Waiting time has come out

The appeal in the second case, ex-governor of the Kirov region, Nikita Belykh will be expected at large

After an eight -year imprisonment, the former governor of the Kirov region Nikita Belykh was released; Although he was threatened by another term. At the end of last year, there was a trial in the new case. The prosecutor requested a colony for the whites of 12 years, and as a result, the judge justified the former head of the region according to one of the episodes of the prosecution, and for the second - gave only two years and six months in prison, and immediately freeing him from serving his sentence. The New Europe recalls why the Russian authorities pursued the ex-governor (but despite this pressure, he was able to be in the wild).

The business of the scream

The initiation of the second case became known in July 2021. Then the whites were accused of excess of official powers with the cause of grave consequences and abuse of authority (paragraph “c” of part 3 of article 286 and part 3 of article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

According to the investigation, in December 2011, Belykh, in order to “create the appearance of improving the indicators of their activities as the governor of the Kirov region”, ensured the allocation of the regional budget for the Crying Corporation.

This was allegedly done in order to build and purchase housing for employees of the budget sphere, by making appropriate changes to the legislation of the region.

At the same time, according to the investigation, the White “realized that the Krik AO did not have the authority to include residential premises in a specialized housing stock, is not entitled to manage the state or municipal housing fund.” As a result, 448 million rubles, which were allocated from the regional budget, according to the investigation, the JSC spent on the current needs, and the apartments purchased by the organization that became its property, “could not draw up a specialized housing stock, were not official housing, and also contrary to the requirements of the legislation to citizens on the basis of preferential lease.”

The second episode: as the investigation reported, in 2015, the White, acting the duties of the governor, ensured the conclusion of a loan agreement in the amount of 320 million rubles. During the working meetings, he allegedly gave instructions on the distribution of most of this money for the needs of other legal entities not related to the statutory goals of the AO Cryg, who were in a deliberately insolvent state in order to briefly improve their financial situation.

“The amounts of debt were not returned to the Krik AO. In the future decision of the Arbitration Court of the Kirov region, in favor of the JSC, screams from the government of the Kirov region were recovered in the amount of more than 202 million rubles, causing material damage to the regional budget, ”the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reported.

The second process

To participate in the trial in the Oktyabrsky District Court of Kirov Belykh, they were transferred from the colony, where he was serving a term in his first case. The new case arose at the very period when the former governor had the opportunity to get parole.

Since the beginning of February 2018, he was serving a sentence for an alleged bribe of 400 thousand euros, which entrepreneurs Albert Laritsky and Yuri Zyudheimer allegedly provided him in 2016 in exchange for “patronage”. Belykh did not plead guilty, claimed that he did not take the money, and emphasized that the entrepreneurs were subject to pressure from law enforcement agencies. For example, a criminal case has already been instituted against Laritsky on charges of fraud on an especially large amount associated with a theft of $ 10 million.

Despite the fact that only 3 years of colony were assigned to Laritsky for such a crime, after he testified against the whites.

The trial in the second case lasted in Kirov from July 2022 to December 2023 under the chairmanship of Dmitry Skobkarev. During the process, former deputies of the Legislative Assembly, ex-Minister of Culture and Sports of the region, the head of the department of the Ministry of Finance and many other officials were interrogated. Not all participants in the process, despite the clearly vulnerable position of the whites, agreed with the position of the prosecution. Former member of the Kirov Government and director of the Academy M2 construction company Pavel Smertin showed in court as a witness:

“It was a truly specialized fund, since it was not transferred to the property of the employees, and the scream remained to own these apartments. Prior to this, there were no precedents for the creation of the housing stock for employees of the budget sphere [in the Kirov region]. Maybe they were in areas, but from large ones - for employees of the city administration; Namely, for the social sphere - it did not exist. ”

The defense of the ex-governor insisted on the unfounded accusations against him. As the lawyers insisted, the housing program was successfully implemented and continued under the new administration after the departure of the whites from his post. About 400 apartments were purchased with the allocated money, the distribution of which was engaged in a specially created commission from representatives of the local government and municipalities.

As for the loan, the money was received by organizations whose founders were regional authorities. The protection of the White assures that timely support has avoided bankruptcy, penalties, arrests of property and trials with additional expenses for regional organizations.

Belyh himself rejected all the accusations against his court, calling them absurd. He noted that the apartments were purchased for the needs of ordinary people and they were received by them, and the money under the “Uralhim” and the scream received budget organizations of the Kirov region. There was no damage to anyone, and even on the contrary: the budget, and people, and business received what they needed.

“If you yourself got acquainted with him, then [you know that] it is absurd:“ illegally adopted the law ”and had a 100 percent influence on a subsidiary belonging to the government. If we assume that these are some objective reasons, and if we assume that there were some objective problems with functioning a scream, then this should be considered a period connected not with my activity, ”Belykh said.

In the debate of the parties on December 4, the prosecutor's office requested 12 years for him “with the offset of the already served punishment in the conditions of isolation in a correctional colony”, that is, it was about adding an additional four years to the eight -year term of imprisonment.

Sentence

On December 26, 2023, the October Court of Kirov passed a sensational sentence. The whites were recognized as innocent in the episode in exceeding official powers. The involvement of the ex-official was recognized only in the fact that he allegedly lobbied the conclusion of the contract between the scream and the city-forming enterprise of Kirovo-Chepetsk Uralhim. Under the contract, the enterprise, having paid 320 million rubles, received 60 apartments to settle their employees. But from the execution of the punishment of the whites was released "in connection with the expiration of the statute of limitations."

Despite the unexpectedly soft decision of the court, the whites continued to remain in places of imprisonment. At the same time, the prosecutor's office remained unhappy with the verdict and appealed the court decision. The meeting in the appeal is scheduled for June 28. In the case of a scream, the judge did not determine the measure of restraint to the ex-governor, so before making a new decision he will remain at large.