Why is there so much theft in Moscow City Hall, and yet no investigations? Yesterday, Lyubov Sobol of the ACF (Anti-Corruption Foundation) published an investigation into who controls Moscow’s garbage collection and disposal business. It is a massive, multi-billion-ruble business, and as it turns out, everyone is involved in it—from Abramovich to the children of Prosecutor General Chaika.
For example, the younger Chaika received a contract worth 42.9 billion rubles. How could there possibly be criminal cases against someone like Liksutov when similar schemes are bringing billions into the Prosecutor General’s family budget?
RBC developed the story further: According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the sole owner of Khartiya is Alexander Tsurkan. Khartiya CEO Alexander Nikolsky told RBC that he does not know how to contact Tsurkan, since he himself has only “seen him twice.” When asked why Moscow had entrusted garbage collection to a company about which nothing is known, the Moscow city government press office gave no answer. A source close to City Hall told RBC that Khartiya is controlled by Igor, the son of Russia’s Prosecutor General Yury Chaika; this was also confirmed by a source in one of the Moscow city government departments. Another Moscow official and another acquaintance of the businessman had also heard about Igor Chaika’s interests in the capital’s garbage business. A City Hall representative promised to comment on the situation on Thursday morning.
Igor Chaika is the younger son of Prosecutor General Yury Chaika. Little is known about his official biography. He is 26 years old; in 2011 he graduated from the Kutafin Law Academy. In February 2014, he began working in the administration of Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov as an unpaid adviser on sports, culture, tourism, and youth affairs. In an interview with Afisha in the summer of 2014, he said that in this role he was dealing with the renewal of the urban environment in towns around Moscow. Having worked for Vorobyov for less than a year, Chaika left the post, explaining that throughout that time he had continued his business activities and that “these projects require daily operational supervision.” http://daily.rbc.ru/investigation/society/26/08/2015/55d35c039a794779b863d9c0
This is quite a sensation—one that deserves a parliamentary investigation and, at the very least, a detailed explanation from the Prosecutor General. And yet, silence. The deputies are not protesting, the prosecutor is silent, and TV crews are not besieging the offices of those involved in the case.