In Krasnoyarsk, the criminal case of the former chairman of the government of the region, Yuri Lapshin, has been sent to court. He is accused of exceeding official powers during the construction of the Krasnoyarsk metro. According to the investigation, in December 2019, the head of the regional government, knowing about significant shortcomings in the documentation, gave the Minister of Transport of the region an illegal order to ensure the signing of acceptance certificates for work performed by the contractor in the amount of more than 742 million rubles. Yuri Lapshin, who was released on bail during the investigation and trial, pleaded not guilty.
The prosecutor’s office approved the indictment in a criminal case against 60-year-old Yuri Lapshin, the head of the government of the Krasnoyarsk Territory under Governor Alexander Ussa, who resigned in April 2023. The head of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Krasnoyarsk Territory became a defendant in the investigation in October 2022.
In relation to a high-ranking official, the ICR opened a criminal case on abuse of power (part 3 of article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the maximum punishment is ten years in prison), they did not detain Yuri Lapshin.
The events described in the materials of the investigation are connected with the construction of a subway in Krasnoyarsk. According to law enforcers, in September 2019, the regional transport department and JSC Krasnoyarsk Trust for Engineering and Construction Surveys (KrasnoyarskTISIZ) signed a state contract worth 954 million rubles. for the adjustment of design and estimate documentation for the construction of the metro.
In December of the same year, the contractor submitted a progress report. The investigation believes that it contained significant shortcomings that prevented the acceptance of the work. In particular, the contractor, according to the case, actually drilled about 60 wells in four districts of Krasnoyarsk, while the engineering survey program envisaged drilling 220.
“The presence of shortcomings was reliably known to the head of the regional transport department, who reported this to the minister of transport, who, in turn, informed the chairman of the regional government,” the prosecutor’s office said. However, according to the case file, in December 2019, the head of the regional government, interested in the development of budgetary funds, illegally ordered the Minister of Transport to ensure the signing of acceptance certificates for work performed in the amount of more than 742 million rubles.
At the direction of Minister Konstantin Dimitrov, the head of the regional transport department endorsed fictitious papers, on their basis, according to the investigation, funds from the federal budget were transferred to KrasnoyarskTISIZ and stolen.
In January 2023, a new episode appeared in the case of the Krasnoyarsk Prime Minister. He was charged with obstruction of entrepreneurial activity (part 1 of article 169 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation; punishable by a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles, deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or compulsory work for up to 360 hours). As indicated in the materials of the TFR, the official did not send the application of the Basis company to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation for the implementation of a priority investment project – the creation of a timber processing complex in Lesosibirsk, within the deadlines established by law. As a result, according to the investigation, the company suffered damage in the amount of 33.6 million rubles, which it invested at the preparatory stage.
Yuri Lapshin pleaded not guilty to the crimes he was accused of.
On April 23, he resigned. As Yuriy Lapshin explained, he “considered it right” to resign after the resignation of the head of the region, Alexander Uss, whose government he headed. Yuri Lapshin recalled that he had received an invitation to the position from Mr. Uss and had worked in his post for five years.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of KrasnoyarskTISIZ JSC, former deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor Oleg Mitvol is also under investigation. He is charged with fraud (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) for a billion rubles. The criminal case on abuse of power against the ex-Minister of Transport of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Konstantin Dimitrov, who made a deal with the prosecutor’s office, is already being considered in court.
A native of Krasnoyarsk, Yuri Lapshin began political activity in his native city, becoming the head of the Komsomol city committee in the early 1990s. Then he went into business, in particular, he headed the Astrovaz insurance company. His political career took a new turn already in neighboring Khakassia, where Yuri Lapshin moved in 2009 at the invitation of the head of the republic, Viktor Zimin. There, the Krasnoyarsk citizen served as Minister of Finance, First Deputy Head of Khakassia and Chairman of the Government of the region. The return to Krasnoyarsk took place in October 2014 – Yuri Lapshin became deputy chairman of the government of the region, which was then headed by Viktor Tolokonsky. After Alexander Uss came to the post of governor in 2017, Yuri Lapshin was promoted and took the post of head of the regional government.