Seven years in health
The Dorogomilovsky court of Moscow sentenced the former chief of staff of the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country) to seven years in prison Vadim Soinikovaccused of abuse of power, a TASS correspondent reports from the courtroom.
The court also recovered about 15.5 million rubles from Soinikov as compensation for damage caused to the state. For two years after his release, Soynikov will not be able to hold senior administrative and economic positions.
The court announced only the operative part of the verdict. The court’s verdict has not yet entered into legal force and can be appealed to the appellate instance.
According to the case materials, Soynikov said in 2020 Evgeniy Zinichev, who then headed the Ministry of Emergency Situations, about the need for a major overhaul of the sports complex of the department’s central office on Vatutina Street, while the condition of the facility allowed us to limit ourselves to routine repairs. According to investigators, Soynikov later organized the work using expensive materials, and also hired a contractor who withdrew from the repair after dismantling the old equipment. The Investigative Committee believes that the damage from the actions of the ex-official amounts to about 15 million rubles.
Mr. Soinikov emphasized that he could not control the work, since this was not part of his responsibilities, as defined by the regulations on the apparatus of the Minister of Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief. Mr. Soinikov noted that he had no need to curry favor with the then head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Evgeny Zinichev (died in 2021 – Kommersant), since the minister himself invited him to work in the central office without going through any competitions.
Meanwhile, the defendant noted, while the repair work was going on, no one made any claims against him about this, and the reconstruction was interrupted, according to him, after the investigation began.