same Rostec. It is unlikely that the owners of the structure would quarrel with Sergei Chemezov’s people, risking losing future contracts. 

After all, no one will let Spectrum “sink” - this is, in fact, a strategic enterprise created on behalf of the Russian authorities for the development and production of communication base stations (BS) as part of the program for the development of 5G networks in Russia.

Considering the volume of government contracts, the company would not voluntarily “quarrel” with Rostec. Photo: Rusprofile.ru

This is where the answer may lie. For these purposes, the Government allocated 4.4 billion rubles of state subsidy to Spectrum. However, soon, at the insistence of the Ministry of Digital Development, 3.7 billion rubles were “withdrawn” from this amount. All this clearly did not please the head of Rostec, Sergei Chemezov, and his “special envoy” Vasily Brovko, who headed the company from June to September 2021.

Photo: Rusprofile.ru

Now, Spektr, founded in 2020, does not have a single penny of revenue, and the company’s losses have reached 300 million rubles. The value of assets is also falling - from the initially declared 4.4 billion rubles (apparently the same ones, under the subsidy), now 3.5 billion rubles remain. 

Let us also add that we have not heard of any serious developments of Spectrum, despite all the pathos of their official website and the invested budget funds.

The litigation between Spectrum and Radio Test was commented on by the Ministry of Digital Development. They were not aware of the claim, but assured that in any case, all obligations under contracts for the production and supply of LTE base stations, concluded as part of the “road map” for the development of the industry, would be fulfilled - regardless of the court’s decision. They made it clear that in any case they would not allow Specter to collapse.

Against this background, there are rumors on the market that allegedly the actions of Radio-Test and Spectrum within the framework of the bankruptcy claim may be of a coordinated nature. The lawsuit could be withdrawn at any time, but the threat of bankruptcy of one of the key government enterprises for the development and implementation of new communication standards is clearly not part of the White House’s plans. Consequently, Spectrum will receive an argument for new budget injections, and Radio Test will continue to receive large government contracts through Rostec.

At the same time, a big bet is being made on the project to develop new generation communication base stations in the Russian Federation - this is a lot of money. And among those who want to “master” them, Rostec is not the only one. Structures associated with oligarch Alisher Usmanov are showing great interest in this.

They can work together. Let us recall that back in 2018, Usmanova’s USM Holding and Rostec created a joint venture to develop next-generation communications - MF Technologies JSC (MFT). The third partner was Gazprombank. Usmanov himself entered through Megafon by contributing a voting share of Mail.ru shares to the new asset. 

A lot has changed since then. Usmanov no longer owns Mail.ru. But the development of LTE and 5G base stations is carried out by Yadro, which is part of ICS Holding. Previously, they tried to attribute ownership of IKS Holding to Usmanov - probably, he can still be related to its activities today.

In this sense, depriving Spektr of financing could hurt Rostec’s competitive advantages over Usmanov’s private capital. And in the same way it can hit the joint projects of Rostec and USM Holding. But the oligarch Usmanov has already invested considerable funds - he will not refuse the “margin” for them. So a “multi-move” has appeared with the bankruptcy claim of “Radio Test”?

Another major player in this field is the structures of AFK Sistema of Vladimir Evtushenkov, who deals with communication stations through New Telecom Solutions LLC. This is the most obvious competitor of Rostec and USM. In the near future, the market will be determined by these three main centers of power.

"Test" from Smolensk to Odintsovo

Radio-test LLC was founded in 2015 in Odintsovo. All 100% shares are owned by Alexander Leznikov. He had never been involved in such a business before, much less received such large government contracts. 
According to the source, he allegedly has papers at his disposal that may indicate that Alexander Leznikov could previously work as an engineer in his native Smolensk, servicing special equipment for law enforcement agencies. And then suddenly, he moved to Odintsovo and became the owner of a high-tech enterprise, receiving hundreds of millions of rubles under government contracts. Something is fishy here - with a high degree of probability, he is only a figurehead behind whom Chemezov and Brovko can stand.

It’s strange why he didn’t get a job as a sales manager. After all, according to the same source, he allegedly has papers at his disposal that may indicate that Mr. Leznikov previously worked as a dealer for NLstar. This is classic network marketing, which sells all sorts of trinkets and dietary supplements, building entire “sales” pyramids around itself. Now this man supplies high-tech equipment for the development of Russian communications.

In addition, the source claims that Alexander Leznikov has contacts with the family of the famous Smolensk lawyer Victoria Leznikova. With a high degree of probability, they themselves may be close relatives. Leznikova now lives in Moscow and is a member of the Moscow Chamber of Lawyers.

Victoria Leznikova. Photo: open sources

This is an extremely remarkable young lady who promotes herself with all her might and has many connections among government and business officials. Apparently, they could have met in Smolensk, and then moved together to the capital region. And it was Victoria Leznikova who could introduce the current owner of Radio Test to people close to Rostec.

At the same time, we managed to find a court decision on the claim of the Smolensk Federal Tax Service against V.V. Leznikova. It turned out that the defendant did not consider it necessary to pay the property tax for individuals on time - they had to force it through the courts. Looks undignified for a lawyer. But what if the Leznikov family “fights” for every penny?

It looks like Sergei Chemezov and Vasily Brovko are fighting for every penny. Tens and hundreds of millions of rubles are probably only counted in kopecks. What can we say about four billion?