Without number and date by unknown deputy

A documentary detective story about a scandalous legislative initiative that came out of nowhere and disappeared into nowhere

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Chronicle of a scandalous initiative

March 13. The State Duma received a letter on behalf of the State Council of Tatarstan with a proposal to amend the law “On the Mass Media”, the law “On State Control (Supervision) and Municipal Control in the Russian Federation” and Article 13.15 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses.

March 17. The Council of Legislators proposed to appoint a commission responsible for reviewing the draft legislative initiative and present a conclusion on the draft legislative initiative. The deadline for submitting the conclusion is 04/22/2026.

On March 17, Farid Mukhametshin, Chairman of the State Council of Tatarstan, resigns.

March 18. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov: “I can’t talk about any position until our legislators themselves consider such an initiative; this is entirely their prerogative.”

March 24. The Council of Legislators proposed sending the draft legislative initiative to the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on State Building and Legislation, P.V. Krasheninnikov.

March 24. Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin: “We need to think about the consequences of the initiatives that we express, let alone develop and send. This applies in this case to the same initiative from Tatarstan. She's controversial."

March 25. Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin: “As for Tatarstan’s initiative, this is not a legislative initiative, but an appeal, moreover, to the council of legislators, so that the commission expresses its point of view.”

March 31st. Head of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation Andrei Klishas: “I have not seen what Tatarstan proposed, but I share the basic message. “I believe that until a person is named as a criminal, there is no need to distribute this kind of material about him.”

April 1st. The Council of Legislators decided to withdraw the draft legislative initiative from consideration due to the withdrawal by the initiator.

There is a tradition among “sovereign people”: sending official letters that they do not like, skimming the very edge of the law - forgetting to put the number and date. There is a letter, but it seems like it never existed—it’s not registered.

In Samara, a month ago the organizers of the Winter Grushinsky Festival received such a letter a couple of hours before the gala concert. More precisely, it was an official warning, but without a number or date.

Police Colonel V.V. Vologushev, acting Head of the Oktyabrsky District Office of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for the city of Samara, told the organizers that he has information about the planned participation of Galina Khomchik and Natalya Kucher in the concert, “during whose performance, public actions aimed at violating the current legislation are possible, in connection with which conditions are created for the commission of illegal actions.” As a result, Khomchek and Kucher, who had already arrived in Samara, did not appear on stage. This is not the first time for the Grushinsky Club, the festival was closed at different times, canceled at the last moment, moved from one site to another, and renamed, so they reacted to what happened with understanding - new times, the police know better who should sing what at the festival. Culture is in good hands. Only in front of Galya and Natasha I feel ashamed.

If the Samara story affected a small audience nationwide, and few people knew its details, then the letter from Kazan to the State Duma, also without a number or date, caused a stir and wide discussion, in which both the Speaker of Parliament Vyacheslav Volodin and the Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov had to participate.

On March 13, the State Duma received the following letter from Kazan.

“To the Co-Chairman of the Council of Legislators of the Russian Federation at the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation V.V. Volodin:

Dear Vyacheslav Viktorovich! ...I am sending you for preliminary opinion the draft federal law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation in Restricting the Public Dissemination of Accusatory Information before the Court Decision Enters into Legal Force.”

Signed by the then Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan Farid Mukhametshin. The necessary documents are attached to the letter, including the draft amendments to the laws. Only the number and date are missing on the letter, apparently this means that the sent letter was not registered in the “outbox”.

Deputies of the State Council proposed amending the law “On the Mass Media”, the law “On State Control (Supervision) and Municipal Control in the Russian Federation” and Article 13.15 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses.

The State Duma took the proposal of Kazan legislators seriously. The Council of Legislators reviewed the initiative and appointed a commission, which was supposed to present its conclusion by April 24: will this initiative be submitted to a meeting of the State Duma - or will it remain another ignored proposal from the regions.

A wide discussion of the Kazan initiative concerned, first of all, the changes proposed to the law “On the Mass Media,” where it was proposed to introduce the term “incriminating information.” “Which is understood as information disseminated in the media, information and telecommunication networks or other public sources, which directly or indirectly form a conclusion among an indefinite number of persons that a specific individual or legal entity has committed illegal, dishonest or harmful actions, regardless of the use of evaluative, presumptive or reference formulations,” the explanatory note says.

Essentially, journalists and publications are prohibited from disseminating information if it directly or indirectly gives people the impression that a person or company has done something illegal. It will be possible to publish information about violations only after the court makes a decision and it comes into force.

