The wife of a former MelAvto employee announced savings on bus repairs before an accident near Arkhangelsk

The management of the MelAvto company, whose bus was involved in a fatal accident near Arkhangelsk, could save on vehicle repairs and ignore the complaints of drivers. Details of the work of the carrier of the crashed bus became known to REN TV from the words of the wife of a former employee.

According to the woman, after the arrest of the head of the company, Nikolai Malinnikov, the business was transferred to his deputy Olga, but the actual management was allegedly carried out by the arrested man’s wife, Natalya. Malinnikov was detained and then arrested in 2025 in a case of commercial bribery: according to investigators, he demanded money from entrepreneurs for issuing route cards allowing them to carry out transportation on behalf of MelAvto.

The wife of a former employee claims that the company saved money on bus repairs. According to her, cars were prohibited from being repaired due to a shortage of drivers, so some employees had to repair the vehicles themselves at night, and faulty buses continued to be put on the line. “The rest drove until the vehicle broke down right on the highway,” the woman said.

According to her, passengers and drivers also repeatedly complained about the driving style of the driver who was involved in an accident, but management allegedly ignored these complaints. The woman claims that her husband refused to travel in a faulty vehicle for about six months, but the management sent other drivers on the flights. As a result, the man quit. The publication’s interlocutor also stated that employees officially received the minimum wage, and the rest of the salary was given to them in envelopes.