Oleg Kozhemyako will act as Governor of Sakhalin

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree “On the early termination of the powers of the governor of the Sakhalin region.” Alexander Khoroshavin, who is under arrest in a Moscow pre-trial detention center on charges of accepting bribes amounting to more than $5.6 million, was removed from his position “due to loss of trust.” And about. Oleg Kozhemyako will be the Governor of the Sakhalin Region.

Former Governor of the Sakhalin Region Alexander Khoroshavin

Photo: Kommersant / Dmitry Lebedev

Acting Governor of the Sakhalin Region Oleg Kozhemyako

Photo: Kommersant / Evgeny Pereverzev

Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree “On the early termination of the powers of the governor of the Sakhalin region.” It is noted that this decision was made “due to a loss of trust.” “To remove Alexander Vadimovich Khoroshavin from the post of governor of the Sakhalin region due to the loss of confidence of the President of the Russian Federation,” the text of the document says. The decree comes into force from the date of its signing. Oleg Kozhemyako will act as head of the region.

On March 13, the Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR) charged the governor of the Sakhalin region with receiving bribes amounting to more than $5.6 million from the management of Sakhalin Company Energostroy LLC. According to investigators, these were kickbacks for the company’s participation in the construction of the fourth power unit of the Yuzhno-Sakhalinskaya CHPP-1. At the same time, the investigation believes that this is not the last episode in the official’s case. In addition, Mr. Khoroshavin’s adviser Andrei Ikramov was charged with mediation in bribery.

The governor of the Sakhalin region was detained on March 3 in his office, and then taken in handcuffs from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Moscow and, by decision of the Basmanny District Court, was placed in a pre-trial detention center for two months, despite the fact that Alexander Khoroshavin asked to be placed under house arrest in his wife’s apartment in Moscow or limit yourself to a deposit of 5 million rubles.

Until today, Alexander Khoroshavin continued to act as governor of the region from the Moscow pre-trial detention center, since, according to the law, laws already adopted cannot come into force because the governor cannot sign them.

Why Governor Khoroshavin was difficult to replace

For a long time, the Kremlin did not see an alternative to the arrested governor of the Sakhalin region, Alexander Khoroshavin, among his deputies. “The interests of many structures intersect in the region,” noted Kommersant’s interlocutor. Meanwhile, in the Sakhalin region, residents are ready to defend the arrested governor. And experts from the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation point to an increase in the number of “law enforcement claims against regional and municipal officials.” Read more

We've reached the handle

In March, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation conducted searches as part of a criminal case regarding the receipt of a bribe in the amount of $5.5 million by Sakhalin Governor Alexander Khoroshavin. The money seized in different currencies totaling about a billion rubles gave grounds for the Investigative Committee to assume that the criminal case of a high-ranking official would not be limited to one episode. Thus, if the investigation’s versions are confirmed in court, criminal prosecution could cost the governor one and a half billion rubles: funds seized during the search can be confiscated, and the maximum fine for bribery is 500 million rubles. Read more

Why does the case of Alexander Khoroshavin look like a precedent?

Alexander Khoroshavin, who has headed the Sakhalin region since 2007, became the first regional leader in the post-Soviet history of Russia to be detained at work. Usually, governors are first removed from their jobs, and only then law enforcement agencies decide on the measure of restraint. Moscow has made complaints against Mr. Khoroshavin before, but over the past year it has been emphasized that the governor has “corrected himself.” Read more

Yulia Alekseeva

Vladimir Putin terminated the powers of Alexander Khoroshavin “due to loss of trust” – Picture of the day – Kommersant