talking about corruption in their ranks

Yesterday a regular meeting of the regional Security Council took place in Chelyabinsk. The security forces did not plan to discuss issues closed to the press, so journalists were allowed to enter the hall. Subsequently, the organizers of the meeting regretted their decision: most of the security forces present in the hall would have preferred to listen to the angry speech of regional prosecutor Anatoly Bragin “On corruption in law enforcement agencies” behind closed doors. Together with the members of the Security Council, Kommersant correspondent ROMAN GIRSH was ashamed of Chelyabinsk officials and security officials.

The Chelyabinsk prosecutor's revelations put regional governor Pyotr Sumin in an awkward position. PHOTO BY DMITRY LEKAY

Yesterday's meeting of the Chelyabinsk Security Council began with a discussion of the issue of the readiness of the region's medical institutions for emergencies. According to the head of the Main Health Department (GUZO) of the Chelyabinsk region, Alexey Kozlov, members of the Security Council need not worry about the combat readiness of Chelyabinsk doctors. According to him, all 264 South Ural hospitals are ready to receive victims. “2,625 beds have been prepared for radiation patients alone,” he noted with pride. In addition, the region has accumulated a stock of medicines worth 3.6 million rubles.
The Security Council participants took the information into account, but just in case, they recommended that Mr. Kozlov, together with the administrations of the Chelyabinsk nuclear closed administrative units, develop a unified action plan. “In case of radiation disasters,” explained the chief federal inspector for the Chelyabinsk region, Valery Tretyakov, apparently remembering the accident at the Mayak production facility.
The second item on the agenda was dedicated to the fight against corruption. Chelyabinsk Region Prosecutor Anatoly Bragin was instructed to prepare a report on this topic. As expected, the prosecutor began his report with statistics. Since the beginning of the year, his department has stopped 358 economic crimes, criminal cases on 303 of them were transferred to court. Specifically for bribes, 80 criminal cases were initiated, and 59 of them were against law enforcement officers.
After a few minutes of the report, it became clear why journalists were allowed into the meeting of the Security Council, which usually meets behind closed doors. Anatoly Bragin, like the previous speaker, did not say anything new, and the final item on the agenda - about the migration situation in the region - did not promise to be more informational. But they soon realized that they were wrong.
In the second part of the report, Anatoly Bragin unexpectedly stated that his greatest concern was the level of corruption in law enforcement agencies. As it became clear from his further words, the Chelyabinsk security forces were involved in scandals with the redistribution of property, which creates “a real threat to the economic stability of the Chelyabinsk region.”
The audience tensed in surprise, but the prosecutor continued. “All local prosecutors have been asked to stop the practice of initiating so-called ‘custom’ criminal cases,” the prosecutor said. And he immediately emphasized that “some (apparently, of his subordinates - Kommersant) have already paid for this.”
Having dealt with the security forces, Mr. Bragin took on the officials. “Land resources committees have turned into commercial organizations, where structures close to the bosses provide paid services, while they should provide them for free,” the prosecutor raged. “Sanitary and epidemiological authorities allow illegal extortion, requiring small and medium-sized businesses to provide a wide variety of information.”
After the end of the report, the hall was silent. Governor Pyotr Sumin broke the silence. “We need to stop such cases,” he said and, after a short silence, perked up. — Do you have a list of organized criminal groups? Let's name them." But everything was ruined by the head of the regional police department, Pavel Grigoriev. He reacted instantly to the governor’s words - he shook his head with all his might. “What, you can’t call it? — the governor looked at him and after a short pause agreed. “Okay, we won’t.” Although it was already clear from the prosecutor’s reaction that he had no intention of disclosing the list of corrupt officials.

Kommersant (Ekaterinburg) No. 203 dated 05.11.2003, p. 14

Chelyabinsk prosecutor washed dirty linen in public