Wikipedia tells us the following: Pskov is a city in northwestern Russia, the administrative center of Pskov Oblast and Pskov District. It is located on the Velikaya River (which flows into Lake Pskov), at its confluence with the Pskova River. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia. As of January 1, 2012, the city's population was estimated at 203,974.[3] In December 2009, Pskov was awarded the title of “City of Military Glory.” Nice (French: Nice [nis], Occitan: Niça, Greek: Νίκαια, Italian: Nizza, Latin: Nicaea) is a Mediterranean city and port in southern France. It is the administrative center of the Alpes-Maritimes department. Population: more than 352,000 (2007). A major transportation hub. One of the principal resort destinations on the Côte d’Azur (the French Riviera). Andrei Anatolyevich Turchak (December 20, 1975, Leningrad, Russian SFSR, USSR) has served as governor of Pskov Oblast since February 27, 2009.[1] Having taken office at age 33, he is one of the youngest governors in Russia. The distance from Pskov to Nice is 2,120 km.
Also, Wikipedia and other open, reliable sources remind us of the glorious career path Governor Turchak followed thanks to his father, who once practiced judo with Putin, which later helped the entire Turchak family enormously, both politically and financially. As we can see, Andrei Turchak chose a, uh... patriotic-state route to advancement.
In August 2005, he joined the United Russia party and was appointed coordinator of the party’s youth policy. In November 2005, he joined the coordinating council of the Young Guard of United Russia. On August 30, 2006, the bureau of United Russia’s Supreme Council recommended Turchak for the post of Federation Council member representing the parliament of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. In 2007, he became a deputy of the fourth convocation of the Pskov Oblast Assembly of Deputies, representing the Pskov regional branch of the political party United Russia. Since July 6, 2007, he has been a member of the Federation Council representing the legislative body of Pskov Oblast. On February 16, 2009, he was appointed acting governor of Pskov Oblast. On February 27, 2009, he was confirmed as governor by the Pskov Oblast Assembly with 37 votes in favor out of 40. Look at him speaking at a United Russia rally after yet another rigged election. “A Clean Victory for United Russia.”
Turchak is, generally speaking, a great patriot and always ready to strike back instantly at the Enemies of Russia. For example, he “promised to remember everything once things had calmed down” to the overbold journalist Oleg Kashin, who was later the target of an attempted murder. A classic dialogue between Kashin and Turchak. Turchak was even investigated for possible involvement in the attack. During Turchak’s time leading the Young Guard of United Russia, the organization specialized in staging pickets outside buildings where opposition meetings were being held. The “Young Guards” stood at the entrance, eyes bulging out of their sockets, spraying spit everywhere, shrieking, “YOU’VE ALL BEEN PAID OFF BY THE WEST.” Here, for example, is a great video:
http://youtu.be/vOY8kZN3tJs And then, quite recently, Governor Turchak, having merely read on Twitter a report from another patriot, Pavel Astakhov, on the subject of “Americans killed an adopted child,” instantly hit the “PATRIOTISM MODE ON” button and banned foreigners from adopting orphans in Pskov Oblast. The story turned out to be false, like most things that come from Astakhov, but patriotic Turchak did not even notice. Well, that’s good then: the orphans are protected from dangerous foreigners and from all those horrors on the other side of Russia’s state border, where Governor Turchak is not present. Although wait... which side is that, exactly? To answer that question, we need to examine some materials from the patriotic governor’s life that are not in Wikipedia (yet): On November 18, 2008, Andrei Turchak’s wife Kira Turchak (Petrochenko), his brother Boris Turchak, and his father Anatoly Turchak registered a company in Nice called VILLA DE FLIREY. Here is the list of founders from the company charter, which is available on request:
As we can see, the documents even mention Petrochenko’s husband — Andrei Turchak. Over here we have posted the company charter (we also have a certified copy, which we specifically requested); this screenshot and several others were taken from it. The manager appointed was a longtime friend of the Turchaks, Alexei Vetrogonsky.
As the charter shows, the shareholders’ stakes are unequal: there are 150 shares in total, 100 of which belong to Governor Turchak’s wife (which means they also belong to Turchak himself, since we honor Russian law, under which property acquired during marriage is jointly owned by both spouses).
The company has a specific legal form: Société Civile Immobilière (SCI). This is a special type of company created exclusively for the ownership and management of real estate. The charter directly identifies the property the company was created to purchase:
The company charter can be ordered from the website http://www.infogreffe.fr/infogreffe/index.jsp (enter the name VILLA DE FLIREY in the “Company name or acronym” field and click “Search”). As we can see, this concerns the purchase of a house for 1.27 million euros at 25 avenue de Flirey, 06000 Nice. The company is registered at that very address.
Now the amazing power of imagination and the Google company transport us to Nice:
Here is the house on Google Maps. And this is what it looks like. A wonderful location — not down by the crowded waterfront, but higher up in the hills. The view from there is beautiful (though I’m not sure you can see Pskov from it).
Back in Pskov Oblast, the governor tears around in a big Mercedes, scattering the little people. In Nice, his family turns into proper Europeans and politely drives around in a Mini Cooper. According to the cadastral plan, the plot under the house covers 250 square meters.
