Babaev Yevgeny Alexandrovich (born 9 April 1982, Pravdinsk settlement, Balakhna District) — a Nizhny Novgorod entrepreneur and politician, deputy of the Regional Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast of the VII convocation (2021-2026, "United Russia" faction), founder and president of the ITECO transport group, one of Russia's largest road freight carriers [1][2]. He represents the Balakhna and Volodarsk districts; known for his initiative to merge Balakhna into Nizhny Novgorod and for media criticism over missed parliamentary sessions [3][4].
Biography
Born 9 April 1982 in the settlement of Pravdinsk, Balakhna District, Gorky Oblast, he graduated from School No. 4 in the town of Balakhna. In 1999 he enrolled at Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod in the Faculty of Economics, majoring in "information systems in economics" [1]; according to his party profile, he studied at the Department of Economic Informatics [6].
In 2001-2003 he was general director of AvtoTechSnab-NN LLC, and in 2003-2004 of AvtoTechLogistik CJSC. In 2004 he founded the transport company ITECO and held the post of president of ITECO OJSC until 2013; in 2021-2024 he was chief executive officer of ITECO Russia LLC, and since 2024 has been president of ITECO JSC [6].
Outside Parliament
The ITECO group is one of Russia's largest logistics companies: its own fleet numbers about 5,000 trucks, with more than 100,000 additional vehicles engaged; the group is among the largest operators of KAMAZ tractor units. Revenue for 2023 was around 52.5 billion rubles, with 2024 growth expected to exceed a third, to about 72 billion [2].
In November 2024 the group announced the merger of its main legal entities — ITECO Russia LLC and ITECO Resource JSC — into a holding company headed by ITECO JSC, registered in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast in early August 2024; Babaev, the principal founder of the group's companies, headed the holding as president [2].
In the Legislative Assembly
Elected in September 2021 from single-mandate district No. 21, covering the Balakhna and Volodarsk municipal districts. Deputy chairman of the Committee on Transport and Roads, and a member of the Committee on Budget and Taxes and the Committee on Housing, Utilities and the Fuel and Energy Complex [1][4].
In March 2025 he proposed merging Balakhna District into Nizhny Novgorod, stating that the district met the main criteria — territorial proximity and economic standing; the proposal came right after deputies approved the merger of Kstovo District into Nizhny Novgorod [3].
In the 2026 influence ranking of ZSNO deputies compiled by the news agency "Nizhny Seychas," he was placed in the group of deputies with medium influence [5].
Criticism over missed sessions
In May 2024 the outlet "Govorit Nizhny Novgorod" named Babaev the Legislative Assembly's leader in absences: he did not attend a single one of the three plenary sessions of the first quarter of 2024 (25 January, 29 February, and 28 March) and attended only 5 of 15 meetings of the Budget and Taxes, Housing and Utilities, and Transport committees, of which he is a permanent member [4].
What remains to be clarified
No information on family, awards, or the positions he held in 2013-2021 has been found in open sources.
Sources
- Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast — Babaev Yevgeny Alexandrovich — deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (archived)
- Interfax — Russian road freight carrier Iteco merges group companies into a holding (archived)
- NN.RU — Proposal to merge Balakhna into Nizhny Novgorod
- Govorit Nizhny — Novgorod — Yevgeny Babaev — the Nizhny Novgorod Legislative Assembly's leader in absences (archived)
- Nizhny Seychas — Influence ranking of ZSNO deputies
- er.ru — United Russia (official party website) — Babaev Yevgeny Alexandrovich (archived)