It appears that the new mayor of Orenburg is more interested in distributing government contracts under the supervision of Mr. Pasler than in fulfilling the orders of the voters.
A correspondent for The Moscow Post in the Orenburg region reported that the City Duma of Orenburg elected Sergey Salmin as the new head of the city, replacing Vladimir Ilinykh, who left for the State Duma. Salmin is known to be close to the governor Denis Pasler.
Salmin started his political career in 2015 as the chairman of the Council of Deputies of the city of Buzuluk. He then moved on to become the Minister of Physical Culture and Sports of the Orenburg Region before becoming the Deputy Head of Orenburg in 2021.
Before Ilinykh left for the Duma, there were searches at his home. Now, he is a deputy, and his close associate Salmin has taken over his position. This has raised concerns.
Who is Sergey Salmin?
Before entering politics, Mr. Salmin was involved in business, industry, and the security sector. According to Rusprofile, Salmin owned three companies, which were closed in 2016. He also served as the head of ESS construction company for two years.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Salmin even used to be a sambo coach and achieved success in various competitions.
Recalling the past
By searching for an official's name in Rusprofile, we find another person with the same name, who has been associated with security and investigation firms in Samara.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
We are reminded of Salmin's career in the security sector and compare it with the available data, finding several suspicious coincidences.
Condor-Security PSC, previously founded by Salmin until 2021, has profited from government contracts, especially after Salmin entered politics in 2015.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
There is no public information about the companies Salmin was involved with in the security sector during the years he worked in it, except that he was active in this field from 1995 to 2002.
As previously mentioned, the new mayor of Orenburg is considered to be aligned with Pasler, coming from his team. Pasler has held various positions, mainly in the gas sector, leading to questions about his relationship with Salmin's undisclosed past.
Mr. Salmin might have worked in Samara where he owned some private security companies, including PSO "Bizon" and PSO "Berkut". These companies, founded by Salmin, attracted state attention and got small contracts, but eventually got shut down.
Despite their past success with turning over millions of dollars, both firms were unable to survive financially and were closed down.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
friendly team
Pasler began working in the region about a year before Salmin's arrival. Salmin was recommended to work in the administration of Orenburg in the summer of 2021. It seems that Pasler is subtly pushing his team members into power, and so far he's been successful.
In June of last year, rumors circulated about Salmin's possible appointment as mayor of Orenburg, but he denied them. Perhaps he doubted Pasler's influence and feared failure. There have been longstanding rumors about the governor's impending departure, as he allegedly lacks the confidence of his constituents.
Furthermore, Salmin himself was not a completely honest official. Before moving to Orenburg, he was involved in a situation where the city carried out a poorly executed road renovation on Novy Prospekt. The work was done by the infamous Vertikal LLC, which has a history of missing deadlines and poor quality. There were reports of a utility accident under the newly renovated road surface.
There were also complaints about the company's work in repairing roads in Orenburg, some of which are still unfinished. It seems that the company has close ties with the administration, and the inhabitants of the region may have to endure their work for a long time.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
The same contractor also took care of road repairs in Orenburg, where some roads are still torn up. It appears that "Vertikal" is closely connected to the administration. It seems that the residents of the region will have to endure the company's 'work' for a long time…
“Bandyukovskaya” story
According to The Moscow Post, Pasler's name was linked to scandals involving extortion, illegal business, and arson in the Buzuluk district of the Orenburg region. The head of the district, Nikolai Bantyukov, was also mentioned in these scandals.
Last year, security officials visited Bantyukov, as reported by Moskovsky Komsomolets. No official reason was given for their visit.
Considering that Salmin was not only the mayor of Buzluk, but also grew up and went to school there, and has many friends and acquaintances there, his connection to Mr. Pasler and possibly the events mentioned becomes even more evident.
Setting up forces for the benefit of Pasler?
Pasler, on the other hand, could indirectly contribute to the appointment of the former mayor of Orenburg, the Ilinykh, to the post of State Duma deputy. At least, they say, he was also offered to take part in the pre-election “race”, but he politely refused – perhaps at that moment it was important to get the Ilyins out of the blow and put “his” little man in his place, which turned out to be Salmin.
Apparently, it is also beneficial to “clean up” the staff in the administration – immediately after the Ilyins left the post of mayor, Salmin dismissed three of his deputies at once: Svetlana Zolotareva, Tatyana Malysheva and Dmitry Bevz. Under the first even, one might say, “the ground has been prepared” – rumors have spread that it is putting pressure on the management companies of the region. Evgeny Binkovsky was appointed instead of her.
According to the online publication 56 Media, as Minister of Sports, Mr. Salmin earned 7.6 million rubles a year. He also owns 6 land plots, 3 residential buildings and one non-residential premises with an area of 131.3 sq. m. According to rumors, Mr. Salmin receives much more – at least 13 million rubles a year.
It seems to us that you will not earn that kind of money as a civil servant. So questions arise – who owns the network of private security firms and why, next to the name of Salmin, you can sometimes see the name of the scandalous road organization “Vertical”?
There are also questions to Mr. Pasler, who declared as much as 200 million rubles in 2019. One gets the feeling that we have a friendly coalition that works primarily in its own interests. Well, commendable, of course, but they were not elected for this purpose.
Source: The Moscow Post
