Deputy stage

Twelve members of the Tver Duma were found to have taken bribes

An unprecedented criminal trial ended in the Tver Regional Court on Friday. Almost half of the deputies of the Tver City Duma, led by their speaker Viktor Pochtarev - 12 people in total - were found guilty of accepting bribes and criminal conspiracy with commercial structures that, with the approval of the authorities, provided utility services to citizens at inflated tariffs. The former officials got off relatively lightly, given the damage that was caused by their criminal activities. The people's representatives received from two and a half to seven and a half years in prison, as well as fines totaling about $2.5 million.

The longest sentence was assigned to the ex-speaker of the City Duma, former member of United Russia Viktor Pochtarev, who was recognized as the organizer of a criminal group that lobbied for money the interests of businessmen. Instead of the 12 years requested by the prosecutor, he received seven and a half years in a maximum security colony and a fine of 500 thousand rubles. The reduction in sentence was due to the fact that the speaker, who initially insisted on his innocence, eventually made a deal with the investigation and gave important testimony.

Five deputies of the Tver City Duma - Alexander Zhgutov, Vladimir Rzheutsky, Alexander Sadov, Igor Makarov and Valentina Potapova - were found guilty of receiving bribes as part of an organized group. Six more people's representatives - Evgeny Semenov, Alexey Platonov, Tatyana Kazaishvili, Alexander Kulikov, Andrey Domanin and Alexander Blinovsky - were recognized by the court as not joining the organized group, but “receiving bribes by prior conspiracy.” In addition, another deputy involved in this case, Alexander Zhuravlev, did not live to see the trial. When the process was already coming to an end, he died of cancer. Another people's choice, Konstantin Turygin, was completely acquitted.

Businessmen also received prison sentences for giving bribes to deputies. Thus, the head of Tver Utility Systems, Roman Boev, received one year and eight months in a penal colony. However, due to the fact that he has been in custody since March 2006, his term of imprisonment expires on December 5. His deputy Sergei Khromov and the head of OJSC Lazurstroy (the company received preferential taxation thanks to officials) Fyodor Onokhov were sentenced to suspended sentences.

A loud corruption scandal broke out in Tver in March 2006. A number of people's representatives were detained right during a meeting in the Tver City Duma. Criminal cases against 14 Tver deputies (there are 31 of them in the Duma) and three entrepreneurs were initiated based on materials from the regional FSB Directorate. According to the investigation, the chairman of the City Duma, Mr. Pochtarev, became the head of a criminal group, which included his fellow deputies.

From the materials of the criminal case it follows that during three months of their criminal activity - from November 3, 2005 to January 27, 2006 - they managed to “earn” more than 4 million rubles. Thus, the deputies, by their decision, wrote off and sold the house, which was considered an object of cultural heritage, and reduced taxes for local markets. However, the most scandalous episode was the unreasonable increase in housing and communal services tariffs. At the “request” of local utility workers, deputies refused to recognize the prices for electricity and water as inflated, as a result of which Tver residents overpaid. As the investigation established, as a result of such a parliamentary decision, the Tveryaks paid 90 million rubles. more than required.

The investigation was completed in September 2006. However, the verdict was announced only a year later. First, Mr. Pochtarev demanded that the case be tried with a jury, then it was returned to the prosecutor's office to correct the shortcomings. The verdict, according to which almost all the defendants were found guilty, was pronounced back in August, but the judge announced the verdict only three months later due to his busy schedule.

Alexey IVLEV