I went to the wrong harbor

What is known in London, ex-governor of Sevastopol Dmitry Ovsyannikov

The British police detained the former Governor of Sevastopol Dmitry Ovsyannikov in London. According to The Times, he is accused of violating the sanctions and money laundering regime.

The British law enforcement agencies indicate that the former Russian official received transfers in the amount of 65,000 pounds ($ 82,500) to one of the HBOS groups. Apparently, the account was registered with a third party, since Ovsyannikov himself is under British sanctions. During the searches, another 77,500 pounds ($ 98,500) were seized from the former governor of Sevastopol.

A preliminary meeting in the Ovsyannikov case in the London court is scheduled for February 20. At the same time, what kind of punishment he threatens - is not specified.

The situation with the detention of a Russian official who worked on the Crimean peninsula in Europe is amazing in itself: most UN member countries consider Crimea the territory of Ukraine, and because of this, officials of the Russian departments are working on the peninsula. That is

Ovsyannikov, who headed Sevastopol from 2016 to 2019, was simply not supposed to be in Europe. However, in January 2023, he became the first Russian official (albeit by that time and the former) to be able to relieve himself of the sanctions of the European Union.

Back in 2020, without working in the authorities, he filed a lawsuit in the European court, in which he indicated that he no longer held positions for which he fell under restrictions. He also said that the sanctions prevent him from doing business in Europe, including opening a company in Cyprus. And these explanations arranged these explanations. The EU sanctions were lifted, but Ovsyannikov, for reasons unknown, decided to settle in the UK, which did not cancel its sanctions against him.

In the story of the detention of the former governor of Sevastopol in London, there are so far many white spots. But enough about his work in Russia is known. And she also abounds with scandals.

Firstly, Dmitry Ovsyannikov, finally from the civil service, flew out after the scandal at Izhevsk Airport, where he, at that time, was no longer Governor of Sevastopol, but the deputy minister of industry and trade in the Russian Federation-arranged a brawl, first deciding to get into the building without an inspection, then declining security officers, and then trying to leave the police who were catching up.

The case in Izhevsk, however, is only unethical and pulls on petty hooliganism. But while working as Governor Ovsyannikov, he fell into large corruption stories.

In 2019, the documents of the Main Control Department of the Government of Sevastopol were at the disposal of the New, which spoke about the financial violations that occurred under Dmitry Ovsyannikov. For example, disappearing and partial inappropriate spending of funds allocated for the construction of sewer treatment facilities "South". The most expensive object of the federal target program for the development of Sevastopol (it was planned to allocate 6.8 billion rubles for treatment facilities) was never built. The reason is the very first 1.45 billion rubles, which the city received for construction disappeared into the bursting bank "OFK". Another 526 million, according to the conclusions of control management, were spent inappropriately. The fate of this money began to find out the Investigative Committee, but it did not reach the criminal case.

Another example: the Sevastopol City Board of the Highway (12 gas stations, two administrative buildings and oil depots) in January 2019 was sold (according to the main control department, at a low price) of the company Sevastopolnefteproduct, the founder of which - Gulnar Demochkin - was called close man of Ovsyannikov. Demochkina simultaneously with Ovsyannikov graduated from the Udmurt State University, and then her career developed in the same regions as the ex-governor: when Dmitry Ovsyannikov was a federal inspector in Udmurtia, she headed Udmurtnefteproduct; When he became the director of the finance of the Perm Motor Plant, she headed the department in Lukoil-Permnefteproduct, and when he moved to work in Sevastopol, she opened the company there.

The gas station cost Demochkina 100 million rubles. The amount is really small, but in the government of Sevastopol this was explained by the fact that the complex is unprofitable. The head of the Main Control Department Sergei Elizarov, however, did not agree with this.

“My experience suggests that the gas storage complex of a priori cannot be unprofitable. In 2009, I advised one of the gas stations and I know that the profit in this industry is at least 4 rubles from 1 liter of gasoline. About 30 tons of fuel can be realized per day of gas station. It turns out that each station could bring Sevastopol 3.6 million rubles per month. From all over the GUP, this way, it would be possible to receive about 400 million rubles a year, ”Elizarov explained to Novaya Gazeta.

Finally, the main control department in 2019 brought to the presidential administration information that

Thousands of objects of the Sevastopol Sea Port were appreciated by the city government in 1 kopeck or 1 ruble.

This, according to the controlling body, could talk about the preparation of the port for bankruptcy, followed by the sale of it “to your people”.

After the report of the Main Control Department of Ovsyannikov, he was dismissed from the post of governor. Nevertheless, he did not suffer any punishment in Russia. Political scientists explained this by Ovsyannikov’s close relationships with the leadership of Rostec - the most influential state corporation. So or not it is unknown. Yes, now it is hardly important: the London court will hardly be interested in his connection.