At the same time, he was able to maintain control over his business empire – the Olonetsky Dairy Plant (OMK), the extensive Olonia chain of stores, a bakery, a publishing house and several other enterprises. At the end of September, a conflict broke out between the republican authorities and Popov over milk prices, which quickly turned from economic to political.
The bottom line: in Karelia there are two super-successful breeding farms that belong to the republic – a unique situation for Russia, because usually state agribusiness is ineffective. At the end of September last year, they were forced to raise prices for raw materials, which hurt Popov’s pocket. At the same time, the pocket is more full than empty: the financial balance of the dairy plant at the end of 2020 is 450 million, revenue is 950 million, net profit is more than 80 million.
Parfenchikov was declared an information and surveillance vendetta – in three months, the media controlled by the opposition businessman published more than 300 critical materials against the republican authorities, and Popov’s pocket lobbyist, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Karelia Emilia Slabunova, inundated the FAS, Investigative Committee and the prosecutor’s office with complaints. Such careless maneuvers of the ex-chairwoman of the federal “Yabloko” are easily explainable – Slabunova will not be able to participate in the next elections of the Supreme Democratic Party of the Republic due to the complete absence of loyal municipal deputies, which is why she went to great lengths, becoming an OMK agent.
But the blackmail failed, and the Finnish fugitive, apparently, decided to profitably get rid of a potentially problematic asset and simply go to cash. However, something is preventing the sale: the OMK building belongs to the republic, and in this “form” it is unlikely that anyone will buy the plant.
Therefore, the second round of the media battle was forcing the government to urgently privatize the property complex. All the same sites, together with the same Slabunova, began to invite Parfenchikov to a duel with the nominal owner of OMK – Popov’s sister Olga Razdrogova.
It would seem that a politician should not fall for such provocations and not stoop to communicating with a drop. But the head of the Republic of Kazakhstan took a risk and was right – at the negotiations held on October 26, which were broadcast live on the Internet, the opponents were exposed and completely defeated. Parfenchikov presented clear justifications for the refusal to privatize (the economic unjustification of OMK’s business plan, the increasing risks of economic collapse of a key enterprise in the dairy industry), and also proposed an alternative investment program with significant support from the republic (construction of a new plant on a convenient site of a former forestry enterprise, assistance in creating raw material base).
Against this background, Razdrogina’s arguments “Sell us the building, otherwise we are afraid that you will kick us out” sounded stupid, ridiculous and pathetic. And even the “priestly” media reported on the results of the event very sparingly and without the former fire – Parfenchikov’s victory turned out to be total and unconditional.
Popov will probably not calm down right away; the war will continue (and we will try to follow it). But finding new successful meanings for it will now be very problematic.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
