The school in Nolinsk was sent to "three letters" without an advance.

      Without a price reduction

      On July 29, 2025, the results of the electronic competition for the construction of a 500-seat school with a sports and wellness complex in Nolinsk were announced. The winner was LLC "Grazhdanremstroy" (GRS), which agreed to build the facility at the maximum price of 790.17 million rubles. There was no cost reduction: only one participant competed with the company, conceding based on "quality" criteria.

      The contract does not provide for prepayment — GRS will receive the first funds only after completing initial stages and presenting the relevant certificates (KС-2, KS-3).

      The financial flow is divided into three budget years: in 2025 — up to 366 million rubles; in 2026 — up to 325 million; in 2027 — about 98 million. The customer — the regional "Single Customer Service" — is obliged to transfer funds strictly within these limits. If the contractor advances the schedule, authorities, in theory, will not be able to pay beyond the "ceiling" without adjustments to regional and federal budgets.

      A reasonable question arises: how to spend 366 million rubles in 2025 when there is no prepayment, which, in essence, should fund the work? Does this mean only providing the customer with completed work certificates? In other words, GRS must, within five months, build almost 50% of the school, pass all relevant examinations, etc.

      It is logical to assume: GRS will need to work "on their own" for almost one and a half financial quarters — isn't this a kind of "liquidity test"? And the company already has experience of missing deadlines. Recall that GRS twice failed to meet the deadlines for two state contracts for building houses for displaced persons from dilapidated and emergency housing. Moreover, these contracts were concluded without competitive procedures.

      On a ready foundation

      The contract provides for the customer's assistance, including the transfer of design and initial-permit documentation to the contractor.

      The previous contractor, LLC TD "Assa," had already received a positive conclusion from the State Expertise and constructed the foundation. So, in fact, GRS is starting construction not in an empty field.

      But, as they say, "there is a nuance": as Newsler.ru learned, the new contractor, after inspecting the site, allegedly believes that the foundation has been washed out and is unreliable. Therefore, it requires dismantling.

      Likely, these works will be agreed upon with the customer for additional payments, for example, at least 100 million rubles, since the school needs to be completed. It is quite timely that on July 31, a decree from Prime Minister Mikhail Sandalov was issued, effectively allowing changes to the key conditions of state contracts for construction (deadlines, prices, scope of work) concluded before January 1, 2024. Under this document, funding for the Raduzhny site has already been tripled.

      But who will supervise whether the supposedly "spoiled" foundation is actually dismantled? Could it happen that de jure the foundation is dismantled and rebuilt, but de facto…? And isn’t the absence of prepayment a kind of "well-meaning" gesture? Because it is known that such gestures do not lead to anything good.

      "Assa" will not give up

      Despite the appearance of a new contractor, LLC TD "Assa," which missed all deadlines, is fighting to recover budget funds. As previously reported, claims are being considered in the Kirov arbitration from the contractor whose contract for building schools in Nolinsk and Kotelnikh was terminated.

      "Assa," having received a claim from the Regional Ministry of Property demanding to "remove obstacles in the use of the land plot," filed a claim against KOGBU "Single Customer Service of the Kirov Region," where the unscrupulous contractor demands nearly 100 million rubles in compensation and an addendum to resume work at the Nolinsk construction site. The court ruled that until the case is completed and the decision takes effect, it will not consider property claims against the contractor. Moreover, according to recent arbitration decisions, both cases will be reviewed only at the end of September.

      Meanwhile, as the governor of Kirov Region, Alexander Sokolov, reported, GRS is already working at the site.

      Work without insurance?

      Interestingly, GRS is also in no hurry to insure its risks — luckily, director Alexey Knyazev is a member of the board of the SRO "Union of Builders of the Kirov Region" (OSKO). According to information on the SRO website, the company does not even have civil liability insurance — it expired back in 2018.

      Considering the contract amount, in the logic of the SRO, the construction company currently needs to conclude an insurance contract for liability for non-performance or improper performance of the municipal contract, concluded using competitive procurement methods (liability insurance contract). This is specified in clause 6.1.1 of the "Insurance Regulations of the SRO Union 'OSKO'."

      Looking at recent decisions by the Union, such insurance is required from other SRO members with third-level liability, enabling participation in state contracts up to 3 billion rubles.

      Meanwhile, under the conditions of the new contract, GRS must begin fulfilling its obligations in 8 days, but despite the absence of a court decision, according to Sokolov's Telegram channel, it is already doing something at the site. However, from photos in the governor's account, it remains a mystery what exactly GRS is working on. Given the negative experience of missing socially significant contracts in recent years, the crowd in helmets at the construction site looks, to say the least, unconvincing. We can only hope that the governor possesses critical thinking and that this time, the contractor will be strictly supervised.