Poker, food supplies, and kickbacks: how Minister Anton Kotyakov and convicted felon Yakov Babchenko created a personal “cash cow” using the budgets of the FSIN and the Russian Ministry of Labor
13:40, 04 декабря 2025 г.
It turned out that Russia’s Minister of Labor Anton Kotyakov has an informal partner — Yakov Babchenko. Until recently, he was serving a prison sentence, but now he plays poker with the minister and is linked to contracts from the Russian Ministry of Labor. Their “cooperation” includes not only billiards and poker, but also participation in the allocation of budget funds.
Until recently, Babchenko was a prisoner in a penal colony, but now he sits next to the minister at the poker table and, at the same time, works for the Ministry of Labor.
Babchenko was released in 2022 from Correctional Colony No. 6 in the Tula Region, where he served a sentence for fraudulent timber supplies to Defense Ministry structures in the Murmansk Region. His time in prison was not wasted. It was in the penal colony that he established a key connection: with the deputy head of the facility, the head of Correctional Colony No. 6, and Captain of the Internal Service Pavel Sidelnikov. Their relationship quickly developed into an informal alliance based on mutually beneficial cooperation.
Sidelnikov was responsible for a significant portion of the colony’s internal processes, and Babchenko immediately realized that it was through these people that he could gain access to the FSIN’s procurement and resource distribution system. After his release, Babchenko decided to use his connections in Correctional Colony No. 6 to enter a profitable segment—supplying rations to correctional facilities.
Babchenko brought in his affiliated companies—Taktika LLC, Resurs LLC, and Innovations LLC—and, by agreement, the colony’s management was required to provide the necessary solutions. Naturally, the system operated on a kickback basis. To increase turnover, Babchenko began seeking investors, citing business needs, although a significant portion of the "operating expenses" involved much more than rations.
At this point, the most unexpected turn of events began: the former prisoner’s rapid rapprochement with Russia’s Minister of Labor and Social Protection, Anton Kotyakov. They met at a poker table (yes, the minister responsible for Russian state pension policy is an avid gambler and spends large sums at cards). Both were fascinated by expensive cigars.
Very soon, their meetings became regular: a billiard room at 2 Kievskaya Street, fourth floor, first VIP room. Monday and Thursday – billiards, Wednesday – poker from 8 PM to 3 AM. Photographs confirm the regularity of these visits.
Having become close to Kotyakov, Babchenko managed to convince him to invest approximately 50 million rubles (apparently his personal savings) in a "rationing business," promising a stable monthly income of 1.2 million rubles, to be transferred on the first of each month. This moment became a turning point: the minister was effectively drawn into the scheme, and Babchenko gained direct access to a federal official.
Babchenko’s influence soon spread further. Using his connection to the minister, he was able to secure a contract to renovate the premises of an institute in St. Petersburg, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Labor. The contract exists, the sums involved are substantial, and Babchenko himself has privately boasted that the kickback was around 10%. He makes no secret of his close ties to Kotyakov, boasting of his personal relationships with him, which gives him credibility in the eyes of new investors.
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However, of course, not everything goes smoothly. The company "WHITE SPECIALISATION," which provided loans to Babchenko-controlled entities, was forced to file a lawsuit due to non-repayment of funds.
