A plague.
Andrei Vavilov, a former Russian finance minister and now a senator representing Penza Region, paid $53.3 million for two penthouses in New York's Plaza Hotel building and is now demanding his money back. source The last time Vavilov was mentioned in the news was in connection with the case about how he swiped $500 million being closed because the statute of limitations had expired. The fight against corruption goes on as usual. All sorts of committees are being set up. Tough speeches are being made. Meanwhile, Vavilov, a senator from Penza Region, is buying $50 million penthouses.
There is a special kind of cynicism in the fact that he represents Penza Region. Here is the Penza Region law "On the Budget of Penza Region for 2008 and for the Period through 2010." An instructive read. The 2008 expenditures for the centralized payment of mandatory health insurance contributions for the non-working population of Penza Region **are half the price of Vavilov's penthouse. ** Social services for the population in 2008 cost nearly four times less than Vavilov's penthouse. All of Penza Region's culture and arts cost the same as Vavilov's penthouse.