The owner of the garbage river

After the garbage riots, the wires with waste went from Moscow to Yaroslavl. The owner of the local landfills, despite the protests, was Igor Chaika, the son of the Prosecutor General, who became friends with Governor-Governor Mironov

A rally in Yaroslavl against environmental pollution, March 18, 2018 Photo: Denis Lame

Friend of the regional authorities

On April 19, the Department of Environmental Protection and Nature Management of the Yaroslavl Region summed up the results of the auction to determine the regional operator for solid utilities. A contract for a period of 8.8 years and a price of 15.9 billion rubles. received LLC Khartia, 60% of which belongs to Igor Chaika, the remaining 40% - Alexander Tsurkan.

In this outcome of trading in the political and business circles of Yaroslavl, no one doubted, since the businessman had good relations with Governor Dmitry Mironov and the chairman of the regional government Dmitry Stepanenko. With the latter, the son of the prosecutor general worked together in the administration of the Moscow region. Both held the posts of advisers to the governor Andrei Vorobyov in 2014.

Chaika Jr. was also noted in the region with his charity gestures of amusement. Its fund financed folk festivities on New Year's Eve 2018 and flooded the rink on the main square of the regional capital

After the appointment of Mironov (Lieutenant General of the internal service, before that he served in the KGB and FSO) the head of the Yaroslavl region, in July 2016, Igor Chaika began to periodically visit here. In October 2016, he founded the Charitable Fund of the Center for Social Initiatives of the Yaroslavl Region. In April 2017, he, together with Mironov and Stepanenko, was seen at Easter worship in the Assumption Cathedral. Its fund organized the delivery of fertile fire to the service. In September, he visited the inauguration of the Yaroslavl governor.

Governor Dmitry Mironov and businessman Igor Chaika in the service

Chaika Jr. was also noted in the region with his charity gestures of amusement. Its fund financed the festivities on New Year's Eve 2018 and flooded the rink on the main square of the regional capital.

He began his entry to the Yaroslavl region with Uglich. A little more than a year ago, the Charter became the city operator for garbage removal, without auction concluded contracts with all local management companies. Prior to this, for almost three months, the waste of the population was extremely rare, and mountains of garbage were lying next to residential buildings. According to the official version, the problems arose due to the abolition of the municipal subsidy, which compensates for falling income due to the low tariff for the population. Uglich Fuel Enterprise, which used to work in this market, abandoned the unprofitable business. His place was taken by the "Charter".

This year, the Tchaiki company received contracts for servicing the Bratov municipal district and the Dzerzhinsky district of Yaroslavl.

The governor became interested in garbage

It is worth noting that in less than two years of the reign of Governor Dmitry Mironov, two private monopolies in the field of public utilities appeared in the region, including the Hartia. The first was JSC "Yarrobleyrtz". The government forced all managers, heat and power supply organizations of the region to conclude contracts for information and settlement services with it. At the same time, the “Joblires” does not even belong to the region, its owners are two individuals, Alexander Murzin and Pyotr Verevkin. By order, the price for the services of the company was launched from above - 3.9% of the funds raised from payers. With such a tariff, the estimated center should earn more than 740 million rubles. per year, excluding indexing prices for a communal apartment. For comparison: Yaroslavl managers on receipts and maintaining personal accounts spent only 0.2% of the payments received.

The local business resisted the innovation, more than 20 management companies complained to Mironov on his own actions, the Communists arranged rallies, and even the prosecutor wrote a letter to the governor about the inadmissibility of interference in the economic activities of commercial organizations and imposing contracts with the “Maucritus”, but this did not lead to anything. Soon everyone reconciled with the loss of 700 million rubles, which could be spent on housing and communal services.

In anticipation of the "Charter"

The appearance of another monopolist - Khartia LLC - caused much more negativity in Yaroslavl. The opposition and environmental activists believe that the city is now threatening the repetition of the fate of Volokolamsk, since the “Charter” has the opportunity to uncontrollably carry Moscow garbage to the region.

These fears are not baseless: the “Charter” has two contracts with the Moscow City Complement to collect and disposal of waste in the Northern and North-East Districts. This was reported in August 2015 by the FBK of Alexei Navalny. Due to the protests in Volokolamsk, the Yadrovo training ground, which the Seagulls also used, no longer accepts garbage. Other landfills near Moscow are also filled with the eyeballs, so you urgently need new sites for the burial of waste.

“If the Hartia company, which is working with the Moscow region, begins to operate in the Yaroslavl region, and given what difficult situation there is, very serious suspicions arise that Moscow’s problems will be solved at the expense of our region. At the same time, we will not be able to track where the garbage came from, to justify our claims, presenting the numbers of garbage trucks from other regions. They will tell us: the Moscow company works here, therefore, the numbers of its Moscow cars are Moscow, ”says Anna Golovina, activist of the Yaroslavl environmental movement.

The Skokovo training ground was built in 1977, has no waterproofing at the base and equipment to prevent disorders of toxic gas. Unprofitable drains from a landfill have been polluting the rivers flowing nearby for many years

Five kilometers from Yaroslavl is the Skokovo solid waste landfill. It was built in 1977, does not have waterproofing at the base and equipment to prevent emissions of toxic gas. Unprofitable drains from the landfill have been polluting the rivers flowing nearby for many years. This is evidenced by environmentalists and testify to the results of inspections of the regional department of environmental protection and nature management.

