"So I stuck out my nose, they click on it"

The activist who defended Shies threatens 10 years in a colony for the work of the head of the municipality. Most likely-because of his struggle with the reform, which killed dozens of villages

The Arkhangelsk region was charged with abuse of authority to the head of the Urdomskoye municipality - the very one where they wanted to build the largest garbage training ground in Europe and where mass protests took place several years ago. Actually, the former Shes activist Sergei Yakimov and elected the head of the head in July 2021 in order to continue to defend the interests of local residents. This clearly did not please regional officials, and after the security forces.

The criminal case against the head of the settlement was opened against the backdrop of rejection by him, which continues in the Arkhangelsk region, as well as throughout the country, municipal reform. Yakimov faces up to ten years in prison. Despite this, he still continues to fulfill his duties. The correspondent of the Wind project found out what exactly the investigation accuses Yakimov, what sentence he counts on and whether those who in 2018-2019 block the construction of a landfill in 2018-2019.

From the editorial office
The material was first published on the website of the project "Wind". “Novyevropa” with the consent of his colleagues publishes him entirely.

Sergey Yakimov learned about criminal prosecution in the fall of 2023. At that time, he headed the administration of the settlement for a little over two years.

- At first I was warned by the head of the Lensky district, threatened that, they say, I extort money from the state and can harm him. I ask how? He says, because I demand money under the threat that cultural workers will not be enough for a salary, ”said Yakimov.

Later, the head of the settlement was called to the Investigative Committee. There he was informed that a case of negligence was initiated in relation to an unidentified official, and they took an explanation from Yakimov. Subsequently, the case was terminated, but the prosecutor did not agree with this, so the investigation resumed.

After some time, the head of the settlement was again called for interrogation. Another investigator has already stated that a criminal case is initiated against Yakimov under an article on abuse of authority that entails grave consequences (part 3 of Article 185 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). After the interrogation, Yakimov took a subscription about the lower way outside the Lensky district, but they did not remove him from his post.

- In their opinion, I forced the authorities of the Lensky district and the Arkhangelsk region to allocate money to our local budget under the threat that wages would not be paid to cultural workers, having a personal interest in this. She allegedly put it in the fact that I wanted to show myself an effective chapter before the population. And grave consequences were expressed in the non -payment of wage culture workers for several months and suspending the activities of the Center for Culture and Leisure, ”Sergei shared.

Yakimov was elected head of the Urdomskoye municipality of the local council in July 2021. It was on the territory of this municipality, near the ShiES railway station, in 2018-2019, the construction of the garbage training ground for waste from Moscow and the Moscow Region was underway. Residents of the village of Urdom and the surrounding settlements, and then other northerners concerned about the problem from the whole Arkhangelsk region and the neighboring republic of Komi reached protests, which ultimately led to the stop of construction work.

In 2020, the court in the lawsuit of the administration of the Urdomskoye municipality recognized the construction illegal, the unfinished buildings were demolished, and now young trees are growing at the site of the construction site.

Culture or road

Yakimova, a native of Urdoma, local residents have known a long time: he has been conducting social activities from the zero. Having a higher legal education, Yakimov was engaged in private legal practice. At the time of the construction of the landfill in Shies, he was one of the first to oppose the creation of a dangerous facility. During the protest, Yakimov helped activists in the courts, made complaints to the supervisory authorities.

In addition, the lawyer himself often visited Shies as an ordinary activist. In particular, in May 2019, a protocol was drawn up for it under an article on “organizing mass simultaneous stay of citizens who entailed a violation of public order” (part 1 of article 20.2.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), due to the collection of nature defenders for blocking the movement of chainsaw trucks on The way to Shies, but the court terminated the case due to the lack of the composition of the offense. In July 2019, Yakimov was fined 11 thousand rubles for violations at the rally (part 1 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), which he organized on May 19 in the Urdom: according to the security forces and the court, the speeches did not correspond to the stated topic of the action.

