Press Release, 14.09.2022

Photo: Boris Vishnevsky / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Deputies of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg refused to forward a deputies’ inquiry to the Governor of St.Petersburg  on the amount and sources of budgetary expenditures for the formation of bearing toponymic names of the region. The inquiry was submitted by Boris Vishnevsky, MP of the Legislative Assembly and Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party. Three MPs voted for the inquiry, nine voted against, no one abstained, and the rest did not vote.

Boris Vishnevsky suggested that the MPs ask the Governor what specific items of the budget of St. Petersburg for 2022 finance the announced provision of “one-time financial assistance” in the amount of 300,000 roubles to those who conclude a contract for service in the battalions bearing toponymic names of the region – Kronstadt, Neva, and Pavlovsk – and  how much of the funds have already been allocated for this and how much is planned to be allocated by the end of 2022.

Vishnevsky stressed that he considered the response received from Vice Governor Alexei Korabelnikov unsatisfactory. The response did not contain specific data, but only reported that the allocation of these funds was “carried out in accordance with the current budget laws”.

“The funds for the payment of material assistance to contract soldiers of the battalions bearing toponymic names of the region are not the pocket money of the Governor, the city government or the Legislative Assembly. This is the money of taxpayers, who have different attitudes to what has been happening, including the recruitment of St. Petersburg residents into these battalions. Citizens have the right to know on what basis these funds are paid and in what amount. The stubborn refusal of the city administration to disclose this information inevitably gives rise to suspicions: it means that there is something to hide,” Boris Vishnevsky notes.

It should be noted that the previous answer of the St.Petersburg government to Boris Vishnevsky’s similar question signed by Acting Governor Nikolai Linchenko also did not disclose the sources of the funds allotted to financing of such battalions. The official recommended Vishnevsky to contact the Finance Committee, which is supervised by Vice Governor Alexei Korabelnikov, for more detailed information.

 BORIS VISHNEVSKY

is Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko Party, member of the Yabloko Federal Political Committee and Bureau, and an MP of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg