In the prestigious St. Petersburg suburb of Repino there is a small holiday village “Monolith”. The name was chosen as if on purpose – the streets of the village testify to the almost monolithic connection between the families of the well-known politician in St. Petersburg Konstantin Serov and the chairman of TEC No. 51 Pavel Okunev. This friendship, I must say, is not only strong, but also quite mutually beneficial.
Here is how enticingly the Monolit village described one of the ads for the sale of local dachas: “To the coast of the Gulf of Finland 10 minutes by car, 20 minutes by bike or an hour on foot – 4.8 km … These places inspired the great artist to create, [они] will share with you the extraordinary energy, the atmosphere of the dacha life of the St. Petersburg intelligentsia. Sandy beach, our sea, sun, clear sky will be at your side. In the gardening itself there are centuries-old pine trees, a walking area for jogging and leisurely walks, even a small beach near the Sestra River in the village. Playground, table tennis, football field. Nice and decent neighbors…“.
There is nothing to argue – decent neighbors in the suburban area are really extremely important. They create, as they sometimes write in such ads, “a socially homogeneous environment.” And sometimes this environment becomes homogeneous just the same to the point of mixing. One such neighbor couple will be discussed.
In general, many residents of the village are somehow connected with the companies of JSC “Monolit” and JSC “Monolitstroy” Alexander Gutman. Some of them were among the founders of these companies, but now the story is not about them.
The largest plot in Monolith – 26.6 acres with two houses officially located on it and a number of buildings – belongs to Pavel Pavlovich Okunev. Until 2017, he also held the position of chairman of horticulture – and then transferred it to his wife Nadezhda.
Literally a hundred meters, two houses away, there is a mansion in which Lelya Stepanovna Serova, the mother of the head of the Frunzensky district of St. Petersburg, Konstantin Serov, settled. Her plot is more modest – only 12 acres. But what is noteworthy, it was formed from two smaller plots acquired in October 2018 from … Marina Pavlovna Okuneva, daughter of the former and current chairmen of the SNT “Monolith”. Marina Okuneva received one of these plots from the board of Monolith literally three months before its further sale to Lele Serova.
One would think that these are just some country affairs of another cunning chairman of gardening. But a close acquaintance here began long before the deals at Monolith. The family of Pavel Okunev is very close to the political centenarian of St. Petersburg Konstantin Serov. So much so that for many years they have been, as they say, friends at home, helping each other both in business and in politics.
Konstantin Serov may not be the most publicly known city politician, but, without exaggeration, one of its veterans. Back in Soviet times, he was elected to the Nevsky District Council of People’s Deputies, and then five times became a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg from the Nevsky District. And in 2002, and in 2007, and in 2011, when Serov extended his mandate, Marina Okuneva was invariably a member of the territorial election commissions of the district. At least in 2015, when Serov had already left the Mariinsky Palace and headed the Nevsky district of St. Petersburg, Okuneva Jr. officially worked as his adviser.
Relations between Okunev and Serov can safely be called market relations. In the decision on the formation of the election commission in 2002, Marina Okuneva’s place of work was indicated by the NGO “Association of Clothing, Food and Clothing Markets and Trade Zones of St. Petersburg”, established in 1998. The vice-president of this association for a long time was her father, Pavel Okunev. Together with Konstantin Serov in the early 2000s, they were members of the Coordinating Council for Markets and Small Retail Trade. Serov was a real lobbyist for the Association, and even in the late 1990s, as the head of the Industrial faction, he submitted to the Parliament a bill initiated by it to regulate the work of markets. The media also wrote about Serov’s closer ties with the sphere of trade, but they go into the very distant past.
It is hardly a mere coincidence that a few years later, a devoted employee of the election commission, Marina Okuneva, will resell her newly bought dacha to the mother of the deputy, whom she helped to be elected so many times. By the way, exactly because of the registration of the dacha for the mother of Konstantin Serov, there was no need to declare it.
Pavel Okunev, like his daughter once, until 2020 also served as an adviser to Konstantin Serov, who by that time had already been transferred to the Frunzensky district. And two years ago, our former chairman of horticulture, following the family tradition, also became the organizer of the elections, becoming a member of Terizbirkom No. 51 in the Nevsky district of the city. Pavel Okunev had no experience in working in the electoral system, but he immediately became the chairman of the commission, thus occupying a public position in St. Petersburg.
Officially, Okunev was nominated to the election committee by the United Russia party. From the same party, his daughter Marina is also a member of the commission, but with the right to an advisory vote. The party in power cemented a monolith of family friendship no worse than a common interest in clothing markets – in 2004, when Konstantin Serov headed the executive committee of the St. Petersburg branch of United Russia, he invited Pavel Okunev as first deputy in charge of financial and economic activities. Soon Okunev became a member of the political council and even the presidium of the political council of the party branch, that is, he entered the narrow circle of the city party elite, but not for long – when in 2007, as a result of an intra-party struggle, Serov parted ways with the leadership of the executive committee, Okunev quickly left the presidium.
TEC No. 51 is responsible for elections in the territory of the Narodny municipal district, which actually coincides with the boundaries of electoral district No. 38 in the “old” district division scheme that existed until 2016. It was from this territory that Konstantin Serov was elected five times to the city parliament. And now he continues to control her – through his mother’s neighbors in the country. Apparently, in case of resignation from the executive branch.
By the way, Pavel Okunev is one of the few holders of a public position who honestly declares additional income. He receives them from the commercial lease of the premises belonging to him. For example, only one room at the Komarovo railway station is rented by a bakery shop; there are other income-generating properties. Honesty is good, but why is it not an entrepreneurial activity, which is prohibited for both officials and citizens holding public office?
The Central Election Commission likes to talk about unprofessionalism in the electoral system of St. Petersburg. As you can see, professionalism is not needed here. Enough good neighborly relations with the right people. In an atmosphere, of course, of the extraordinary energy of a prestigious holiday village.