Talking in more detail about the current persecution of a criminal nature, Yakimov noted that in the draft budget of the municipality for 2023 he laid subsidies from the regional budget in the amount of 12 million rubles, without receiving consent from regional officials to transfer funds. He did this so that the expenditure part to the sphere of culture covers all the needs of the institution. At the same time, six million rubles were already allocated for these purposes from local income, which was enshrined in agreement between the Urdoma administration and the cultural center.

- As a result, they have mastered these six million rubles from the signed agreement for eight months and they themselves began to pay their wages over the amount specified in the agreement. In the form of self -reproduction of wages and debt was formed. That is, in fact, we owe them anything, they created this debt for ourselves, ”said the head of the settlement.

Yakimov convinced the employees of the Center for Culture and Leisure, so that they insisted with him on the allocation of additional funding from the state: "They did not believe me and listened to the position of the prosecutor's office of the Lensky district, began to act on their advice."

According to the results of nine months of 2023, the regional Ministry of Culture created a commission regarding the formation of debt. Due to the fact that the administration had funds, the security forces concluded that the local authorities had the opportunity to prevent the situation. At the same time, says Yakimov, the administration has a single account, and this money was intended for the implementation of other contracts, including the service of infrastructure facilities.

- According to the investigator and the prosecutor's office, it turns out that I had to withdraw money from roads in favor of culture. In this form, there was an opportunity, I agree with this, but then there would be a debt not to culture, but, say, roads. And how would this change the situation for the better? ”Yakimov asks the question.

The lawyer was collected by the whole world

The Lensky District of the Arkhangelsk Region, which includes the Urdomskoye municipality, has not yet been transformed into a municipal district, which has already occurred with 24 regions of Pomerania out of 26. Deputies of local councils and heads of settlements in the Lensky district do not launch the process, despite the pressure of the pressure regional authorities. According to opponents of transformations, the deprivation of municipalities of independence in a number of issues, the dissolution of the Soviets of deputies and village administrations will lead to many local spheres of local importance, and will also reduce the involvement of the population into public life.

Most of this position is publicly defended by Sergey Yakimov. In addition, many supporters of preserving the two -level system of local authorities recall the protest in defense of ShiES, when the Urdom administration refused to submit to the desires of regional officials and, thanks to its authority, was able to protect the position of local residents and prevent the emergence of a garbage training ground.

The deputy of the local council Svetlana Babenko, who previously also took an active part in the protest in Shiesa, in a conversation with the correspondent of the “wind” suggests that the true reason for the criminal prosecution of Yakimov is precisely his disagreement with the actions of higher authorities in the field of local self -government, and not his protest experience around construction of the training ground.

- The accusation that was put forward by Sergei Ivanovich, “casuistic. It is not clear how to extort money from the state if it is a consolidated budget, if all the money is, roughly speaking, in one pocket.

Most likely, the persecution is due to the fact that Sergei Ivanovich openly spoke and said that there was underfunding of local budgets, ”Babenko believes.

She notes that among the Urdom residents there were many those who support Yakimov, despite the indifference of local residents to political issues, which has spread in recent years. So, for example, the head of the settlement managed to pay for the work of two lawyers due to donations of empathetic people.

Of the former Yakimov associates in environmental protest, not everyone was on his side in disputes with the authorities. The resident of Urdom, Nikolai Viktorov, who participated in the protests around Shies, believes that there is no political background in the persecution of the head of the settlement.

- Sergey Ivanovich performs actions that contradict the law, and, accordingly, such a situation develops. He is a lawyer with many years of experience and perfectly understands that, performing some actions, there will be an appropriate reaction, ”Viktorov said.

Viktorov believes that many after protest in Shies continued to oppose the authorities, but in all areas, and "lost reality and rationality."

According to Marina Dziuba, a former activist living in Urdom, the same processes occur in the village as throughout the country: optimization of medicine, the growth of housing and communal services tariffs, and a weak lining of the budget.

“The situation is still complicated by the fact that the district did not move to the district,” the ex-activist ShiES notes. - The main problem of the current chapter I consider the insufficiently strong and coordinated team in the work of the administration.

