Doubtful appointments cost Busargin the position of interim governor?
In the Saratov region, the public is against the appointment of Dmitry Plekhanov, a local deputy and secretary of the United Russia branch, as head of the Engels municipal district. Prior to the appointment of acting The head of the municipality, Plekhanov, was the owner and general director of the large development company PDPstroy, which “mastered” billions of budget rubles. At the same time, the contractor of regional and district structures has been and remains an invariable participant in numerous litigations, during which customers require him to eliminate violations committed during construction work. So, only at the end of May, the Saratov Regional Arbitration Court immediately received three claims from the regional Capital Construction Department related to unfair performance of contractual obligations. There were also repeated cases of initiation of criminal cases on the facts of overestimation of the estimated cost of work and illegal replacement of building materials with cheaper ones, causing multimillion-dollar damage to the budget. However, these circumstances, as well as the company’s affiliation with a recently appointed official, did not prevent the leadership of the UKS in early June from concluding another contract with PDPStroy for the construction of a polyclinic in the village of Sokolovy worth 198 million rubles. In the meantime, Dmitry Plekhanov is calculating profits and preparing for the upcoming competition for an official position, the residents of Engels are actively collecting signatures for an appeal to the president with a request to take the situation in the municipality under personal control. In addition, a scandalous video has again become circulated on the network, in which a man similar to Plekhanov hands over an envelope and discusses another appointment with former city prosecutor Vladimir Zubakin, who was sentenced in 2017 to 8.5 years in prison for taking bribes and fraud using official provisions. Against the backdrop of a growing scandal, full responsibility for possible failures in personnel politics falls on the head of the region, Roman Busargin, who today himself has not yet got rid of the prefix “acting”.
Plekhanov instead of Strelnikov: change of places of terms?
Appointment as Acting Head of the Engels Municipal District of the Saratov Region Dmitry Plekhanov happened at the end of May. The current head Alexey Strelnikov resigned on his own initiative explaining the decision was made by the intention to participate first in the intra-party primaries of United Russia, and then in the September elections of deputies of the regional Duma. It is noteworthy that according to information Saratov publication “The Fourth Power”, there were certain behind-the-scenes agreements: Strelnikov gave way to Plekhanov in exchange for the latter’s refusal to be nominated to the regional Duma.
At the same time, the change of power in the municipality was preceded by a tough scolding arranged by the acting governor Roman Busargin to local officials, whom he accused of inaction and unwillingness to solve the problems of the population associated with garbage collection and a malfunction of the sewer system.
Apparently, Strelnikov chose the simplest way out of the situation and preferred to retreat, deciding, nevertheless, to remain in politics. But the municipal castling that has taken place can backfire on Busargin himself: the fact is that the appearance of the head of Plekhanov in the chair and his forthcoming final approval in the process of the competition scheduled for June 15 have already caused grumbling among the population. An example of dissatisfaction is published on the Internet and addressed to the President petitionasking them to take control of the situation. As for the recently appointed “acting”, the citizens categorically refuse to trust him: in a short time, more than 1,900 people put their signatures under the appeal.
In the text, Plekhanov, a deputy of the Engels District Assembly, is characterized as a person
“PDPStroy” claims
It is difficult to say how much the petition posted on the Internet will play a role in summing up the final results of the competition. But the confrontation between the public and local authorities in Engels was clearly marked. So far, only “acting” Dmitry Plekhanov took up personnel changes. In particular, the statement about layoffs with the wording “of his own free will” wrote the deputy head of the district administration for construction, housing and communal services, fuel and energy complex, transport and communications Vladimir Popeko; behind him followed chairman of the same committee Ivan Kononenko.
One gets the impression that Plekhanov began to carry out the governor’s instructions, but in reality the change of power threatens to turn into a banal redistribution of the construction market. Do not forget that until recently, the newly minted official was owner and CEO of a development company “PDPStroy”briefcase government contracts which exceeds 4 billion rubles. At the end of last year, with a solid revenue of 880.9 million, profit the developer made a modest 5 million.
From May 18, the company is officially located in property Lilia PlekhanovaSaratov media write about her as the mother of an official. It is noteworthy that according to data portal “Business Vector”, after the appointment of Plekhanov himself as the head of the municipality, the Department of Capital Construction of the Saratov Region signed a contract with “PDPStroy” worth 198 million rubles for the construction of a polyclinic in the village of Sokolovy: an object with all communications, equipped with an alarm system, a personnel call system, equipped with an elevator, with a landscaped and landscaped area, should be built in record time – by December 25 this year.
And here is the time to return to addressed to the President petitions, which, among other things, refers to the numerous scandals associated with Plekhanov’s development activities. So, on the website of the Saratov regional arbitration, you can find information about three claims at once, which were submitted to the court for consideration in just one day – May 30.