Such a plan can be obtained from the website http://www.cadastre.gouv.fr And here it is from satellite view
As we remember from Monsieur Turchak’s biography, he has been a public official, a servant of the people, since 2006. Which means he has to file disclosures. Election disclosures, anti-corruption disclosures, and all the rest. Did he disclose his beautiful villa worth 1.3 million euros? Why, of course not. It was somehow not very presentable to talk in Pskov Oblast (for which the blunt label “A POVERTY-STRICKEN REGION” is, sadly, entirely fair — 73rd in the country by GRP) about real estate in Nice while simultaneously taking a patriotic anti-Western stance. Zhora Alburov found the Turchak property about ten days ago, and if we fools had not been talking about it out loud and laughing about the patriotic governor all over the office, then those who listen in on our office and stand guard over the interests of United Russia’s power structure, reporting our plans, would not, I am sure, have prompted Governor Turchak to VERY SUDDENLY AND URGENTLY add the Villa de Flirey company to his disclosure on March 2. Well, maybe we are paranoid; maybe no one told Turchak that our Anti-Corruption Foundation had already spent a week fishing out documents about his second life. Either way, it is obvious that Governor Turchak rushed to amend his disclosure only under the threat of inevitable Pekhting (a reference to the exposure of undeclared foreign property by politician Vladimir Pekhtin). And inevitable it was, because anyone can obtain these documents. If not us, then some activist would soon have published them — it was only a matter of time. Adding the information to the disclosure now does not change the facts: a career United Russia functionary, who built his career in the party’s youth movement, buys a villa in Nice for 1.3 million euros while serving as a member of the Federation Council. Then he becomes governor. All this time, he brazenly lies in his disclosures. All this time, he spouts pseudo-patriotic nonsense about the terrible West rocking the boat, and about United Russia standing up to the Western threat. All this time, he owns a villa in Nice. Do we, the citizens of the Russian Federation, have the right to ask perfectly appropriate questions of United Russia and its leaders — Putin and Medvedev? We do. As in the Pekhtin case, we are formalizing those questions and demands: Our request to President Putin. Our request to the Prosecutor General’s Office. Our letter to Medvedev, chairman of United Russia. United Russia recommended Turchak to the Federation Council, United Russia elected him governor, the President (then Medvedev) confirmed him, and the President (now Putin) has the right to remove him for loss of confidence. Turchak is a member of the General Council of United Russia. After Pekhtin left the State Duma, United Russia members said this was the birth of a new political culture. Excellent: then let them live up to their declared new culture and kick Turchak out neck and crop for lying and breaking the law. If, on the other hand, political culture is doing just fine in this case, then let them say so plainly: we, Putin and United Russia, have no complaints about Turchak’s lies, his double-dealing behavior, or his foreign real estate. He will remain in our ranks. We are not bothered by the fact that French intelligence services certainly knew about the governor’s concealed villa, and that this was a splendid opportunity for recruitment. We are not bothered that Turchak is most likely a spy. In United Russia, every other person is a spy or a saboteur. That, too, would be a result. We will remind them of this Turchak every chance we get. He has apparently said he will get rid of the company — his wife will sell the shares. To whom, by the way, one wonders? The other founders? Daddy and brother? The situation is simply perfect for giving the lying crooks of United Russia, and the lying Turchak, a ride in the Good Machine of Truth (a slogan/project associated with Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption campaigning). And here I again remind you of the importance of personal participation in campaigning. Otherwise, we can expose these crooks from United Russia until we turn blue, but if we cannot inform millions of our fellow citizens about our findings, they do not care. The population of all Pskov Oblast is 661,000. There are only a handful of localities with more than 3,000 residents. (ah, what names! Pure poetry)
The result of the last vote for United Russia: 36.6% So our most important political task is to make sure that in Seryodka, in Dedovichi, in Opochka, and in Neurozhayka too, every resident knows the story of their lying, lawbreaking United Russia governor and his villa in Nice. Then the real level of support for United Russia will not be 36.6%, but 0.6%. Here it is: http://turchak.mashina.org/ This time we decided to accommodate the wishes of working people who had complained that Good Machine of Truth leaflets were often made to look as if they came from United Russia. As in, we were only confusing people. “Those who aren’t on the internet don’t get it.” So we decided to experiment with a different format. Simple, clear, and straight to the point:
If you are from Pskov Oblast, download the leaflet in a convenient format, print it out, and distribute it wherever you can. If you are not from Pskov Oblast, think through your friends and relatives; if any of them are local, send them the leaflet and a link to this post. If all your friends, grandmothers, and aunts live far from Dedovichi, Usvyaty, and Pytalovo, then simply share this post (and the leaflet) wherever you can. If you do not like this post, take the documents and write your own. Remember: no one but ourselves will stop the face of United Russia — the one that robs Idritsa, Kunya, Velikiye Luki, Strugi Krasnye, Moscow, Kazan, and Vladivostok every day in order to drag its money off to Nice, Monaco, Miami, and London, buy itself a mansion there for several million, and laugh with its relatives about how just yesterday it was shouting from the stage about the “Clean Victory of United Russia.”