Since the beginning of April, loaded garbage trucks with Moscow numbers have been going on this landfill. The first evidence of their availability on April 5 was published on Facebook by the leader of the Jaroslavl regional committee of the Communist Party, deputy of the regional Duma, Alexander Vorobyov. He went to the gates of the landfill and shot the queue of trucks on the video and a conversation with one of the drivers who said that garbage from Moscow was carrying.

On the same day, the Communists and simply active citizens reached single pickets to the building of the regional government, and the formation of resistance began on social networks. Other activists went to a landfill to shoot garbage trucks entering the photo and video. By the numbers of the cars, it turned out that some of them worked in Moscow and at the notorious training ground "Yadrovo" near Volokolamsk.

At the same time, the volunteers of Navalny and the Communist Party began collecting signatures under the appeal to the President and the Governor not to import garbage from other regions into the Yaroslavl region and approve the federal program for the construction of garbage processing enterprises. In total, 11 thousand signatures were collected on the streets of the city, and more than 40 thousand people signed a petition on the website of Change.org .

In the first weeks of protests, the government of the Yaroslavl region rejected the accusations of secret import of metropolitan waste, and the appearance of garbage trucks with Moscow numbers explained the activities of the Charter, which serves the Dzerzhinsky district of Yaroslavl.

Then the authorities began to prepare the population for the inevitable. On April 10, Governor Mironov announced his intention to sign an agreement with the Moscow government on the temporary placement of 200 thousand tons of capital waste in the Yaroslavl region in exchange for 500 million rubles.

To this, the Yaroslavls answered the next series of pickets, a protest bike and a rally. The deputy Vorobyov tried to obtain the consent of the authorities to hold it, but the city hall refused and announced a holiday on the occasion of the collection of waste paper at the venue of the protest.

Committee of People's Defense

The lack of permission was not scared of the townspeople, and on April 18, about a thousand people reached one of the central squares of Yaroslavl. The rally did not have political coloring and united the Communist Party, Yabloko and Navalny activists. It was the largest public protest in the last five years. The last time the Yaroslavls together gathered in such quantities for a rally in support of the arrested mayor Yevgeny Urlashov in 2013.

“Our landfill Skokovo is not a training ground, there are no treatment facilities, there is no waterproofing. All toxic filtrate flows into the hole river, which flows into the Volga. No one is engaged in this landfill, she is 40 years old, it is time to close her for reclamation, ”said Oleg Vinogradov, leader of the Yabloko regional branch.

A rally in Yaroslavl against environmental pollution, March 18, 2018 Photo: Denis Lame

Between themselves, protesters discussed the ecological disaster in Volokolamsk and on its example made gloomy forecasts for the future of their small homeland.

“I know what happened in Volokolamsk, and I do not want something like this to happen here. I do not want to live without removing the respirator either day or night. I am sure that it will be so if we cannot defend our rights, ”said student Victor.

From Megaphone there were calls to organize resistance and block the path to garbage trucks going to Skokovo. The audience supported this initiative with applause. It was immediately decided to create the "Committee of the Yaroslavl People’s Defense."

A day later, the committee members discussed the first steps and began to act on April 20. Collective and several personal appeals were transferred to the regional prosecutor with a request to verify the legality of the import of Moscow garbage, compliance with sanitary norms and the requirements of environmental legislation at the Skokovo training ground. Activists appreciated the situation at the entrance to the landfill. Here they were met by Chopov workers, police officers, their colleagues from the EC center with cameras and traffic cops.

In Yaroslavl, through social networks, the entry in the "folk defense" continues. Its participants - civic activists, volunteers of Navalny and members of the Communist Party - think the strategy of the struggle.

“We will apply to law enforcement agencies to take measures against illegal actions. And if they do not follow, we will block the fare to the landfill for Moscow cars, ”said Alexander Vorobyov.

In Yaroslavl, through social networks, the entry in the "folk defense" continues. Its participants - civic activists known in the city, Navalny volunteers and members of the Communist Party - think over the strategy of struggle. The police are not sitting idle; two administrative cases were instituted against the deputy of Vorobyov for organizing illegal picket and rally.

Meanwhile, the regional government no longer denies the import of waste from Moscow, but does not explain on what basis this is being done and what benefits the region will receive from this.

What owns Igor Chaika

Igor Chaika’s business has a confusing structure and is not published. The companies belonging to him earn mainly on state and municipal contracts, as well as orders of state -owned companies. According to the Corruption Fund and the Russian media, the seagull is the real owner of the following companies:

- PC "Visual Technologies". Engaged in painting of wagons of trains of the Moscow metro, manufacture of indicators, tablets, road signs for Russian Railways, the Ministry of Defense, the subsidiaries of Gazprom, Transneft, regional departments and municipal administrations;

- "CitstroyService." The main activity is the construction and design of roads, as well as improvement;

- “Aqua Solid” is a supplier of agrochemicals. Through this company, the Seagull owned 30% in T-Industry JSC, the remaining 70%-the Netherlands company SPOOR STRUCTUUR Investering BV, the owner of which is unknown. “T-Industry” owns 75% of the shares of the largest manufacturer of railway sleepers and concrete Beteltrans;

-"Agro-Region." The company owns a mushroom farm in the suburbs;

- “Russian export” - a supplier of Russian agricultural products to China;

- “Charter”: collecting and disposal of utilities. In 2015, the company received two contracts from the Moscow City Hall for 15 years totaling 42.6 billion rubles. The companies own the sorting complex on the Altufevsky highway in Moscow and the garbage truck park.