It seems that the former deputy minister of defense of Russia has been defrauding the state for many years. This follows from additional information provided by the media following the arrest of 69-year-old General Dmitry Bulgakov. Who was keeping a protective hand over him and why should he cry now? How much money did he gain illegally? If he is convicted, is he in danger of falling to the bottom of his military career? Several Russian news servers are looking for answers.
Photo: SITA/AP, Alexei Nikolsky
Dmitry Bulgakov (left) and Sergei Shoigu (center) in a picture taken in December 2019, when traditional Heroes of the Fatherland Day celebrations were held in the Kremlin. At that time, Bulgakov served as Deputy Minister of Defense, the head of this force department was Shoigu. The general on the right is Chief of the General Staff of the Army Valery Gerasimov.
So far, it is known that Bulgakov was one of the main figures of the corruption scheme in supplying the army with dry food and canned food. According to the investigators, he advocated for the food agro-combination he patronized to receive orders from the armed forces, while the company supplied the soldiers with cheaper meat than it stated on the label, and even with less nutritional value.
By the way, Bulgakov, who served as Deputy Minister of Defense from December 2008 to September 2022, behaved like a local patriot. In 2019, a military exercise was held near his hometown, and the heavy machines of the army apparently needed a safe passage over the river. Bulgakov ordered the construction of a new bridge 80 meters long. It was built in the village of Horné Gurovo in the Kursk region, where he was born in October 1954, with money allocated in the budget for the army. The construction of the bridge cost 250 million rubles, which translates to almost 2.7 million euros. A great gift for a village with only around 160 people.
Criminalists accuse Bulgakov of corruption on a large scale. They have not yet revealed how much money he may have illegally obtained. However, in a few years it was probably a big package. He almost certainly helped negotiate overpriced contracts not only for the food agro-combination. “The Bulgakov surname quickly became synonymous with corruption in the military,” a person who knew him well for many years at the Ministry of Defense told the Novaya Gazeta server. The source, who did not wish to be named, noted that the owners of companies that supplied the armed forces always count on bribes if they wanted to succeed in the sale. “Five to ten percent of the value of the order went into the pockets of Bulgakov and his accomplices,” Novaya Gazeta claims.
As for the mentioned agro-combination, he did well: he won eleven out of eleven tenders, while the army bought from him at the highest allowable price. The main shareholder of this company probably knew Bulgakov from his youth: he is only a year younger than him, they both graduated from the same military college.
Why is Bulgakov being brought to justice only now, when the boss has obviously known about his unfair practices for a long time? The investigators may have learned about the patronizing overpricing of supplies of dry food and canned goods when they recently detained the shareholders of the said agro-combination. But this corruption is almost certainly only the tip of the iceberg associated with Bulgakov. When we start speculating, one hypothesis can be as follows: Andrei Belousov, who replaced Shoigu as the head of the Ministry of Defense in May of this year, may have decided to forcefully clean out the barn. Including the biggest corruptors, who no longer have influential decision-making powers. Point? To show Putin that he is the right man in the right place. And the head of the Kremlin may have put a protective hand over Bulgakov, if he angered him by supporting himself on money for the army even during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, despite the fact that he was decorated a few years ago, which will be discussed later.
Bulgakov owns a lavish two-story villa on the outskirts of Moscow. Investigators came to pick him up and placed him in custody. The judge did not grant the general’s request to keep him free until the trial began, fearing that he could influence witnesses. For the time being, he will remain behind bars for the next two months, after which the reasons for his detention may disappear.
For many years, he had an unshakable position in the Ministry of Defense, which has up to ten deputies in Russia. He got this position when he was promoted to it by Anatoly Serdyukov, the head of the Ministry of Defense in the period 2007-2012. After his dismissal by Putin, he was replaced by Sergei Shoigu, who gradually brought in new representatives. It is interesting that Bulgakov remained in office as the only deputy from the Serdyukov era. It lasted until autumn 2022, when he lost his position. The reason was supposed to be his failures in supplying the Russian soldiers who invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The general, whom Putin awarded the highest state award of Hero of Russia in 2016, did not retire, but made him inspector general of the Ministry of Defense. Several military bloggers did not understand this: they were surprised that the control of the army should be carried out by Bulgakov, who, as the head of the material and technical security of the armed forces, had failed in his mission.
It is certain that Bulgakov was not protected now even by the fact that Putin awarded him the Hero of Russia gold metal nine years ago. He won the award for directing an operation in 2015 during which Russian soldiers received 200,000 tons of material at their air base in Syria.
As for Bulgakov’s official income, the Russian media has his latest property declaration from 2018. He earned around 15 million rubles that year, which translates to 170,000 euros. However, he undoubtedly obtained much more money every year from bribes.
If the prosecution proves Bulgakov’s guilt in court, he can spend several years behind bars. At the same time, he is in danger of losing the prestige that every professional soldier with the highest rank suffers. After serving the expected sentence, he would no longer find the general’s uniform crowned with metals at home: the court can demote him and also strip him of all decorations.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
