Translated material
Theater of investigative actions
A criminal case has been initiated against the former rector of GITIS
Law enforcement agencies yesterday announced the initiation of a criminal case against the former rector of the country's largest theater university, RATI-GITIS, Marina Khmelnitskaya. She was suspected of abuse of power, which resulted in the illegal rental of part of a student dormitory.The investigation by the Investigative Committee began a month and a half ago, and the investigation, it seems, did not intend to expand on it. The Department of Economic Security (DES) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was the first to report the criminal case. The SKP then reproached the police for divulging the secrets of the investigation and have already begun an investigation into this matter.
As reported by the press service of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a criminal case against Ms. Khmelnitskaya was opened by the Investigative Committee department for the Central Administrative District of Moscow. According to investigators, in the period from 2004 to 2009, while being the rector of the academy, she rented out part of the student dormitory at a deliberately reduced cost to the representative office of the German pharmaceutical company Hemofarm AD. According to the Department of Economic Security, on the basis of papers signed by the former rector, the company occupied one of the sectors of the five-story dormitory GITIS on Trifonovskaya Street with an area of 1158 sq. m. The company's office was located on the ground floor, and its employees lived on the other four floors.
As the DEB said, the company paid the academy only $60 a month for renting this premises, although, according to experts, renting just one square meter in this area is ten times more. According to the investigation, this building is in federal ownership, and it was necessary to negotiate its lease with Rosimushchestvo, which was not done. It was “Rosimushchestvo”, at the request of investigators, that calculated the damage caused to the budget, as detectives believe, by the actions of Ms. Khmelnitskaya - it amounted to 56.350 million rubles.
Officially, the university did not give any comments about the criminal case against the former rector. “This is the position of Karina Melik-Pashayeva (the current rector),” the academy explained. Marina Khmelnitskaya herself, as well as her lawyer, also declined to comment. The DEB, in turn, noted that she admitted the very fact of leasing the premises, but is still “confused in her testimony.”
According to a certain source of news agencies at GITIS, the university did have an agreement with a German company on the rental of premises, but it was concluded back in the mid-90s. Thus, according to this version, it was not signed by Marina Khmelnitskaya, who was elected rector of RATI only in 2000 (before that, she worked there as a teacher since 1975, and later as vice-rector).
Marina Khmelnitskaya was appointed rector of RATI-GITIS after Sergei Isaev, who previously held this position, was killed in the summer of 2000. His body with five gunshot wounds was found at his dacha near Moscow. Investigators have considered different versions of what happened - from domestic murder to revenge by expelled students, but the case has still not been solved. There were several candidates for the post of rector of the university, but according to the results of the vote, Doctor of Art History Professor Marina Khmelnitskaya was elected. In May 2009, she was fired by the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, Alexander Avdeev. Director Yuri Sherling was appointed in her place. Many in theater circles did not accept such a personnel decision, because they did not recognize him as a sufficiently authoritative figure for the modern theater. University teachers spoke sharply on this issue, and they were supported by students who were already beginning to prepare for demonstrations. All this led to the fact that the very next morning after his appointment, Mr. Sherling resigned from his position, saying that he “could not work under such pressure,” and Karina Melik-Pashayeva took his place.
A little later, the Ministry of Culture explained Ms. Khmelnitskaya’s resignation as a result of inspections that revealed violations in the educational and organizational work of the university. The ministry drew up an Act on the inspection of the main activities of the federal state educational institution of higher professional and postgraduate education “Russian Academy of Theater Arts - GITIS”, where the identified violations were described in 19 points. One of them concerned the illegal rental of hostel premises. But why the criminal case followed only a year later remains unclear.
Currently, as reported by the Investigative Committee, a forensic accounting examination is being carried out in the case, and the circle of persons with whose assistance the crime was committed is being determined. According to investigators, the ex-rector may not have acted alone and it is likely that new defendants will soon appear in this case. Marina Khmelnitskaya herself is under recognizance not to leave.