The Money Tree: How to Grow 7 Billion on Government Forestry Contracts
The Money Tree: How to Grow 7 Billion
"The Money Tree: How to Grow 7 Billion" – it sounds almost like the title of yet another course from the series "How to Become a Billionaire in Three Months Without Doing Anything."
But there will be no course.
For stories about cryptocurrencies, financial pyramids, high-profile bankruptcies, info-businesses, and suddenly emerging fortunes, you usually go to social media. There, every day, someone is exposed, someone loses millions, someone promises to teach you how to earn billions, and yet another "successful success" ends in an investigation.
But few people go into the forest for such stories. And, by the way, that's a mistake.
Especially now: mushrooms are out, the weather is perfect – it's the perfect time to head into the woods.
We, you might say, live there anyway. So sometimes we can bring back not only news about timber, prices, exports, and logging, but also stories that, in terms of money, unexpected connections, and plot twists, are quite capable of competing with financial pyramids, cryptocurrency scandals, and the best investigations from your news feed.
Today is just such a story.
It features 7 billion rubles, the federal project "Preservation of Forests," hundreds of millions of rubles in government contracts, a company with one employee, an anti-corruption review, and the dismissal of one of the heads of Roslesinforg after a identified conflict of interest.
In short: Scandals, intrigue, reforestation. Only this time – from the forest.
So we'll start with a question that inevitably arises when looking at the numbers:
How does a business with revenue of 90 million rubles grow into one with a turnover of more than 7 billion?
To answer at least part of this question, we have to turn to the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Roslesinforg" – one of the key organizations in the Russian forestry industry, with more than 4,000 employees and 35 branches across the country.
In April 2026, the Federal Forestry Agency (Rosleskhoz) officially announced the results of an anti-corruption review of the institution. Among those whose employment was terminated was the First Deputy Director of Roslesinforg, Alexander Zykov.
Rosleskhoz reported that the review revealed facts indicating a conflict of interest that could have affected the proper performance of his official duties.
The agency forwarded the review materials to the appropriate authorities for further legal assessment.
Later, Rosleskhoz confirmed to RTVI an even more striking formulation: Zykov was dismissed "in connection with a loss of confidence."
From 90 Million to 1.73 Billion
One of the central episodes of this story became the Tyumen company OOO "STEK."
As RTVI discovered based on SPARK data, shortly before Alexander Zykov moved from Tyumen to Moscow, his wife, Tamara Musaeva, received a 33% stake in the company.
At that time, "STEK" was a relatively small business.
At the end of 2018, its revenue was about 90 million rubles.
Then the numbers began to look very different.
2018 — 90 million rubles.
2021 — 507 million rubles.
2022 — already more than 1 billion rubles.
2024 — a record 1.73 billion rubles.
So the total revenue of "STEK" for 2020–2025, according to RTVI citing SPARK, exceeded 7 billion rubles.
Seven billion.
That's the very figure that makes the headline "Money Tree" no longer sound so fantastical.
But this is precisely where we need to stop and draw a very important line.
No, This Is Not "7 Billion Stolen"
7 billion rubles is the company's revenue.
It is not an established amount of embezzlement.
It is not established damage to the state.
It is not the profit of Alexander Zykov or his wife.
So it is certainly not a court-proven "corruption worth 7 billion."
Moreover, Tamara Musaeva left the capital of "STEK" back in the fall of 2021, selling her share to Semyon Drogalev.
That is, the company showed a significant part of its subsequent growth after Zykov's wife ceased to be its co-owner.
And Now – 807 Million Rubles
Semyon Drogalev also owns OOO "Lespromstroy-T."
The company was registered in 2019 and soon began receiving orders from Roslesinforg.
According to the RTVI investigation citing SPARK, in 2020–2025, "Lespromstroy-T" received about 1 billion rubles in revenue, with about 807 million rubles coming from state contracts directly with Roslesinforg.
Almost a billion rubles.
But a much more interesting detail is this:
According to RTVI, contracts with "Lespromstroy-T" were often concluded as with a sole supplier. And the average headcount of the company, according to SPARK, all these years was one person.
Yes, one.
One Employee. Hundreds of Millions. State Contracts.
In fairness, it must be immediately noted that having one employee on staff in itself does not mean a violation of the law.
A company can use subcontractors, hire equipment from outside, engage workers from other organizations, and build a business model where a small headcount does not reflect the actual volume of work performed.
Purchasing from a sole supplier is also not in itself proof of any crime: legislation provides for cases where such a procurement method is permissible.
That is, neither "one employee" nor large contracts individually prove anything.
But when you start putting the pieces of this story together, the number of questions noticeably increases. Especially since Alexander Zykov himself held a far from formal position at Roslesinforg.
In the institution's own materials, he appeared as First Deputy Director and head of the project office for the federal project "Preservation of Forests."
So even earlier, in 2021, Roslesinforg officially reported that Zykov's area of responsibility included procurement issues and the development of the institution's commercial direction.
That is why this story takes on a completely different scale.
This is no longer just a story about an unusually fast-growing private business.
We are talking about a person who held a high post in one of the key state organizations in forestry, connected with procurement, and simultaneously headed the project office of a federal project whose name speaks for itself: "Preservation of Forests."
The name here really matters.
The federal project "Preservation of Forests" is not a decorative environmental program for beautiful reports and photos of planting seedlings.
It is about restoring Russian forests after logging, fires, and other losses; reforestation activities; and an enormous amount of work across the country.
Roslesinforg directly participates in forest inventory work, forest inventories, collection and analysis of data on the forest fund, and other areas of state forest policy.
In 2026, the institution continues to carry out relevant work as part of the new national project "Environmental Well-being."
