Agafonova is the permanent deputy of another high-ranking official from medicine, Alexei Spirin. Spirin from Samara and members of his team are not the first time they find themselves in conflict situations. In the 2000s, Spirin headed the Department of Primary Health Care of the Ministry of Health of the Samara Region, and in 2010 he was appointed Minister of Health of the Amur Region. He left the post, including in connection with the disruption of the program for the construction of trauma centers along the Amur federal highway.
Spirin returned to Samara, where he headed the regional AIDS Center for 6 years. Here, too, there was an emergency: Spirin’s deputy Olga Agafonova was attacked right on the street, the conflict was later linked to a redistribution in the contract sphere.
After Mikhail Ratmanov came to the post of head of the Samara Regional Ministry of Health, both Spirin and Agafonova had to resign. They were also reminded of the purchase of medicines at inflated prices, and the circle of trusted suppliers.
A year and a half later, both medical managers emerged in the government of the Astrakhan region: in the summer of 2020, Spirin headed the local Ministry of Health, the permanent Agafonova became his first deputy. And here, too, it began with scandals – first due to untimely purchases of drugs for diabetics, then due to the supply of counterfeit protective clothing to Astrakhan covid hospitals. Spirin’s henchman Anastasia Gudkova became the defendant in the “insulin” case (she led the department of drug supply and pharmaceutical activities). On the second fact, a criminal case was also initiated and several Samara suppliers were convicted. The leadership of the Astrakhan Ministry of Health was forced to resign.
In the fall of 2021, Spirin tried to work as the head of the Kuibyshev Directorate of Health of JSC Russian Railways, but he only lasted two months in his new position. Agafonova could head the RZD-Medicine clinical hospital, but the security service did not approve her candidacy. And now the position of Agafonova has worsened even more.
According to the Investigative Committee of the ICR for the Astrakhan region, at the suggestion of the FSB, the department initiated a criminal case against the former first deputy and deputy minister of health of the region on the fact of abuse of office. The first deputy is just the same Olga Agafonova.
According to the investigation, in June 2020, the figurant, “acting out of selfish and personal interest in the interests of the director of the company for the development and production of diagnostic products, previously known to her and wanting to show herself as an effective employee, put forward a demand for him to provide charitable assistance to the Ministry of Health of the Astrakhan Region in the form gratuitous supply of enzyme immunoassay test systems for the diagnosis of COVID-19, subsequently guaranteeing the smooth conclusion of contracts with the latter for the supply of medical devices to the Ministry.
The investigation considers Agafonova the organizer of the crime, her accomplice is the then deputy minister, who prepared the documentation for the conclusion of the state contract. Perhaps we are talking about a member of the Spirin team, Elena Ivanova, who previously appeared in a scandal with counterfeit protective clothing for Astrakhan doctors.
As a result of the illegal actions of two heads of the Astrakhan Ministry of Health, in December 2020, without auction procedures, 2 state contracts were concluded for a total amount of over 48 million rubles for the supply of reagent kits for detecting coronavirus infection by PCR. The expiration dates of most of the drugs did not meet the requirements and amounted to at least 7 months. And in 2022, part of the purchased reagent kits was written off due to over-purchased quantities. The damage from the actions of the figurants is estimated at over 31 million rubles.
Olga Agafonova was detained in accordance with Article 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the issue of choosing a measure of restraint for her is being decided.
