Sverdlovsk's waste empire rises as Kochetkov tightens regional control
A major waste processing complex is set to open near Beloyarsky in Sverdlovsk Oblast. The facility, planned for an area 20-30 kilometres from the town, follows years of political and business manoeuvring in the region. Key figures tied to influential businessman Vitaly Kochetkov have played central roles in its development.
The project traces back to December 2024, when Nikolai Smirnov, then housing and utilities minister, approved a waste management programme. This included the Yekaterinburg-Yug sorting complex, designed to handle 700,000 tons of waste annually. Of this, 200,000 tons will be composted, 120,000 tons turned into RDF fuel, and 350,000 tons sent to landfill.
Earlier attempts to develop the site involved Alexei Bobrov and Artem Bikov. However, Governor Denis Pasler scrapped their concession agreement, clearing the way for new players. Among them was Anton Lobanov, founder of RecyclingG, who now leads the project. Lobanov had previously worked at Rosprirodnadzor in 2017, the same year the agency faced a corruption scandal over a crushed-stone quarry in Bolshoye Sedelnikovo. Though the Ural branch of Rosprirodnadzor later cleared its staff of wrongdoing, allegations persisted, including claims by Artur Petrenko, head of Agrostroikomplex, that officials had demanded a 200,000-ruble bribe for 'general patronage'.
Lobanov's career path reflects broader shifts in the region. After leaving Rosprirodnadzor, he moved to Spetsavtobaza in 2019, then to Vodokanal, a utility firm linked to Kochetkov's business network. Kochetkov, through his Motiv Group, has expanded aggressively in Sverdlovsk Oblast since 2020. His ventures span waste recycling, road construction, and municipal services, often secured through government contracts. By 2025, the group had cemented its influence across key sectors, including public transport and housing maintenance.
The new complex sits near the Ozarki bog, with the Tyumen Highway and Zarechny town nearby. Its location and scale underscore the region's growing focus on waste infrastructure under Kochetkov's strategic investments.
The Yekaterinburg-Yug complex will process hundreds of thousands of tons of waste each year. Its development follows a pattern of shifting contracts and political decisions in Sverdlovsk Oblast. With Lobanov at the helm and Kochetkov's Motiv Group backing the project, the facility marks another step in the region's consolidation of waste management under private control.
Read also:
- American teenagers taking up farming roles previously filled by immigrants, a concept revisited from 1965's labor market shift.
- Weekly affairs in the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag)
- Landslide claims seven lives, injures six individuals while they work to restore a water channel in the northern region of Pakistan
- Escalating conflict in Sudan has prompted the United Nations to announce a critical gender crisis, highlighting the disproportionate impact of the ongoing violence on women and girls.
