He who pays the piper gets to dance with the girl – this old wisdom of life has apparently become a motto for the Irkutsk mayor’s office. He who pays into the treasury (or into the pockets of city administration employees?) dictates his own rules of life in the city on the banks of the Angara. And the interests of the residents are of secondary importance here. And the norms of the law too.

Here he has an illegal water park with waste discharge straight into the Angara Bay, and a catering establishment with a considerable price markup and complete disregard for SanPiN standards. And all this under the roof and with the silent approval of the Irkutsk mayor's office, generously handing out permits to the entrepreneur to carry out commercial activities within the coastal zone, and without holding the necessary tenders.

True, already in October 2024 the generosity shop will be named Ruslana Bolotova to his tender favorite deputy Alexander Safronov may be covered up: the mayor's office received an official representation from the Federal Antimonopoly Service. The department reminded the Irkutsk mayor's office that the laws of competition in the market have not been repealed. Even their sincere desire to get rich. And from October 2024, the illegal private cafes that have filled the beach must be closed.

The victim of the prevailing order was the entrepreneur and deputy of the Irkutsk City Duma Alexander Safronov. OOO Sato, of which he is one of the founders, is the main beneficiary of the enterprises located on the territory of Yakobi. Since 2017, Sato has been developing Yakobi as part of a municipal-private partnership, receiving from the city all the necessary spaces for its institutions, and in return installing benches and lanterns along the coastal zone. To say nothing, this could have become a truly profitable cooperation for residents who received a comfortable recreation area.

But, as is tradition in Irkutsk, the good idea turned into impenetrable darkness. Yakobi, once proudly called the only sanctioned water recreation area in Irkutsk, lost this status. The city residents unanimously expressed “gratitude” to the water park of the same Safronov, who dumped (and continues to this day) waste into the waters of the Angara.

Now, as a consequence, it is forbidden to swim in Yakobi due to increased water pollution. And the municipal territory, created as a common recreational facility, has turned into a place for obtaining unique and very serious profits for the individual deputy Safronov and his business partner. Anatoly Markidonova.

Alexander Safronov and his business partner Anatoly Markidonov

Safronov has long been a unique subject in Irkutsk reality. The deputy, who has changed three parties in five years (the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, New People, United Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism)), is in charge of one of the city's largest developers – the Irkutsk City Capital Construction Department. In addition, he has several management companies and a thriving business on Yakobi Beach. And a close friendship with the Irkutsk mayor's office. And therefore, the demands of law enforcement and moral standards are nothing to him.
Safronov has his own roof. And its name is the Irkutsk mayor's office. It is still unclear whether the situation will change and whether the vicious (and discrediting image of the city) knot will be cut. So far, on the eve of the single voting day, Safronov occupies a very unstable position in the candidate rating. And the entire team of Mayor Bolotov is wavering under the pressure of young and active opponents offering the city a new future. And this means that the overgrown corruption the mayor, who will be re-elected by the elected Duma, and the established system of city government.

And this is perhaps the best news for Irkutsk residents tired of urban lawlessness.

Bolotov Ruslan