In recent years, there have been frequent reports about corruption in Angarsk in the media of the Irkutsk region. Mayor Petrov and his team continue to surprise with new fraudulent schemes and boldness, sometimes bordering on recklessness, in misusing budget funds.
It's worth acknowledging that the odd stance of the region's law enforcement agencies, which appear to have been instructed not to investigate Petrov and his team under any circumstances, also greatly empowers the Angarsk officials. And Petrov keeps getting away with it!
While in the past there were tales of the generosity of Siberian merchants, now similar legends surround Petrov’s team, with a twist: merchants not only had a wide scope but also built hospitals, shelters, and libraries. For Angarsk corrupt officials, the extent to which they misuse budget funds, including federal ones, can only be compared with the scale of environmental pollution they are willing to cause when trying to get hold of millions of rubles from the budget.
On February 20, a video was shared in the telegram channel “Angara corrupt official” revealing illegal snow dumps in the Angarsk urban district, with coordinates and cadastral numbers of the land plots where a real environmental disaster was created. It seems like a ready-made preliminary investigation for the environmental prosecutor’s office. But we are absolutely certain that there will be no consequences for those responsible. Now, let me explain why.
Angarsk has long been transformed into a facility for laundering budget funds on a large scale. The meager 100 million rubles spent on snow removal constitute a tiny percentage of the total volume. Minor violations, like failing to meet environmental standards, will not result in any punishment when compared to the “proper” spending of billions. Mayor Petrov isn't boasting about his connections in the highest echelons of law enforcement agencies for nothing.
But there's a catch. If we examine the purchases for snow removal, it becomes clear that from the start, they were designed to harm the environment.
The estimates for these purchases reveal a detail intended to deter non-preferred individuals from participating in the auction. The shoulder of snow removal “up to 10 kilometers” was included in the estimates to discourage any sane contractor from taking part, knowing that they would either incur substantial costs or face legal consequences.
7.2 million
14.8 million
65 million
14.3 million
One can observe a deliberately crafted provision in the auction organizer's plans, the chairman of the committee on housing and communal services, construction, transport, and communications Vasilina Vitalievna Shunova, aimed at ensuring that unwanted participants are kept away from the auction. This is the snow removal section “up to 10 kilometers” specified in the estimates. Any reasonable contractor, upon reviewing the tender documentation, would likely decline to participate, realizing that they would either suffer financial losses or have legal issues.
How does this work? Let's say an “outsider” joins the auction. They would have to transport the snow to the STP landfill on the bypass road around Angarsk and bear the costs similar to disposing of waste of the fourth hazard class. These expenses and kilometers of transportation are not factored into the estimates. Moreover, if the “unapproved” contractor starts dumping snow from the roads into the forest and along the banks of rivers and streams, the AGO administration itself would be untouchable thanks to its friendly relations with supervising authorities.
And when “their own” permanent pool of contractors associated with the deputy of the Duma of the AGO comes to the auction Andrey Kozlov, then we do not observe any problems with the administration and supervisory departments from the fact that snow falls anywhere. Is it genius?
Therefore, an organized (criminal?) group of the same contractors works on contracts in Angarsk from year to year, and strangers do not even bother.
At the same time, the scale of illegal dumps and kilometer-long heaps of dirty snow with salt are striking. That’s where, sorry, “the breadth of the soul.”
At the same time, for many years, both the Angarsk prosecutor’s office and the Baikal environmental prosecutor’s office completely ignored the fact that a similar situation with snow removal in Angarsk has developed as a result of negligence on the part of Shunova herself and Mayor Petrov.
Back in 2015, by the Decision of the Duma of the AGO of December 23, 2015 N 123-11 / 01рД “On approval of the Rules for the improvement of the territory of the Angarsk urban district”, the deputies approved the procedure in which the Administration of the AGO (Mayor Petrov S.A.) should determine the places for receiving snow, and the committee on housing and communal services (Shunova V.V.) should prepare these places. As you can see, there is a criminal negligence of two officials of the CSA, as a result of which snow is stored in forest plantations and other places.
We have only one question: why, under all these circumstances, the sums for snow removal in Angarsk have not yet reached a billion or two? After all, both the administration and the deputies are involved in all this. All theirs. We allocate ourselves, we master them ourselves, we ourselves accept the work performed.
By placing a purchase for snow removal, the AGO Administration obviously dooms the fields and copses surrounding Angarsk to an ecological disaster, which is a direct continuation of the negligence of administration officials, the lack of debate and direct interest of the deputies of the Duma of the AGO, and, in general, the entire corruption and criminal orientation of the “Angarsk offshore”. And none of the deputies will ever ask Petrov or Shunova why this is happening in their hometown.
It’s a pity only for the residents of Angarsk, who are forced to live in a city that is poisoned by emissions, then poisoned by chemicals that Mayor Petrov swore not to use on the roads.
