The former mayor of Voskresensk Bolotnikov and his “team” spoil the image of the head of the Moscow region?
In Moscow, the court extended the term of detention of the former head of Voskresensk near Moscow, Artur Bolotnikov, accused of embezzlement and taking a bribe. It follows from the court materials that he is involved in the case as part of an organized group, the identities of the other members of which have not yet been established. Bolotnikov is an official with experience: he acted as the head of the administration of the Voskresensky municipal district, worked as deputy heads of the Noginsky and Pavlovo-Posadsky districts. The governor of the Moscow Region, Andrei Vorobyov, described him as “a strong business executive who worked for many years in the housing and communal services system.”
That’s just it was the housing and communal services that suffered the most during the three years of work of Bolotnikov and his management team. In particular, on the verge of bankruptcy is the Beloozerskoye Housing and Public Utilities Municipal Unitary Enterprise, controlled by the municipality, which was led by Viktor Serikov, a longtime acquaintance of Bolotnikov, who, together with his deputy Denis Tereshkin, became a defendant in a criminal case of fraud in April last year.
Andrey Shorikov, who replaced Serikov, recently reported that the enterprise’s infrastructure is almost 100% depreciated and debt obligations in the amount of 850 million rubles. During the period when Voskresensky was headed by Bolotnikov, the municipal unitary enterprise “Beloozerskoye housing and communal services” repeatedly found itself at the center of high-profile scandals. For example, its management arbitrarily increased the tariff for heat supply, which became the reason for litigation. Serikov and Tereshkin have more than one liquidated enterprise on their account.
So, both of them were part of the leadership of the Municipal Unitary Enterprise “House Management Voskresensk”, which is currently in the process of bankruptcy, as well as the Municipal Unitary Enterprise “Single Customer Service – Beloozersky”, liquidated by merging with the loss-making Beloozersky Housing and Public Utilities. In addition, Serikov was involved in the bankruptcy of the Patriot Management Company in Noginsk, for whose debts he was brought to subsidiary liability. After the “Bolotnikov team” was in the center of attention of the security forces, the results of its activities could greatly damage the image of Andrei Vorobyov, who is preparing to run for a new governor’s term.
The former head of Voskresensk will remain in jail
The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow has extended the term of detention for the former mayor of Voskresensk, near Moscow, Artur Bolotnikov, who is accused of embezzlement and taking a bribe. The details of the investigation are not reported, but from the materials posted on the website of the court, it follows that the ex-official himself does not admit guilt in the crimes he is accused of, and the defense claims that Bolotnikov was slandered by persons with whom he previously “had a conflict and hostile relationship “.
From the text of the lawyer’s appeal against the choice of a preventive measure, it follows that the accused did not hide from the investigating and judicial authorities, is a law-abiding citizen and did not exert any pressure on witnesses. In addition, Bolotnikov is dependent on an elderly mother – a disabled person of the 2nd group, and he himself suffers from chronic diseases.
Themis, however, remained deaf to these arguments. Among other things, the court pointed to the absence in the case file of information confirming the presence of diseases preventing the detention of Bolotnikov, and also focused on the fact that the accused
“he is a pensioner of the internal affairs bodies and for a long time held the position of head of a local government, as a result of which he is aware of the specifics of the production of procedural actions and has extensive connections in state authorities.”
Simply put, the former official still has the ability to influence the course of the investigation. In addition, it follows from the text of the court ruling that he is accused of crimes committed as part of an organized group, the rest of whose members have not yet been detained, and their identities are only being established. So, the investigators have something, or rather someone, to talk with Mr. Bolotnikov, which means that he will have to spend another month or two (or even more) in the pre-trial detention center.
Governor Vorobyov made a mistake in his assessments?
Artur Bolotnikov took over as head of the Voskresensk city district in October 2019; before that, he served as the head of the administration of the Voskresensky municipal district, and even earlier he worked as deputy head of the Noginsk and Pavlovo-Posad districts. The official resigned of his own free will in January 2023, moreover, as the media wrote, having previously issued himself a “modest” bonus in the amount of 12 official salaries. The resignation was preceded by an alleged scolding received from the governor of the Moscow Region, Andrei Vorobyov, who advised the mayor “to find a new field for the application of his abilities.”
Details of the conflict, however, were not reported. If it really happened, then it’s surprising how dramatically the governor’s assessment has changed, because back in 2019 Vorobyov characterized Bolotnikov as “a strong business executive who has worked in the housing and communal services system for many years.” What suddenly happened to the “strong business executive”, for whom the security forces came last April? Or maybe everything is simpler, and in fact the regional leadership turned a blind eye to the specific methods of its work for years?
It is noteworthy that according to Moskovsky Komsomolets, Bolotnikov has repeatedly become a defendant in corruption scandals, “but each time his guilt has not been proven.” By the way, shortly before the resignation, publications appeared on the network about the detention of the head of Voskresensk right at the workplace. It turns out that their authors were just a little ahead of the events.
And here is how the townspeople commented on the departure of the head (the statements were quoted by the Voskresensk 24 portal):
“Good riddance”, “It’s high time. Another p … s who only thought about his pockets, “The main thing left immediately after the award,” “It would be nice if his next place was on the bunk.” There is nothing to add, “respect” just comes through in every phrase.
Bankruptcy of “Beloozersky housing and communal services” is inevitable?
