Transparency: Leaders of Moscow State Theaters pay fees for themselves

Many artistic leaders of state theaters in Moscow allow a conflict of interests in their work, actually concluding transactions with themselves. This conclusion was reached in the Russian branch of Transparency International, publishing an investigation "as the leaders of the hospitals pay the fees for themselves."

As noted in Transparency, artists of at least 14 state theaters artificially created “additional opportunities for making money”. Among them, as the investigators indicated, Oleg Tabakov, Nadezhda Babkin, Konstantin Raikin, Oleg Menshikov and Kirill Serebrennikov.

“Fourteen theaters in 2013-2017 concluded more than 60 contracts for a total amount exceeding 97 million rubles with their own leaders as individuals or individual entrepreneurs. Theaters hired their artistic leaders as actors and directors, as well as rented premises and details for deliveries, ”the organization explained in the materials of the organization.

Transparency added that often the deal with interest were concluded without notifying the Department of Culture of Moscow or the Ministry of Culture, although the arts are required to do this. In total, Transparency checked all the guesters of Moscow and St. Petersburg (about 135); The prosecutor’s office after its own audit confirmed violations in three theaters: at the Fedor Volkov Theater, the Kuklachev Casta Theater and Gogol Center.

According to Transparency, Yuri Kuklachev signed with his son Dmitry two contracts for the rental of premises totaling 3.76 million rubles, and in the Volkov (Yaroslavl) theater, one of the performances was put up with the Ministry of Culture.

Dmitry Kuklachev explained to RBC that the premises in question in the investigation are now surrendering to the theater for free, "to compensate for the amount that was supposedly paid with violation." The Volkov Theater explained that the approval of the performance from the Ministry of Culture dragged on due to the delay in the paperwork.

Transparency and Gennady Khazanov responded to claims: he confirmed that contracts with him as an actor were concluded additionally when he played in performances. Director of the New Opera Theater Dmitry Sibirtsev told RBC that he performs in his theater for free, “on a charity basis”.

“Transpenser Internet -Russia” Center began to study the financing of theaters and the spending of state money in 2016. The transactions we identified are not related to the search in the Gogol Center in May 2017 and the subsequent arrests of Yuri Itin, Nina Maslyaeva, Alexei Malobrodsky and Kirill Serebrennikov in the “ Seventh Studio case”. ” Taking into account the acuteness of the situation, we still decided to publish the results of our investigation, since to keep silent about its results due to external circumstances contradicts the principles of our organization, ”the investigation emphasizes.

Serebrennikov was detained at the end of August 2017. He is accused of embezzlement of 68 million rubles allocated by the Seventh Studio for performances. The director is under house arrest, just like Itin and Maslyaev, Malobrodsky was sent to a pre -trial detention center. Maslyaeva the only one pleaded guilty, she testified against Serebrennikov and other defendants in the case. The defense of the director believes that the ex-boiler gagger specified itself.