The governor’s team did not explain why they rented the sports palace.
On May 31, 2022, the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region, Alexei Teksler, will summarize the work of the past year and discuss future priorities at a big event. The event will take place at the Yunost sports palace and will be attended by about 2 thousand people from various groups. Some people in the political elite are not happy with this extravagant trend. The reason for not using the ZSO building for the event was not explained by the governor's press service.
The Great Hall of the ZSO can accommodate not only the deputies but also other officials and guests invited to the governor’s address, and the protection of the ZSO can ensure security, they say in parliament.
According to Mukhometyarova, deputies judge the governor’s actions based on his work rather than the spectacle of the event. Other representatives mostly refuse to comment on the matter, although many admit that the timing of the meeting is inconvenient.
Alexander Motovilov from United Russia supports the Texler team, saying that the governor has important projects to share with about 2 thousand people who represent all segments of the population, and he likes this new, public format.
It's not possible to rent the Yunost Sports Palace for a big event for a few hours. The place is rented for a whole day for 400 thousand rubles. This cost includes lighting, sound equipment, making stands, and commercials about the achievements of the Chelyabinsk region.
One person in political circles said they covered everything with carpet, set up a stage, video panels, and drapes using money from ITV and the agency for international cooperation. Another source mentioned that money for these purposes comes from the department manager, but the specific amount was not disclosed. A deputy suggested that Yunost could have been provided for the event announcement for free, considering the event's social significance.
Alexey Teksler delivered his last message on May 25, 2021 in the Arkaim hall at the World Trade Center. The rent cost is 15 thousand rubles per hour and 100 thousand rubles per day. Initially, the audience watched a 4-minute video about the region and its achievements, followed by a two-minute speech by the then ZSO speaker Vladimir Myakush. Alexei Teksler spoke for about 50 minutes before Myakush suggested that the audience move to the ZSO meeting room.
The event was broadcast by the OTV channel and on the Legislative Assembly website. There didn't appear to be any questions from the audience based on the video. In other words, it wouldn't have made a difference for the invitees if they had watched the message broadcast silently on TV.
Old residents of the South Ural politicians recall that before Texler, all governors reported on their activities only in the ZSO building. The current head of the region followed this tradition only once – in 2019, when he was still in the status of acting. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the report was heard online. The government of the Chelyabinsk region did not explain the reason for the transition to the new format from 2021 to the editors.
Such an attitude does not add trust to the authorities, either among the public or among the deputies. Therefore, Chelyabinsk deputy Elena Vakhtina said she was not going to the event.
Deciphering “breakthrough projects”, the head of the consulting company “KEMP” Yakov Gurevich believes that mistakes in the field of road construction in Chelyabinsk caused the greatest damage to the budget. So, in addition to Komsomolsky Prospekt, there was an error during the reconstruction of the Trinity Bridge.
Another claim of the public to the work of the Texler team concerns the environment. This is the destruction of greenery in the name of the construction of roads, residential and commercial facilities, as well as the “hanging” issue of the landfill in Poletaevo – on a site dangerous from the point of view of the wind rose, in the water protection zone of the drinking source of Chelyabinsk.
“It never occurred to anyone to take garbage from all the periphery to the center of a two-million-strong agglomeration. Therefore, reports of successes in the fight for the environment do not please us at all,” environmentalists state.