In particular, in one of the proceedings of the UKS requires from “PDPStroy” to eliminate, within the framework of warranty obligations, the shortcomings made during the construction of the Saratov Regional Infectious Diseases Hospital. Corresponding contract worth 469.7 million rubles was signed with the developer in May last year. That’s just for data agency “Business Vector”, last January it was terminated by agreement of the parties. Despite the partial fulfillment of obligations, the price of paid work amounted to 464.9 million.
Another one claim connected with the state contract for the construction of a school for 220 students with a kindergarten in the village of Teplovka, Novoburassky district: here again we are talking about eliminating the identified shortcomings. Similarly, in the third claim statement the situation with the construction of a children’s polyclinic in the 11th microdistrict of the Kirovsky district of Saratov. List of identified violations impressive: the contractor needs to fix the roof leak, comments on the external sewage system, repair the outdoor lighting, restore the asphalt concrete pavement of the roads, the blind area and areas, install mosquito nets, landscaping and road markings, etc.
Criminal development in Engels
And after all, litigation with “PDPStroy” has long become something for granted for Saratov officials. For example, in August last year, the mayor’s office of the regional center went to court with lawsuit on the elimination of violations committed during the construction of the Zvyozdochka kindergarten and identified during the operation of the building. But the object was erected at support Speaker of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin!
Prior to this, there was a loud scandal associated with the initiation of a criminal case on abuse of authority during the commissioning of another Saratov preschool institution – a kindergarten of a combined type No. 3 “Through the Looking Glass”. How wrote The media, citing a report from the regional prosecutor’s office, during the audit revealed that the contractor, which was the same “PDPStroy”, without agreement with the customer, used cheaper materials in the construction process. In addition, the supervisory authority established a discrepancy between the scope of work specified in the acts and the actually performed. damage to the municipality evaluated in 2.8 million rubles.
Initiation of a criminal case on fraud on an especially large scale, the construction of a kindergarten for 300 children in Vostochny lane Engels was completed: then the cost of the work performed turned out to be overestimated by more than 6.8 million rubles. Another loud investigation was carried out on the fact of overestimation of the cost of building a school in the village of Privolzhsky, Engelssky municipal district: at the cost of the contract 159.4 millionthe amount of the overpayment was 23.6 million rubles. Then the management of the company decided sue with public figures from among the parents who oversaw the construction process, against whom a lawsuit was filed for 1.1 million – this is how much the developer estimated the damage caused to his business reputation by negative publications in social networks.
And these are just a few examples of “cooperation” between PDPStroy and Saratov regional and municipal departments. Attention is drawn to the fact that a number of scandalous objects were built as part of the implementation of the Demography national project. And in the scenario described above, the company associated with Plekhanov still continues to “master” hundreds of millions of budget rubles, and its beneficiary has gained control over the entire municipality.
Busargin is responsible for the “cadres”
Given all of the above, it is not surprising that another surge of interest in the well-known videothe hero of which at one time was the former prosecutor of Engels Vladimir Zubakinin May 2017 convicted to 8.5 years in a strict regime colony with a fine of 5 million rubles and a three-year ban on holding leadership positions. His conviction included four episodes of taking bribes and four episodes of fraud using his official position.
As the investigation established, while in office, Zubakin imposed a tribute on local entrepreneurs who paid the prosecutor for “protection”. In addition, he took on the solution of such “sensitive issues” as assistance in exemption from criminal prosecution. The scandalous recording showed the moment when Zubakin received the next offerings. But this time, the focus of journalists and bloggers was not the ex-prosecutor himself, but his visitor, who handed an envelope to the owner of the cabinet and discussed with him the appointment of the right person to the post of justice of the peace. The visitor was very similar on Dmitry Plekhanov, at that time a former deputy of the Engels District Assembly.
In 2020, Zubakin was released: by a court decision, the unserved part of the sentence was replaced him with corrective labor, and at the time of leaving the colony, he had not paid the fine previously assigned to him. Whether the ex-prosecutor resolved any financial “issues” with Plekhanov, the security forces should find out. And it is possible that in the course of the proceedings new facts will be revealed from the eventful biography of the businessman. By the way, interesting publicationsdedicated to the “gangster wars” that raged in Saratov in the 2nd half of the 90s and murder Alexandra Goryunova – Deputy Director of a Plekhanov-owned and still successfully functioning company “Ontario”. Allegedly then the future politician preferred pay off from the “brothers” from the “parkovskaya” organized criminal group, whom he paid for the “roof”.
Today Saratov political scientists note: the final approval of the odious Plekhanov as head of the Engels municipality may negatively affect the image of Busargin, who is in charge of the region, who has not yet got rid of the prefix “acting”. In the current difficult economic situation, the Kremlin is clearly concerned about the possible growth of protest moods in the regions. The appointment of the heads of districts is exclusively the prerogative of the governor, who, as a result, will have to answer to the federal center for any “slips” in personnel politics.