Yesterday we picked up the document from the post office. On August 3, we all sent a couple thousand crime reports to the Investigative Committee regarding the "Hungarian case." On August 8, the Investigative Committee decided everything:
So colluding with officials and foisting a building on the state budget at five times the market price is not a crime in the Russian Federation. Even against the backdrop of the deputy prime minister saying there were "clear violations of the law":
Even against the backdrop of the Prosecutor General's Office saying the deal was made "to the detriment of the buyer's interests" (that is, the budget).
Even against the backdrop of the fact that a criminal case has been opened in Hungary over this. So then why get outraged about overpriced purchases of CT scanners? Overpriced roads? Exorbitant prices for military equipment?
Viktor Feliksovich Vekselberg is kind of hinting to all of us who really runs the country and decides what counts as "theft" and what counts as "business." What is happening is simply a perfect signal to every crook in the country: DON'T BE SHY OR AFRAID. Steal as much as you like. Everything bought with budget money should be sold through a middleman with a 300% kickback. No complicated schemes are needed. Even if we get caught, it'll be like water off a duck's back. Let the whole country be outraged.
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is kind of hinting to all of us that he has heard nothing about the "Hungarian case." He simply doesn't know about it. Nobody reported it to him. And of course we can now assess President Medvedev's real willingness to fight corruption. Such open theft at the level of ministers and the managers of his beloved Skolkovo Foundation (a state-backed Russian innovation hub) falls exclusively within the President's remit. The law enforcement agencies answer to him. If there is no investigation, then it is because Medvedev does not want one. No other explanation is possible. They did not send us the actual refusal order itself (and by the way, it is unclear why only Vekselberg is mentioned. It is obvious that he could not have sold the building to officials if the officials had not wanted it), which is illegal but understandable—they want to make the appeal process harder and drag it out. But that's all right; this isn't our first time. We're going to the prosecutor's office and to court. We're also thinking of what else needs to be done on this issue. We will keep you informed about the progress of the case. Sooner or later, we will get the result we're after. They should not count on the statute of limitations.