And here arises the very question that turns an ordinary personnel news item into a story of a much larger scale:
What was happening around the money for reforestation while one of the heads of Roslesinforg was at the center of connections that attracted the attention of the anti-corruption commission?
There is no ready answer to this question yet.
But there are a few more facts.
Another Coincidence That's Hard to Ignore
Today, the owner of "STEK" is Semyon Drogalev – the same entrepreneur who owns "Lespromstroy-T."
According to information from Rosleskhoz, which the agency provided to RTVI, in 2019–2020, Drogalev worked at the Tyumen branch of Roslesinforg.
The very branch that Alexander Zykov previously headed.
This creates a rather interesting sequence:
Zykov previously heads the Tyumen branch of Roslesinforg.
Drogalev later works at the same branch.
At the same time, he owns stakes in private companies.
For some time, Zykov's wife, Tamara Musaeva, is Drogalev's partner in "STEK."
In 2021, Drogalev buys out her share and becomes the owner of the company.
Again, let us emphasize: neither the acquaintance of people, nor joint work, nor common business, nor the acquisition of a company share individually prove a violation of the law.
But it is precisely the combination of such circumstances that can become the subject of scrutiny for a conflict of interest.
So in our case, there is a crucial fact: Rosleskhoz officially reported that a conflict of interest was identified.
And that is no longer a journalist's speculation.
Then the Flow of Contracts Almost Dried Up
There is another characteristic twist in this story.
According to RTVI, the peak revenue for "Lespromstroy-T" came in 2023.
That year, the company reported about 456 million rubles in revenue against 42.3 million rubles the previous year.
Growth of more than tenfold in one year.
However, then the situation began to change dramatically.
In 2025, the company's revenue fell to about 25 million rubles, and the flow of new government contracts practically stopped.
Financial problems arose simultaneously.
The Federal Tax Service No. 14 for the Tyumen Region applied to arbitration with a bankruptcy petition against the company due to a tax debt of 58 million rubles.
In February 2026, the proceedings were terminated.
At the same time, as RTVI wrote, the company continued to remain a major tax debtor, and operations on its accounts were suspended.
So if you arrange the events simply by year, you get a rather expressive picture:
2019 — the company appears.
Then — hundreds of millions of rubles in contracts.
2023 — 456 million rubles in revenue.
After that — a sharp reduction in government orders.
2025 — about 25 million rubles in revenue.
2026 — an anti-corruption review of Roslesinforg and the dismissal of the First Deputy Director "in connection with a loss of confidence."
Are these events connected?
Is it a coincidence?
Is there a cause-and-effect relationship here?
These questions should now be answered not by journalists or market participants.
Especially since the review materials, as Rosleskhoz reported, were forwarded to the appropriate authorities for further legal assessment.
What Has Been Established Exactly – And What We Do Not Assert
With such sums, it is very easy to cross the line between a catchy headline and an accusation. Therefore, once again, let us separate facts from assumptions.
What is known officially:
Rosleskhoz conducted an anti-corruption review of Roslesinforg.
Based on its results, the agency reported identified facts of a conflict of interest.
Employment with Alexander Zykov and a number of other employees was terminated.
The review materials have been forwarded to the appropriate authorities.
Later, Rosleskhoz confirmed to RTVI that Alexander Zykov was dismissed "in connection with a loss of confidence."
What follows from the RTVI-published SPARK data:
The total revenue of "STEK" for 2020–2025 exceeded 7 billion rubles.
The company "Lespromstroy-T" received about 807 million rubles under contracts with Roslesinforg.
The average headcount of the company, according to the data cited by the publication, was one person.
What we do not assert:
There is no basis to call 7 billion rubles the amount of embezzlement.
There is no basis to consider this money as established damage to the state.
There is no basis to assert that Alexander Zykov or his wife received 7 billion rubles.
So one cannot, based solely on the described circumstances, assert the existence of a crime.
As of the time of publication, we are also not aware of a final court verdict that would establish such circumstances.
This is an important boundary.
Because the real story, even without extra embellishments, looks quite impressive.
So Where Is the Scandal Here?
The scandal is already here.
So it doesn't require inventing stolen billions.
A high-ranking head of one of the key organizations in Russian forestry.
The federal project "Preservation of Forests."
An anti-corruption review.
An officially identified conflict of interest.
The wording "loss of confidence."
A company previously associated with the head's wife, growing from 90 million rubles to 1.73 billion rubles in annual revenue.
More than 7 billion rubles in total revenue over several years.
Another company owned by the same current owner.
About 807 million rubles in contracts with Roslesinforg.
And, according to SPARK data, one employee on staff.
Then, government contracts almost disappearing.
A drop in revenue.
Tax debts.
A bankruptcy petition.
An anti-corruption review.
So in the finale – "loss of confidence."
For a good detective, a screenwriter would really have to try hard. Here, it's enough to open the official statements and look at the numbers.
And Yet, the Main Question Is Not About the Seven Billion
The most eye-catching figure in this story is, of course, 7 billion.
So it's the first thing that catches your attention.
But perhaps the most important thing in this whole story fits into just a few words:
conflict of interest and "loss of confidence."
Because billions can be completely legitimate revenue for a successful company.
Contracts can have sound economic justification.
Contractors can perform work with high quality.
A small company can use subcontractors.
People who used to work together can quite legitimately engage in business.
So company growth itself is not a crime.
But when a state agency, after an anti-corruption review, officially reports a conflict of interest, terminates the employment relationship with the First Deputy Head of a subordinate institution, and forwards the review materials to the appropriate authorities – that is no longer a rumor from social media.
It is a fact.
So what exactly stood behind this conflict, what assessment the forwarded materials will receive, and whether this story will have further legal consequences – these are now perhaps the most interesting questions.