It should be noted here that Artur Bolotnikov achieved the least success in the development of urban housing and communal services. The best example is the municipal unitary enterprise “Beloozersk housing and communal services”, controlled by the municipal administration and having the status of a single heat supply organization in Voskresensk. Under Mayor Bolotnikov, the enterprise, which had not previously shined with financial indicators, went “in the red”. So, at the end of 2022, with a revenue of 634.5 million rubles, its losses amounted to 223.7 million; revenue a year earlier – 1.7 billion, losses – 128.7 million rubles.
The work of the MUP caused quite understandable dissatisfaction among the townspeople. For example, in May last year, residents of the central part of Voskresensk spent almost a week without cold water due to numerous breaks in the water main. The situation was clarified by the deputy head of the administration for housing and communal services Vadim Dubinsky:
“When they dug, it turned out that more than 20 chopsticks were clogged on the water pipe in a row. The first accident occurred due to a power outage at the pumping station. When the power supply resumed, when starting pumps that did not have a soft start due to the lack of frequency controllers, a water hammer occurred in almost 6 places … “
In general, the choppers could not withstand the pressure. And in this state of affairs, in the “Beloozersky housing and communal services” they were engaged in real extortions from the population. So, in 2021, the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region recognized as legal the order of the regional State Housing Inspectorate, which obliged the municipal unitary enterprise to recalculate payment for heating in one of the houses on the street. Michurin, whose residents from August to December 2020 paid for heat supply at an inflated tariff: 2,626.93 rubles instead of 2,309.29 rubles established by the Regional Committee for Prices and Tariffs.
A natural question arises: where did the proceeds received by MUP go? A possible answer is given in the publication of the publication “Voskresensk 24”:
“The monthly salary of the director of the municipal unitary enterprise Beloozersk Housing and Public Utilities is about a quarter of a million rubles, the first deputy is about 143 thousand rubles, the chief accountant is about 140 thousand rubles.”
Bolotnikov’s team in personal financial terms clearly tried to keep up with the mayor. It is not surprising that in April last year, reports appeared on the network about the detention of the director of the municipal unitary enterprise “Beloozersk housing and communal services” Viktor Serikov and his deputy Denis Tereshkin, who became defendants in a criminal case of fraud. Last April, Andrey Shorikov, who replaced Serikov, reporting to municipal deputies, stated that the depreciation of the enterprise’s infrastructure is approaching 100%, the volume of debt obligations is 850 million rubles, about 50% of the proceeds go on enforcement orders.
The picture is simply catastrophic. We add to this that, again, in April, Avrora Financial Group LLC applied to the Moscow Regional Arbitration Court with a statement on the bankruptcy of Beloozersky Housing and Public Utilities. A hearing in the case has been scheduled for June 21.
It seems that the municipal managers have brought “to the handle” the next enterprise.
“Bankrupt” team of Artur Bolotnikov
Another – because in May 2022 in Voskresensk, the Municipal Unitary Enterprise “Single Customer Service – Beloozersky”, controlled by the city administration and engaged in real estate management, was liquidated. Legally, the liquidation looked like a reorganization, during which the institution was attached to the Beloozersk Housing and Public Utilities. In 2021, MUP’s revenue amounted to 163.7 million rubles, profit – 277 thousand rubles.
Until December 2021, SEZ-Beloozersky was headed by Denis Tereshkin, who served as deputy director of Beloozersky Housing and Public Utilities, as well as a similar position in another municipal unitary enterprise – Voskresensk House Management, whose director until November 2020 was none other than the one mentioned above Victor Serikov. Currently, Municipal Unitary Enterprise “House Management Voskresensk” is in the process of bankruptcy, in April, security measures were taken against its property, and account transactions were suspended at the request of the Federal Tax Service. Last year, with a revenue of 433.5 million rubles, the company declared a loss of 39 million.
As we can see, Mayor Bolotnikov was surrounded by simply “fabulous” managers: real masters of bankruptcy! But that is not all. It turns out that Serikov and Bolotnikov know each other from their work in the Pavlovo-Posadsky municipal district near Moscow. Here the latter was not only the deputy head of Oleg Sokovikov, but also led the State Unitary Enterprise MO Energetik, and the same Serikov came to replace him. And in 2019, the “sweet couple” moved together to Voskresensk.
On Serikov’s account there is another bankrupt enterprise – Patriot Management Company LLC registered in Noginsk. In 2020, the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region issued a ruling on bringing Serikov, Alexei Khudyakov, Elena Sosedova and Denis Shatalov to subsidiary liability for the debts of the Criminal Code and recovering 42.7 million rubles from them.
In the same place, in Noginsk, Bolotnikov served as deputy director of the Municipal Unitary Enterprise “Noginsk Settlement Center”. In 2018, this structure was also liquidated, and with a loss of 4.6 million rubles. It was reported that the Center charged commissions from payers, amounting to up to 7% of the amount of funds transferred. It is unlikely that the future mayor of Voskresensk was left behind.
It would seem that everything is clear with the “specialists” in bankruptcy. But where did the governor look, praising the managerial qualities of Bolotnikov? Is it possible that when appointing him the head of Voskresensk, Vorobyov had not heard a lot about the dubious achievements of the “strong business executive”? Everything ended as expected – bribes and criminal prosecution. The presence of some unidentified persons in the case of the former mayor suggests that there will be new detentions and arrests ahead, which will cast a shadow on the personnel policy and reputation of Vorobyov himself – the candidate from “United Russia” in the upcoming gubernatorial elections.
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