The fired head of Mikhailovka is going to sue

The head of the city of Mikhailovka, Volgograd region, Gennady Kozhevnikov, who was dismissed by Governor Sergei Bozhenov last weekend for failure to comply with court decisions on time, intends to go to court. Mr. Kozhevnikov claims that he carried out the decisions on time, and connects his resignation with the results of voting by city residents in the presidential election. The regional administration denies this. Meanwhile, the scenario of liquidation and the position of mayor is already being discussed.

Gennady Kozhevnikov was early removed from office by a decree of Governor Sergei Bozhenov for failure to comply with three court decisions on time. The decision came into force on March 24. First Vice-Governor Oleg Kersanov said that we are talking about non-execution of decisions “in absolutely egregious cases - this is the failure to provide housing for orphans.” In addition, he accused the mayor of misuse of funds, which, according to Mr. Kersanov, was revealed by the regional Chamber of Control and Accounts (CAC) and will be transferred to the prosecutor's office.

However, Gennady Kozhevnikov insists that he fulfilled all three decisions on time, and is going to prove this in court. Also, Mr. Kozhevnikov, referring to the CSP act that he has, said that there are no facts in it of misuse of budget funds. “I think the governor was misinformed and framed,” he said, adding that he would seek protection not only from the court, but also from the human rights ombudsman. He sees resignation as having a “political component.”

Without a president in my head

In the presidential elections held on March 4, 45.98% of Mikhailovsk residents voted for Vladimir Putin. This was the lowest in the region with an average percentage of 63.41%. And in the State Duma elections last December, only 22% of residents voted for United Russia in Mikhailovka. According to Gennady Kozhevnikov, on February 8 he was asked to write a letter of resignation of his own free will with an open date. “I refused, and on February 13 the KSP commission came to the city,” said Mr. Kozhevnikov. It is worth noting that when at a meeting of the regional Duma the decision was made to send an inspection to Mikhailovka, some deputies declared the inadmissibility of using the supervisory body as a repressive one. And after the presidential elections, according to Gennady Kozhevnikov, he was summoned to the first vice-governor Oleg Kersanov, who advised him to write a letter of resignation of his own free will, citing the voting results in the presidential elections. “I tried to meet with the governor, sent a telegram to talk about socio-economic issues, but it didn’t work out,” said Mr. Kozhevnikov.

Mikhailovka is considered one of the strongest municipalities, which has been repeatedly shown by the socio-economic ratings of the regional administration, and Gennady Kozhevnikov himself, who has headed the city since 2005, was elected in 2009, according to him, with 85% of the votes. But according to Kommersant’s information, the idea of eliminating the position of mayor is now being discussed in the district. S i. O. The mayor, the head of the Mikhailovsky district, Nikolai Semisotov, could not be contacted yesterday, but the district administration did not deny that the idea of merging the district and city administrations exists.

Let us recall that in February last year, according to the same scenario, the mayor of Volgograd, Roman Grebennikov, was prematurely removed from office by former governor Anatoly Brovko. Then the deputies canceled the general elections for the head of the city, thanks to which the position of the removed mayor also disappeared. But due to acute political conflicts, it has not been possible to elect a new leadership for Volgograd for more than a year.

Chairman of the Mikhailovka City Duma Anatoly Antontsev explained yesterday that, according to the city charter, one of Gennady Kozhevnikov’s deputies should be the acting mayor. This issue was brought up for discussion by City Duma deputies yesterday. “I do not take upon myself the right to discuss the governor’s decision. Whether it is legal or not, only the judiciary can decide. But I can say that in recent years our city has become more significant, beautiful and cozy,” the city speaker commented on the situation.

“I consider what happened to be a political order related to the voting results in the presidential election. The demonstrative nature of the resignation is obvious, because the head of Mikhailovka is one of the strong leaders,” says regional Duma deputy Mikhail Tarantsov (Communist Party of the Russian Federation). “From a legal point of view, it is paradoxical that today the authorities are not dismissing those leaders who break the law or falsify election results, but, on the contrary, those who are law-abiding. And since this trend in the country is only strengthening, I doubt that the mayor will be able to defend his rights in court. We have to admit that all branches of government are becoming more and more politically engaged,” says Volgograd legal expert of Kommersant Ruslan Gusev. He believes that the situation will not change until a strong institution of public control over the executive and judicial powers is formed in the country.

Elena Zavyalova, Volgograd

The mayor is removed along with his position