I just love Mikhail Yurevich, the governor of the Chelyabinsk Region.
(this is a photo of Yurevich hanging, no less, in the Chelyabinsk city local history museum (!)) Old man Yurevich is dearly beloved by RosPil and the Anti-Corruption Foundation because he spent half a billion rubles, or 0.57% of the region’s entire budget revenues, on his personal security and helicopter, bought himself porn channels for his residence at state expense, bribed business owners during elections, threatened them, and did many other unusual things — even by the standards of a Russian official. He also appointed as minister a certain Sharikov, whose companies immediately began winning tenders from that very ministry. And this minister, incidentally, has a legally established record of tax evasion and illegal cashing-out of funds. These are all cases the ACF previously investigated. “Let bygones be bygones!” you might object. “A hunchback is only straightened by the grave” (Russian proverb), the Chelyabinsk regional budget would reply grimly. So we open the official public procurement website and see: Order No. 0169200000313007400 — provision of services to organize protection of the highest-ranking official of the Chelyabinsk Region from unlawful actions. http://zakupki.gov.ru/pgz/public/action/orders/info/common_info/show?source=epz¬ificationId=7526589 55** million rubles. **Open tender.
Yurevich is to be guarded for 8,760 hours — that is, exactly one year, not a second less. Application deadline: 13 December 2013 at 15:30. All security is armed, with no fewer than 4 guards on duty at the same time, a chief of security, and at least two mobile rapid-response teams (at least 2 people each). Total: 9 people at any given moment, 3 eight-hour shifts — 27 people per day, not counting technical staff. One and a half million dollars for Yurevich’s personal security. Order No. 0169200000313007286 Provision of 24-hour armed security services http://zakupki.gov.ru/pgz/public/action/orders/info/common_info/show?source=epz¬ificationId=7497283 28,979,300 rubles, application deadline 11 December 2013 at 09:00. This tender is for guarding a departmental hotel, the governor’s residence, and a country government retreat. 18 guards and 4 rapid-response teams totaling 16 people. That’s almost another million dollars. Order No. 0169200000313007399 provision of security services for events held by the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region and the Government of the Chelyabinsk Region. http://zakupki.gov.ru/pgz/public/action/orders/info/common_info/show?source=epz¬ificationId=7525837 25,000,000 rubles, application deadline 13 December 2013 at 14:00. Security for 62 days in various (unspecified) locations across the Chelyabinsk Region, including on the premises of secret facilities — which raises a separate question: why the hell would he need guarding at secret facilities? Are the secret employees of secret facilities scaring our Yurevich? Number of guards: at least 10 for an event with 50 guests. All staff must wear suits and ties. The technical specification places special emphasis on the security team’s duty to ensure the confidentiality of guests. Interesting, isn’t it: a public official holds official events where the guests’ confidentiality must be ensured. Of course, we understand that all members of United Russia (the Kremlin-backed ruling party) are like women of easy virtue, but until now they haven’t been hiding their faces and names. That’s nearly another million dollars for security at these fascinating events. Let’s keep going. Order No. 0169200000313007520 provision of protocol support services for events held by the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region, the Governor’s Administration of the Chelyabinsk Region, and the Government of the Chelyabinsk Region http://zakupki.gov.ru/pgz/public/action/orders/info/common_info/show?notificationId=7560507 20,000,000 rubles, application deadline 16 December 2013 at 10:00. These events include visits (official, working/business, unofficial/private, and transit visits), receptions hosted by the Chelyabinsk Region for foreign delegations or individual representatives of foreign states and of the Russian Federation at the highest and high levels, meetings, conferences, sessions of collegial and advisory bodies, ceremonial events and ceremonies connected with state and professional holidays, commemorative dates, and other occasions. Most of these events are aimed at fostering a favorable investment climate and attracting investment into the regional economy. Protocol support services include: selecting hotel rooms and overseeing guest accommodations; selecting and purchasing commemorative gifts and souvenirs. The wrapping of gifts and souvenirs must be conservative and tasteful; organizing leisure activities. Scope of services: 20 events, up to 250 people per event. So, for the governor’s personal security and the places he visits, as well as unofficial and official events involving the governor, the Chelyabinsk regional budget in 2014 will pay 128,979,300 rubles out of the 143,980,600 rubles allocated in the budget for the functioning of the Government of the Chelyabinsk Region — or 89% of the funds earmarked for it. That leaves 11% for ministers’ salaries. Plus Yurevich’s salary — 4,863,400 rubles. Plus annual maintenance and insurance for Yurevich’s famous helicopter — 33,055,000 rubles (that’s what was paid last year), for which the money was apparently allocated separately; we couldn’t find it in the budget. All t***old, Yurevich’s personal security, events with Yurevich, Yurevich’s salary, and Yurevich’s helicopter will cost the regional budget 166,897,700 rubles in 2014. What an interesting region the Chelyabinsk Region is. Meteors fall there, and apparently it’s so dangerous that the governor has hired himself more security than Colombian drug lords do. Apparently, United Russia member Yurevich is not satisfied with the Russian Federation’s law enforcement agencies, on whose reorganization and reform 300 billion rubles in budget money has been spent. But anyway, let’s get back to why I decided to write all this. The point is that since the ACF believes Yurevich is abusing his official position by spending the Chelyabinsk regional budget on his personal needs (which is a criminal offense), at the end of November it filed a number of complaints: Complaint against Yurevich to the FSB Complaint to the Investigative Committee Complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office Obviously, things have now reached the inspection stage, and yesterday the resourceful governor came out with this:
http://gubernator74.ru/news/yurevich-poruchil-glavnomu-kontrolnomu-upravleniyu-razobratsya-s-rashodami-na-ohranu-15099 WHAT?! They approved and passed the budget. They approved and passed the procurement plan. They drafted the terms of reference for these services worth hundreds of millions. Back in January 2012, we were already raising hell and filing complaints over the previous contracts. And now Yurevich, who signed off on all of it, puts on an innocent face: really? is it all that expensive? we should look into it. Internal reviews are all well and good, but they need to happen BEFORE taxpayers’ money is spent. Now what needs to happen is an investigation within the framework of a criminal case. The ACF will push to make sure such a case is opened. Update: Apparently Yurevich has been squeezed a bit over these lavish procurements. Yesterday, it turns out, they removed the head of the administration’s affairs department from his post — the man they pinned the BMW purchase on, which I wrote about in September of this year. Reason for dismissal: he did not coordinate the purchase with the governor. You could laugh yourself sick.