At the same time, Dziuba hopes that the situation will improve due to the introduction of the village of Urdom into a single list of supporting settlements. The decision was made by the Government Commission on Regional Development in December 2024. According to the law, such a list was created for the purpose of the “priority concentration of resources”, including for the implementation of national projects, state programs financed from the federal budget.

Underfinance

In December 2024, the criminal case against Yakimov began to be considered by the VILEGODA DISTRICT Court of the Arkhangelsk Region. At the first meeting, the defense point pointed to multiple violations, in particular the fact that before the interrogation the investigator refused Yakimov to depict investigative actions with his participation for inviting a lawyer and on the same day interrogated him as a suspect, charged him, questioned him as the accused , and two days later he announced the completion of investigative actions.

The court satisfied the request of the defense and returned the case to the investigation. The prosecutor's office tried to appeal the return of the case to the investigation in the Arkhangelsk Regional Court, but lost. Yakimov does not consider himself guilty and is sure that the verdict will be justifying.

- I believe that municipalities have the opportunity to prove to the state that they experience terrible underfunding so that the state changes this situation. One of the reasons for the discontent of state bodies of my activities is that I have implemented a new way of developing budgets of municipalities, ”Yakimov is sure.

This method, according to the head of the settlement, is that when planning the budget, it is necessary to proceed not from the distribution of the expected budget revenues, but from planning needs. Currently, budgets consist of the annual amount of income, and expenses are repelled from this amount. According to Yakimov, it is necessary to lay out all the expenses that will solve all urgent problems, regardless of the availability of funds in the budget. On this principle, courts and the prosecutor's office are already working, Yakimov is sure. In the current situation, according to the head of the settlement, the state is not sufficiently involved in the solution of local issues, since local authorities do not declare significant lack of funds.

- Let people think, see how much we need, and at the end of the year - how much they gave us. I also urge other municipalities to do the same. It seems to me that this method is promising from the point of view of the correct construction of public administration, and not the system that we have.

The chapters in the current system of power are very convenient scapegoats. That is, they do not give money to them, they, of course, do not finish something, and forever on TV the state says: “Yes, the heads of you, people are unhappy there!”

And people will think: the chapters are really to blame, and the task of the chapter is to be silent that the state is short -lived. So I stuck out my nose, my nose and click it. And what is there to be silent? From the fact that I am silent, you do not give me any more money, ”said Yakimov.

Personal interest

Now in the Arkhangelsk region, convictions under Part 3 of Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are issued to five former officials, and all of them are associated with imprisonment. In 2021, the former head of the regional department of the Federal Tax Service Sergei Rodionov was convicted in Arkhangelsk. He was found guilty of abuse of authority, extortion and receiving bribes. The punishment amounted to eight years of a maximum security colony.

In December 2023, the court in Arkhangelsk appointed five years in prison in a general regime colony to the former general director of the TGK-2 generating company Nadezhda Pinigina and four and a half years of a strict regime colony, the ex-head of Arkhoblenergo Valery Zaykin. In addition to abuse of official powers, they were charged with economic crimes.

In May 2024, the court in Plesetsk sentenced the former head of the Plesetskoye municipality to Artem Ogoltsov. He was charged with several episodes of abuse of powers and abuse of real estate transactions. The official was appointed seven years in prison in a general regime colony.

And in November of the same year, at the appeal, the former employee of the Main Directorate of the Capital Construction of the region Alexei Levashov replaced correctional labor with two years of a general regime colony in the case of the acceptance of actually unfulfilled work on the construction of the feldsher-obstetric point.

In the courts of the Arkhangelsk region, in addition to the Yakimov case, four more similar material are currently considering. Yakimov’s lawyers in conversations with the client call the case strange:

“They cannot understand, but what is the negative of the deed?” Almost all of the indictments under this article, but they all go with a selfish interest. The investigator said that there is no selfish interest in my business, but there is a personal one. I ask, is that bad? He says, well, here in this composition - yes, that this is as one of the signs of a crime. Well, I answer, let's prove, ”said Yakimov.

Alexander Peskov , especially for the project "Wind"