"Restricted to travel" governor

The prosecutor's office of the Amur region last week brought formal charges against the region's governor, Leonid Korotkov , against whom a number of criminal cases were initiated at the end of April. The head of the region is accused of abuse of power, exceeding official powers and negligence (Part 2 of Article 285-2, 286-2 and 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). As reported in the Prosecutor General's Office, according to the investigation, as a result of Korotkov's illegal actions in the period 2003-2006, the average selling tariff for electrical and thermal energy for consumers was illegally increased in the region. The increase in tariff occurred due to the fact that it included the costs of maintaining the Amur football club in the amount of 41 million rubles. “In addition, Korotkov purchased road equipment and two cars from Torgfinance LLC in the amount of 40 million rubles, which at prices exceeded the average market cost of cars,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement. “By orders of the regional governor, funds were allocated from the reserve fund of the administration of the Amur region to finance various enterprises in the amount of more than 22 million.” Also, Korotkov, according to the investigation, allocated 16 million rubles from the budget of the Amur region for OJSC Priisk Dambuki. to repay the loan debt of this company, which in return undertook to transfer part of its shares to the regional administration. However, 53.3% of the shares of this company did not become the property of the Amur Region, as a result of which the region’s budget suffered damage in the specified amount. In general, as a result of Korotkov’s illegal actions, according to the prosecutor’s office, the budget of the Amur region suffered damage in the amount of 123 million rubles. Official charges were brought against Mr. Korotkov on May 2, and he was questioned by investigators on the same day. As the prosecutor's office noted, the governor "essentially refused to testify, citing the need for the participation of another defense attorney." As a preventive measure, Mr. Korotkov was given a written undertaking not to leave the place, and the prosecutor’s office specifically noted that the question of his arrest was not raised.

Vladimir KUZNETSOV