In fact, the State Council of Tatarstan proposed to prohibit the publication of information about “suspects” and “accused” until a court decision. It is proposed to introduce an administrative fine for violation of the proposed ban.

• up to 300 thousand rubles for citizens,

• up to 700 thousand rubles - for officials,

• up to 2 million rubles - for legal entities.

This essentially means the end of investigative journalism and court reporting. It’s not entirely clear, but what to do with the almost daily reports from law enforcement agencies, primarily the Investigative Committee, about the detention of thieving ministers, governors and other officials at various levels? They haven’t been convicted yet, but the “incriminating information” has already been announced.

It was possible to understand how it all began only in Kazan, where I went on instructions from the editors.

I started with the deputies, they also initiated the changes that caused such a strong response. It was not possible to meet with any of them, and it was not possible to really talk on the phone. Having learned about the object of my interest, the interlocutors immediately stated: “I will not comment on this topic!” - and switched off. Only one added:

“We did not discuss this issue at the State Council.”

Indeed, the issue of changes to the law “On the Mass Media” was not considered at meetings of the State Council. This issue is neither on the agenda nor in the decisions taken. It turns out that Farid Mukhametshin misled both the State Duma and the whole country by sending to Moscow a draft amendment to federal laws, which was not even discussed with his colleagues?

On March 17, Farid Mukhametshin, who headed the State Council of the republic for almost 30 years, resigned, and the letter to the State Duma, let me remind you, arrived on the 13th. Many knew about his resignation before the official decision. According to Andrey I., a journalist recommended to me as an expert on the political kitchen of Tatarstan, in preparation for his resignation, Mukhametshin gave instructions to prepare all the necessary documents for signature, wanting to leave the post without any unresolved issues. “In this hustle and bustle, they probably simply slipped him a letter with a draft law change that was not discussed in the State Council,” says Andrei. — Trusting his colleagues, Farid Khairulovich signed without looking. He was simply set up." Andrey’s opinion is shared by Natalya, who works for a large online publication. Who, taking advantage of the trust, did this and how the documents were sent to Moscow without registration - these are questions that the current acting Chairman of the State Council, Marat Akhmetov, will have to deal with.

The initiator of the changes to the laws is State Council deputy, member of the United Russia party Marat Galiev. Heading to Kazan, I sent a letter to Marat Ibrahimovich asking for a meeting. I did not receive an answer.

Despite being a deputy, he turned out to be not the most famous person in Kazan. More often than not, when I tried to talk to someone about a deputy, a misunderstanding arose. My interlocutors believed that we were talking about another, more famous deputy, Marat Galeev. When it became clear who the object of my interest was, for many it was simply a discovery.

— Are we talking about Marat Gadyevich Galeev now? — Ruslan Zinatullin, the head of Yabloko in Tatarstan, asked me.

- No, I’m asking about Marat Ibragimovich Galiev.

— Marat Ibrahimovich? I don't even know him. Well, the State Council is full of them, unremarkable ones. Probably seventy percent.

Who is Marat Galiev? The official biography reads: born in 1976 in the village named after. Malyshev city of Asbest, Sverdlovsk region. He graduated from a mining technical school there and later studied at the Nizhnevartovsk branch of the Institute of Business and Law. His educational background also includes a master’s degree in “State and Municipal Administration” at the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation. When he moved to Tatarstan, history is silent. But since 2014, he has been actively involved in the processing and disposal of industrial waste in the republic: the founder of Imerald LLC, the founder and general director of the Yashel Park eco-technopark. In 2019, he was elected to the State Council. Member of the United Russia party. From October 2023 to April 2024 he participated in the SVO. Has the status of a combat veteran.

There is little information about the income of the deputy and businessman; the last declaration was published in 1923. Now on the State Council website in the “Anti-corruption” section, where about the income of deputies, there is a sign “In accordance with Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2022 No. 968, information on income, expenses, property and property-related obligations is not posted.” The Baza publication, according to their sources, allegedly discovered property that may belong to Marat Galiev, allegedly worth more than 100 million rubles. In a village near Kazan, according to the publication, the people's choice could presumably purchase almost the entire street. “He also acquired property in the center of Kazan,” suggests Baza. The TG channel suggests that Galiev may own an apartment in the elite residential complex “Azure Skies” “with a mirrored facade and a viewing platform” allegedly “almost 250 square meters. Prices for such housing in this complex start from 50 million rubles.” No one has yet refuted the journalists' version.

