A privately-owned “Borovichok” kindergarten in Ulan-Ude has shut down, affecting 400 children who attended the center. As a result, their mothers are having to leave their jobs.
The city education committee revealed that Borovichok did not request financial assistance in 2022. The responsibility lies with the leaders of the private organization, but officials from the Ulan-Ude administration and the Ministry of Education of Buryatia should have reminded the kindergarten leaders to submit their application on time.
Now the Ministry of Education seems to be neglecting the welfare of children and parents. Following Minister Bair Zhalsanov's resignation due to a conflict of interest, the ministry has been appointing new leaders. employees, some of whom were involved in corrupt practices with private kindergartens: the acting head of the Ministry of Education Valery Pozdnyakov and the head of the upbringing and additional education department Aryuna Baikova. They are working to avoid facing charges from the prosecutor’s office.
Following the closure of “Borovichok,” the “Anonymous 03” group received information suggesting that the children’s center was involved in improper activities. In 2021, the Accounts Chamber of Buryatia conducted an audit and discovered significant unjustified and unverified expenses. These included an allocation of 835,000 rubles for extensive repairs, 96,000 for advertising, and an additional 55,000 rubles written off for repairs that were never carried out. Approximately 400,000 rubles were spent on purchasing items “unrelated to childcare services,” including beer, seeds, and strong alcohol, which were deemed inappropriate for a kindergarten. Furthermore, the organization's leaders used subsidy funds to rent premises that were not utilized by the children's center.
Several parents of kindergarten students did not have formal contracts for the organization's services. Additionally, the center did not possess a license to conduct educational activities due to violations of SanPin norms. For instance, one of the five branches of the institution is situated in the former premises of the Zhili-Bili cafe, just 20 meters from a gas station. If the claims made by the anonymous author are accurate, it suggests that “Borovichok” received subsidies from the Ministry of Defense of Buryatia without proper oversight of its operations.
Following the scandal involving Bair Zhalsanov, who provided subsidies to his sister’s kindergarten, the authorities of Buryatia appear to have decided to impose stricter requirements on private kindergartens. Consequently, organizations that previously received government support have begun to close.
Initially, subsidies attracted entrepreneurs to establish private kindergartens (due to the lack of space in public kindergartens), enabling parents to enroll their children at affordable rates. Financial aid from the government led to a nearly threefold reduction in fees compared to market prices.
Parents-clients of “Borovichok” spoke very well about the kindergarten and they were outraged by the deprivation of the subsidy: “We have an excellent garden, spacious, all groups by age, the teachers are wonderful, they study every day! Where can we go after the new year?!”, “And in Gorky this garden will also be closed, then? Then allocate places for children who will be left without this kindergarten, and indeed other children without such kindergartens”, “I have two children who go to the private garden “Borovichok” at the Mill. We are satisfied. Don’t wait in line at the municipal garden. I have to quit my job to look after the kids. Help us, please don’t take away the subsidies.”
As a result, the officials of the Ministry of Education and the city committee on education did not help the parents, who were completely satisfied with the private kindergarten.
