Press Release, 1.09.2021

Photo: Yaroslav Shcherbakov / Photo from personal archive of Yaroslav Shcherbakov

As a result of an unscheduled inspection initiated by Yaroslav Shcherbakov, Chairman of the Chelyabinsk branch of Yabloko, the administration of the city of Chebarkul in the Chelyabinsk region discovered violations by the housing and utilities services department when purchasing a gas supply project for the Yuzhny district.

Residents of the Yuzhny district of Chebarkul complain that they cannot get gas supply for the third year already, however, the money was allocated for the project.

In March 2019, a contract was signed between the housing and utilities services department of the administration of the city of Chebarkul and the OOO Regional Cadastral Centre for the design of gas supply to the Yuzhny district. According to the contract, this company had to develop the project in 45 days and guarantee that the plan would successfully pass the state expertise. The cost of the work was 484,000 roubles.

However, the deadline for the work was delayed by 222 days. Due to shortcomings, it was not possible to transfer the project for state expertise, however, the money from the budget was paid to the contractor in full.

On 29 July, Yaroslav Shcherbakov, Chairman of the Chelyabinsk branch of Yabloko, appealed to the financial control department of Chebarkul with a demand to conduct an inspection in the housing and utilities department, since its officials did nothing to resolve the situation.

The inspection of the city department revealed violations by the housing and utilities department during the purchase of the gas supply project. The materials of the check were transferred to the Main Control Department of the Chelyabinsk Region for making a decision on bringing the guilty officials to administrative responsibility.

“They could find another contractor for the three years that passed, make a new project, build a gas pipeline, and already start up gas for heating houses. If there is proper control, there will be proper execution,” Yaroslav Shcherbakov sums up.

Yaroslav Shcherbakov also applied to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Chelyabinsk region. His letter is now at the pre-investigation verification. If violations are confirmed, the guilty officials may be prosecuted under Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Negligence), Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Abuse of Official Powers), and Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Exceeding of Official Powers).