Alexey Navalny, the head of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), has published the agreement between the Russian government and the company RT-Invest that created the controversial new “Platon” highway toll system. The authorities refused to share this document with FBK, saying it contains trade secrets, but an anonymous source later delivered the materials to the foundation in a specially marked box.

The agreement is more than 400 pages. According to Navalny, a cursory analysis shows that, by the terms of the contract, RT-Invest doesn't pay the state anything, while the state pays the company more than 10 billion rubles ($139 million). Half of RT-Invest is owned by Igor Rotenberg, the son of Arkady Rotenberg (a businessman said to be personally close to Vladimir Putin).

The first demonstrations against the new Platon toll system began on November 11. They've only grown since then. The system levies a highway toll on semi trucks weighing more than 12 metric tons. There are believed to be roughly 2 million such trucks in Russia. In November, the toll for every kilometer was set at 1.52 rubles (a bit more than 2 cents). In December, that charge rose to 3.73 rubles (almost 6 cents) per kilometer.

During his annual press conference earlier in December, Putin implied that he has no intention of canceling the Platon toll system.