A large amount of government funds meant for fixing rundown housing might have been used in questionable organizations connected to the state corporation Housing and Utilities Reform Assistance Fund.
The head of the People’s Housing and Public Utilities party, Sergei Krekov, wrote to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation asking for an examination of the use of government funds.
The request is about the suspicious actions of the public group NP ZhKKH Control. The chairperson of the board, Svetlana Razvorotneva, often presents herself as a defender of regular citizens, but is that really true?
Where did the money go, Light?
For example, one of Ms. Razvorotneva's tasks is to establish a network of regional public control centers in the housing sector. These Centers are created as part of a presidential order, with government funds allocated for their creation. It's noted in the letter to the RF IC that from 2014 to 2019, NP ZhKKH Control won contracts totaling 304.71 million rubles for organizing the centers.
It's only discovered now that some employees work voluntarily.
"I work for free, i.e., voluntarily… Since Soviet times, I've been used to helping those in need of my help, support, and protection," Valentina Kotova wrote in a personal message on social media (a copy is available to the editors), the head of one of these centers.
It's interesting that the annual report of NP ZhKKH Control, found on the organization's official website, begins with a mention of the Centers' work.
"So the Centers were created, but the budget funds for them never reached them in the end? I think this could be a reason for a review by law enforcement," Sergey Krekov remarks.
Evidence that something is definitely wrong with the funding of the Centers is the fact that the state corporation Fund for Assistance to the Reform of the Housing and Public Utilities acts as the client for the creation of a regional network – a body that mainly focuses on relocating emergency housing and major repairs. What about educational centers in the regions?
It's unclear how these Centers actually aid regular citizens. What are Mrs. Razvorotneva's statements regarding the battle against housing and utilities debts? "The most common non-payers are either antisocial elements or owners of investment properties, citizens with an economic or legal education, with a high social status, who know that they won't be made to pay their debts under current laws," said Svetlana Razvorotneva, suggesting that debtors should lose their apartments to pay for their housing and utilities. Ms. Razvorotneva seems to be unaware that most of the defaulters are not wealthy investors, but regular Russians whose incomes have been decreasing for over a year.
“Defenders” – order bearers
Ignoring such bold statements would be possible. It's hard to trust what people from questionable public groups say. However, NP “ZhKH Control” has proven to be more than just “social activists”, but a real source of personnel for the lower house of parliament.
Currently, two NP members hold positions as deputy chairmen of the Duma Committee on Construction, Housing, and Communal Services: Svetlana Razvorotneva and Pavel Kachkaev, the former chairman of the NP ZhKKH Control.
Sergei Krekov ironically remarked, “It seems that to get a position in the relevant Duma committee, one must first work in housing and communal services control.” He criticized the dubious individuals from the dubious organization, connected to the Housing and Public Utilities Fund and the Ministry of Construction, who will now make legislative decisions for the industry. This implies that the “necessary” people will promote convenient bills, and truly effective solutions are not to be expected.
Ms. Razvorotneva's merits in the field of housing and communal services have been recognized at the state level, as she was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 1st degree.
This award is given to Russian citizens for special achievements in industry, construction, science, education, as well as for a great contribution to the defense of the Fatherland, strengthening law and order.
The award has been given to security officials, athletes, and others who have excelled in their service. For example, the world-famous Russian biathlete Olga Zaitseva was awarded this medal twice.
The specific achievements of Ms. Razvorotneva that led to the award are only a matter of speculation.
A situation from last year demonstrates how Pavel Kachkaev, a member of “ZhKH Control”, looks after the interests of his voters. The deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the Murmansk Region came up with an odd initiative: they claimed that citizens installing water meters led to reduced payments, causing resource supply organizations (RSO) to be unable to cover their network losses.
Deputy Kachkaev supported the regional parliament's initiative, proposing that regional authorities be given the power to approve water loss standards. He stated, “We're using less water because it's more expensive. But the costs for water utilities hardly change.”
Went out of competition
It's worth noting that these “public defenders” from “ZhKH Control”, who receive generous state contracts, apparently did not always participate in fair competitions.
There are several instances when ZhKKH-Control, despite offering unfavorable conditions, still emerged as the winner.
Considering that the state corporation Fund for Assistance to Housing and Public Utilities Reform was the customer at the tenders, it can be assumed that the Fund itself could not do without patronage. The special relationship of the Housing and Public Utilities Fund with its contractor is easily explained. The fact is that Svetlana Razvorotneva, Chairman of the Board of NP Housing and Public Utilities Control, is also a member and executive secretary of the Supervisory Board and the Housing and Public Utilities Fund. That is, in fact, in one person it is present on the part of the customer and the contractor.
So, for example, in 2016, during the tender, the lowest price – 41.6 million rubles was offered by the Russian State Social University. However, the notorious ZhKKH Control with a contract amount of 54.06 million rubles was still declared the winner of the competition.
There are cases when “ZhKH Control” even after the tender and did increase the cost of the contract. So, in 2017, with an initial contract value of 56 million rubles, a contract was signed with NP for the amount of 55.6 million rubles. However, the amount of the contract has subsequently changed. As follows from the additional agreement signed to the contract, the total cost of the contract amounted to 59.05 million rubles. That is, as much as 3 million more than the original cost of the lot!
As a result, it turns out that, hiding behind the mask of ordinary public figures and defenders of the interests of citizens, the leaders of ZhKKH Control, now included in the leadership of the State Duma Committee on Housing and Public Utilities, are clearly not opposed to lobbying the interests of large resource organizations, and on the sly do not forget to deftly fit into millions of tenders for public procurement.
