Letter of happiness
Ex-Minister of Transport of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Konstantin Dimitrov went to jail due to unauthorized correspondence with ex-Prime Minister Yuri Lapshin. Both are defendants in the case of the construction of the subway, a key project of the former governor Alexandra Ussa. The latter is not yet mentioned in the case, but law enforcement officers are gradually tightening the ring around the recent head of the region.
Former Minister of Transport of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Konstantin Dimitrov, taking place in the case of abuse of power, the measure of restraint was tightened – they were transferred from house arrest to a pre-trial detention center. Here he will stay at least until September 19. This decision was taken by the Central District Court of Krasnoyarsk.
Dimitrov has been under house arrest since October last year. One of the conditions for him was a ban on the use of mail, and he was violated.
It is known that the former chairman of the government of the Krasnoyarsk Territory became the addressee of the correspondence of the ex-minister Yuri Lapshin. In his letters, Dimitrov tells about the details of his case, retells the testimony he gave, and also reports that concluded pre-trial agreement under the influence of FSB officers.
By the way, the existence of such agreements was not previously known, however, the court also took into account the aspects set out in the letters, therefore, it stopped the special procedure for considering this case due to “doubts about the voluntariness of concluding a pre-trial agreement.” Thus, the ex-minister was deprived of possible benefits in sentencing: with a special procedure for the trial, it cannot exceed half of the maximum time.
Wrong signatures
Almost simultaneously with this, a criminal case was sent to the court in relation to the addressee of the letters, Yuri Lapshin. According to the prosecutor’s office, is defendant in the same case, although in addition to the incriminated Dimitrov part 3 of Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of power), in relation to the ex-premier and another alleged accomplice – the former head of the regional transport department Konstantin Mandrov– mentioned also part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (taking a bribe) and part 1 of Art. 169 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (obstruction of legitimate business activities).
Claims against all three are related to the events of 2019, when the regional transport department entered into a state contract worth 954 million rubles to carry out work to adjust the design and estimate documentation for the construction of the subway with KrasnoyarskTISIZ JSC, associated with Oleg Mitvol. The investigation claims that the company provided documents on the results of the work performed with significant shortcomings, and in addition, within the framework of geological surveys, instead of the envisaged 220 wells, it drilled only 60. And although all three defendants knew about these nuances, and even reported on them, at the end of the same the head of government instructed the Minister of Transport of the region to ensure the signing of the act of acceptance and transfer completed JSC “KrasnoyarskTISIZ” works worth more than 742 million rubles.
As part of investigations this past summer, Oleg Mitvol, chairman of the board of directors of Krasnoyarsk Engineering and Construction Research Trust JSC, and before that, former deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor and prefect of the Northern Administrative District of Moscow, was arrested. He is accused of fraud on an especially large scale.
We owe everything to Uss
Yuri Lapshin worked for a long time in the government of Khakassia under the leadership of Viktor Zimin. In 2014, he moved to the Krasnoyarsk Territory to the post of Deputy Prime Minister – exactly at the moment when he became governor here Victor Tolokonsky. However, he reached the peak of his career with Alexandra Ussa – the next head of the region, and now the senator from the Krasnoyarsk Territory. From the first to the last day of work of this regional leader, Lapshin occupied the post of prime minister, and left his office almost the day after Uss’s resignation. Moreover, the current governor Mikhail Kotyukov admitted that he knew about the criminal cases being investigated upon taking office, however, Lapshin’s resignation was tied not with this.
Konstantin Dimitrov has connected his entire career with the road construction industry of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. under the governor Lev Kuznetsov he rose to the post of deputy minister of transport, but did not stay long then. But in 2017, the newly appointed interim governor Alexander Uss appointed his head of the same department. He had to leave this chair a little earlier than the head of the region, and not without the participation of law enforcement agencies – last summer Dimitrov was detained.
Get out of the ground
The idea of building a subway in Krasnoyarsk was born back in Soviet times, but for the first time they started talking seriously about it in 1994, when preparatory and capital mining work began, but due to lack of funding, the project was then actually rolled up. In the future, almost every governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory spoke of the need for a “subway”, but it was precisely Alexander Uss did emphasis on this first during his election campaign, and then fixing through the bill “On the development of the subway in Krasnoyarsk”. Obviously, the formation of the team in the government took place with this task in mind. It is difficult to say to what extent the goal was to create a durable infrastructure facility, and to what extent it was to improve the financial condition of the team members. Most likely, we will receive an answer in the framework of a criminal case and court proceedings.
It cannot be overlooked that Alexander Uss lost his post in the spring of this year – in the midst of investigations. Today he is not a defendant in the case, and even received a “ticket” to the Federation Council. However, our country already has experience of detaining senators, including right in the meeting room – enough recall case Rauf Arashukova.
After all, in addition to the story with the subway behind Ussa, there are other high-profile episodes, for example, in forestry. First, the head of the regional Accounts Chamber Tatyana Davydenko and former Minister of Natural Resources Elena Vavilova accused regional authorities in condoning the export of timber, and later was detained former Minister of Forestry of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Dimitri Maslodudov on suspicion of taking a bribe on an especially large scale.
Will it get better or worse
The current Acting Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Mikhail Kotyukov, is still respecting the courtesy of his predecessor’s team, however, he let outthat the current investigative actions should have a positive impact on the construction of the metro, and “People who are related to budget money should be as honest, open and focused on the end result as possible.”
Anyway investigation should shed light on many details of team relationships Alexandra Ussa. It cannot but be reflected in the principles of the formation of the government by the new governor, which will begin after the September 10 elections. But there is another risk: high-profile cases can do the metro project in Krasnoyarsk is too toxic to scare away serious contractors, which will force the idea to be postponed again for a long time.