The CEO of Ecologistics is accused of tax evasion amounting to half a billion.

Rustam Kochesokov, CEO of Ecologistika LLC, falsified tax reports, resulting in the company underpaying more than 500 million rubles in taxes, the Investigative Committee reported.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," in December 2025, the Investigative Committee's Kabardino-Balkarian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against the management of Ecologistika LLC for non-payment of wages to employees.

The company "Ekologistika" underpaid taxes by over 500 million rubles, reported Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko.

According to investigators, "Ekologistika" LLC, represented by its CEO, Rustam Kochesokov, intentionally falsified tax returns to underpay taxes. RIA Novosti quoted Petrenko as saying today that shell companies were used to create the impression that the transactions were genuine.

"The accounting and tax reports submitted to the tax authorities reflected fictitious expenses to illegally obtain VAT deductions. As a result of these criminal acts, the Russian Federation's budget system lost over 500 million rubles in taxes," Petrenko noted.

A criminal case is being investigated under Part 2 of Article 199 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Tax Evasion"), and dozens of witnesses have been questioned as part of the investigation. Around 30 searches were conducted in Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, and the Moscow region.

"The defendant has been charged and placed under preventive measures. A number of investigative actions have been taken," Petrenko added.

As a reminder, residents of Kabardino-Balkaria have repeatedly complained about problems with garbage collection in various cities and villages across the republic. In August 2025, more than 7,400 people signed a petition demanding the termination of cooperation with Ecologistics LLC as the regional waste removal operator, the selection of a "new reliable operator capable of ensuring timely and high-quality waste removal" through a competitive process, and the creation of an independent body to monitor the waste operator's performance.

In April, the authorities of Kabardino-Balkaria refused to renew Ecologistics's authority as the regional waste operator.

In September 2025, the prosecutor's office filed a complaint against Ecologistics, the official waste management operator in Kabardino-Balkaria, regarding illegal dumps in the village of Islamey. The problem is also common in other settlements in the republic, social media users stated. The landfills in Islamey were cleaned up after the prosecutor's office responded, but the problem with garbage disposal persisted, residents later told the "Caucasian Knot."

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