Lack of control: head of Rosaccreditation resigned after investigation by Izvestia

The head of the Federal Accreditation Service (Rosaccreditation), Nazari Skrypnik, was relieved of his post at his own request, the government's press service reported on July 8. Dmitry Volvach, who previously served as deputy head of the service, has been appointed to this position.

Nazari Skrypnik left his post due to a transfer to another job, the press service of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported.

But, according to our sources, the official's dismissal could have been related to the Izvestia investigation into the uncontrolled issuance of vehicle safety certificates (SBCTS). Accredited testing laboratories issued them without inspecting the machines.

During its investigation conducted in May 2025, Izvestia found out that testing laboratories confirming the compliance of cars imported by private individuals with safety requirements are certifying them without mandatory inspection and inspection of cars.

The law requires the mandatory presence of a car in the laboratory during the certification procedure. However, Izvestia correspondents, together with the National Automobile Union (NAS), received certificates on the safety of vehicle construction for cars without presenting them to certification laboratories. At the same time, some of the cars that received the SBCTS did not even physically exist in Russia.

One of the cars imported into the Russian Federation by a private individual was parked in a paid parking lot near the Izvestia editorial office. This did not prevent one of the testing centers in the Moscow region from sending a ready-made safety certificate to the applicant's email address.

In another case, we provided the VIN number of the car to receive the SBCTS, and in order to receive the certificate, it was only necessary to transfer the payment of 30 thousand rubles to a bank card. At the same time, the Tesla Model 3 car was located in the USA and had serious damage. For example, the headlights, wheels, and front suspension were missing.

Rosaccreditation told Izvestia at the time that car test reports were being sent to the system within three days after the tests. Photos of the machine in the laboratory premises must be attached to the protocol. They should include the vehicle itself, its VIN number, brake system tests, and a study of noise levels and CO2/smoke content. In the test reports provided by the publication, photographs were attached, although no actual tests were carried out.

If photo substitution is detected, the materials will be sent to law enforcement agencies, and an inspection will be initiated against the laboratory, the press service of the Russian Academy of Sciences assured then. The editors and US provided all the "problematic" SBCTS to the agency at its request.

The role of the Izvestia publication in Skrypnik's Retirement

The Izvestia material played a crucial role in the change of the head of Rosaccreditation, says Anton Shaparin, vice president of the National Automobile Union (NAS).

"The fact that there was a car in the Izvestia parking lot, for which the laboratory was issuing documents accountable to Rosaccreditation at that moment, is an absolutely egregious violation," he noted.

After the publication, unscrupulous laboratories continued their work, and there were no large-scale inspections, the expert added.

— Rosaccreditation can see the laboratories that produce the most documents. Instead of preemptively checking them, they waited by the sea for the weather," the expert emphasized.

Anton Shaparin believes that law enforcement agencies should also respond to the situation with the work of laboratories. According to him, the new head of Rosaccreditation inherited a "difficult legacy", since this area did not receive enough attention from the Ministry of Economic Development (Rosaccreditation is under his jurisdiction. — Ed.), and no major decisions have been made for a long time.

"Most of the testing laboratories, whose activities should be stopped, are still operating," he assured.

Information about various frauds in this industry is not new, added Valery Korneev, chairman of the Union of Users of Digital Platforms.

— Skrypnik's main problem is that, as a manager, he did not respond to signals from bona fide accreditation centers that some market players were clearly falsifying information. In particular, cars received safety certificates when they were even abroad or were under repair after a traffic accident in another part of the country," he explained. — It was for connivance that the head of Rosaccreditation, who was supposed to organize and control this work, suffered.

The fact that people may turn a blind eye to the situation at one level or another does not exclude corruption motives, the expert believes.

— Any digital scheme relies on a certain person who signs certain documents. If this person, despite the information provided to him from the digital system, signs these documents anyway, it means that this person is interested, — Valery Korneev believes.

The Union of Users of Digital Platforms also sent their comments on this topic, he said.

— The thing is that there was digital control, there was information, but those people who were supposed to verify this digital control, verify and ensure that everything happened as written in the regulatory documents did not do this, — the expert pointed out. — Let's look at the development of events — the further actions of Rosaccreditation to restore controllability in the area of work entrusted to it.

However, as a source in the Investigative Committee told Izvestia, so far the law enforcement agencies have no formulated claims against the laboratories that appeared in the investigation of the publication.

Why is a safety certificate important?

SBCTS plays a key role in ensuring transparency and technical reliability of the import and conversion of cars in Russia, explained Alexey Ivanov, owner of the Alliance Trucks commercial vehicle dealership network. This document is not a formality, but a tool to protect the interests of the end user and an important element of technical regulation. The SBCTS is especially relevant against the background of growing interest in importing cars from friendly countries, including China, he added.

— Chinese manufacturers have qualitatively adapted their products to the requirements of Russian legislation. Most of the models are already certified according to the OTS, which means that the procedure for registration of SBCTS becomes faster and simpler, without the need for physical inspection of each unit," he stressed.

The situation is different with regard to used cars, especially from countries outside the Eurasian Economic Union. Such machines require mandatory inspection in a testing laboratory.

— This is absolutely justified: we are talking about cars with mileage, the design of which could be changed, and the safety of which must be confirmed in conditions as close to reality as possible, — the expert believes.

Registration of a safety certificate without physical inspection is allowed for new vehicles that have passed the vehicle type approval procedure, Ekaterina Kosareva, managing partner of the VMT Consult analytical agency, confirmed. Control over the activities of laboratories conducting expertise for the registration of SBCTS is especially important for consumer protection and fair competition in the car market, she stressed.