However, prices in “Azure Skies” may have become a little lower. On December 21, 2024, an elite residential complex was attacked by two drones, the consequences of which are still visible today. My Kazan interlocutors were very surprised when, after visiting “Azure Skies,” I showed them photographs of the building: “I thought everything had been restored a long time ago. Not the poorest people live there.” It turned out that not the poorest found the most optimal solution - a government contract worth 495 million rubles was signed for the restoration of the façade of the residential complex. This was announced by the head of the capital construction and reconstruction department of the Kazan executive committee, Marat Samigulin.

“Baza” suggests that “Galiyev acquired more than half of this [property] in 2023–2025.

When activists and journalists conducted an environmental investigation into his waste disposal company, and the deputy tried to sue them in response, managing to combine business, work as a deputy and service in the armed forces.”

Judging by the biography of Marat Galiev, most of his activities in business and parliament are related to the environment - or rather, to garbage dumps: he owns waste processing enterprises, is the president of the Association of Industrial Waste Management Operators, and is a member of the State Council Committee on Ecology and Natural Resources, and Marat Ibragimovich is also the organizer of the children's creativity competition "Green Dreams", aimed at realizing the creative abilities of children in the field of environmental protection. Nature defender both by position and by vocation. Only Kazan environmentalists don’t know about this, however, even Deputy Galiev was little known to them before talking to me.

— Does the Committee on Ecology and Natural Resources Management of the State Council somehow cooperate with you? Or are you with him?

“We’re afraid they don’t know about us at all,” said environmentalists. And then suddenly they remembered Galiev. - So this is the one who sued Moscow environmentalists. They found numerous violations at his enterprise. If the legislative power, instead of protecting nature, destroys it, how should this be understood? In whose interests is she acting? In the interests of business. And this is a small drop from the people, but with a huge bag of money.

Indeed, several years ago, Imerald LLC, which is engaged in waste processing, whose sole founder was Deputy Galiev, filed a lawsuit against environmentalists and journalists. The defendants in the lawsuit were the All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation and its Moscow branch, the National Ecological Corps, the environmental organization There is No Dirt Here, and Moment of Truth LLC.

The background is this. In 2023, environmentalists from Moscow came to the site where Imerald processes waste and found strange waste, unpleasant odors, expired licenses, and called it “a monstrous violation of nature.” Soil samples were taken, which after laboratory tests allegedly found lead, zinc and arsenic. Based on the results of the raid, ecologists prepared a video material that was published on the YouTube channel “Moment of Truth” and on the page of the “All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation.”

In court, the plaintiff insisted that the information contained in the video “defames business reputation, since it contains allegations of dishonesty, incorrect, unethical behavior and dishonesty in business and public life.” On May 21, 2024, the Moscow Arbitration Court rejected the claim. Fully. Moreover, inspections carried out by the Volga-Kama interregional department of Rosprirodnadzor confirmed most of the information from ecologists and issued a warning to Imerald LLC about the inadmissibility of violating the Law on Environmental Protection.

If we return to the changes proposed by Marat Galiev, but not to the law “On the Mass Media”, but to the almost undiscussed law “On State Control (Supervision) and Municipal Control in the Russian Federation”, Article 66 of which he proposes to add, the interests of the deputy can be traced: “It is not allowed to use information and materials received in violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation as a basis for carrying out unscheduled control (supervisory) activities, including as a result of:

• illegal entry into the territory or objects of the person being inspected;

• unauthorized sampling (soil, water, waste, raw materials, products);

• violation of established access or security procedures;

• unauthorized access to information constituting a trade secret;

• hidden photo, video or audio recording at objects with limited access.

Dissemination of information about alleged violations that have become the subject of unscheduled control (supervisory) activities in the form of accusations before the court decision enters into legal force is not permitted.”

After the adoption of such an amendment, environmentalists with their public inspections, not to mention the sampling of soil or water, are declared illegal. And Marat Galiev won’t have to worry, no one will come close to Imerald. Judging by recent events, it won’t work.

The State Duma decided not to consider the legislative initiative due to its withdrawal by the initiator.

Samara–Kazan

There is a conspiracy theory voiced by two of my Kazan interlocutors: changes to the laws were prepared in Moscow, and the State Council of Tatarstan was used simply as a platform for stuffing and assessing the reaction of society. If this is so, then I shouldn’t have gone to Kazan; the answers to all questions are known at Okhotny Ryad.