Translated material
Picture of the crime
"Museum business" may cost the governor of the Chelyabinsk region his seat
The top officials of the Chelyabinsk region decided to seize the initiative from the regional prosecutor's office, which is investigating a criminal case on the fact that the head of the governor's administration, Konstantin Bochkarev, exceeded his powers.Let us recall that in the middle of last week the official was summoned to the prosecutor's office, where he was accused of embezzlement of budget funds during the acquisition of paintings by Russian artists for the new residence of the governor at a price three times higher than their estimated value. Due to the special gravity of the crime, the prosecutor's office demanded the arrest of Mr. Bochkarev, but the court refused to satisfy the request.
Then the investigators issued an official statement in which they voiced all their claims, which caused shock in the regional administration and confusion in the comments of official representatives of the executive branch. Acting Governor Andrei Kosilov even promised to sell the paintings to businessmen who were willing to pay even more than the budget spent. But at the end of the week, the authorities gathered their thoughts and are now presenting a united front.
First, the governor of the Chelyabinsk region, Pyotr Sumin, who is on vacation, conveyed his comment to journalists through the press service. “There is no doubt that the fight against abuse of power by officials, especially the fight against corruption, must be tough and uncompromising,” says Mr. Sumin. But the governor does not consider the case with Mr. Bochkarev to be such a struggle. “The main thing is that the work does not turn into campaigning and does not become a tool for manipulation and settling scores on the part of financial-oligarchic groups... Strictly acting according to the law, it is necessary to carefully study all the circumstances. Even a simple listing of the authors of artistic masterpieces - Shishkin, Vereshchagin, Korovin, Makovsky, Klever - purchased as property of the Chelyabinsk region, speaks of their cultural value. Serious examinations and assessments of highly professional experts are needed. Premature pre-trial broadcast statements that violate the constitutional rights of citizens, I think, will only harm the establishment of the truth!
A few hours after the chief's speech, the regional administration launched a large-scale campaign to protect Mr. Bochkarev. According to information unofficially disseminated by executive branch officials among journalists, it is impossible to blame the head of the governor’s administration for embezzlement, since he purchased ten paintings and two vases from the 19th century not to decorate the country residence of Pyotr Sumin, but as a gift for the opening of the regional history museum. And they ended up in the governor’s residence due to a delay in the reconstruction of the building and the unwillingness of the museum’s storage facilities to accept such an expensive gift.
The administration also denies the accusation of embezzlement. According to the new version, 180 million rubles spent from the budget is money that the authorities saved on maintaining the state apparatus. After such explanations, it was completely logical for the lawyer of the accused, Yuri Velikoselsky, to speak up and call the criminal case against the head of the governor’s administration ordered and political. “Having obliged Bochkarev not to disclose information obtained during the investigation, the prosecutor’s office itself provides this information to the media,” the lawyer noted. Mr. Kosilov, who completed the campaign of executive authorities to disavow the statements of the prosecutor's office, agrees with this. Referring to information about the purpose of the paintings for the museum, he reproached the supervisory authorities, accusing the head of the governor’s administration of acquiring works of art without holding a competition. According to the acting Governor, Section 3 Art. 55 of the federal law “On placing orders for the supply of goods, performance of work, and provision of services for municipal and state needs” allows for procurement without competition if the purchased works end up in a museum.
Like the governor, Andrei Kosilov sees the reason for initiating a criminal case as attempts by individual financial and industrial groups to influence the leadership of the region. Meanwhile, in political circles the possibility of putting pressure directly on Pyotr Sumin, who will celebrate his 60th birthday in the summer, is being discussed. In Chelyabinsk politics, this age is generally considered to be the threshold beyond which the head of the region will resign, and the current “picture business” can accelerate this.
The regional prosecutor's office did not comment on the regional administration's statements. Through loyal journalists, only a list of paintings that were bought by the regional administration was published. It contained two paintings by Shishkin (“Forest Landscape with a Stream,” “Bench in the Park”), one each by Vereshchagin (“Pskov”), Korovin (“On the Streets of Paris at Night”), and Makovsky (“Still Life with Sunflowers and Chrysanthemums”). , Guzhavin (“Autumn Distances”) and Kolesnikov (“Grape Harvesting,” on four canvases) and three Clover (“Winter Landscape with Huts by the River,” “Sunset in the Forest” and “On the Way to the Village”).