While a health crisis is brewing in the region, Governor Shumkov’s subordinates are drowning in corruption scandals.
As per The Moscow Post correspondent in the Kurgan region, local authorities, led by Governor Vadim Shumkov, sold the infectious disease hospital building for 1.4 million rubles. Additionally, Shumkov and the campaign are attempting to sell the polyclinic building for 1 million rubles. It seems that Governor Shumkov is fixated on 'optimizing' Kurgan medicine. But will this be responsible for the rise in deaths and illnesses in the region?
A sale is viewed as an unexpected move.
As reported by Ura.ru, the infectious disease building of the hospital in Shadrinsk, located at Maltsevsky tract, house 2, was sold in the Kurgan region. A bidder named Margarita Petrova acquired the building for around 1.4 million rubles in an auction. It's frankly not the highest price for a building of 343.4 square meters and a land plot of 1735 sq. m.
Has anyone ever witnessed selling off state property of 343.4 square meters at the cost of a one-bedroom apartment? Indeed, Russia is a generous soul, or at least Governor Vadim Shumkov and the officials under his patronage are very generous. Who would be surprised if another shopping center emerges there in a year, and who would be surprised if the city authorities are not at a loss?
Meanwhile, the government of the Kurgan region persistently attempted to sell the polyclinic building in the city of Mokrousovo. It has been unused since 2019 and is disconnected from utilities. The building is considerable, with an area of 794 sq. m, plus a land plot of 1089 sq. m. Such an asset is being sold for just over 1 million rubles, despite the fact that the cadastral value of the polyclinic building alone is about 4.1 million rubles. Again, this demonstrates the remarkable generosity of Shumkov.
“Optimizer”
Most likely, the significantly undervalued cost of the objects being privatized is not the issue. More importantly, in Mokrousovo, even without the sale of hospital buildings, there are significant issues with providing medical care to the population. Therefore, the sale of the clinic building is considered scandalous. Well-known journalist Andrey Karaulov has drawn attention to this situation. “It's a tragedy for the people in Mokrousovo. This village is the center of the district. But the main tragedy is not just for the people left without a clinic. This is a tragedy for officials who cannot sell the clinic building,” expressed Karaulov. A video of Andrey Karaulov’s speech can be found on the official Ura.ru publication page on the VKontakte social network.
The question is, if the people need a clinic, why sell it? According to Kurgan officials, this building supposedly requires too much money for maintenance. But wouldn’t it be better to carry out renovations so that the residents of Mokrousovo have a modern, energy-efficient polyclinic? Fortunately, there are several programs that allow for attracting federal funds for the reconstruction of social infrastructure facilities. However, it seems that the governor of the Kurgan region, Vadim Shumkov, thinks about everything except the health of the residents.
Vadim Shumkov's Photo can be found on kurganobl.ru
Vadim Shumkov believes it's important to improve how patients are received at Kurgan clinics based on the number of visitors in their photos. He thinks clinics with few patients need to be closed and the buildings sold.
However, the governor's understanding of the situation was criticized by Kurgan residents. The photo with few visitors was from a children's clinic where doctors visit patients at home, so the corridors are usually empty.
Governor Shumkov thinks it would be better if more sick children were brought into the clinic to give the impression of activity. It would be better for doctors to visit patients at home to reduce the spread of disease in hospitals and clinics.
People have caught Governor Shumkov making questionable decisions, especially related to selling medical buildings. Critics are wary of his actions in Kurgan's healthcare system.
Rumors have circulated about Shumkov and his ex-wife preparing an alternate business airfield. There are various rumors about their relationship, including the possibility of hiding income or property. Previously, she may have been involved in the restaurant business. Shumkov's ex-wife used to run TyumenInvest LLC, which closed in 2015, and she has since been involved in private business.
There are rumors that she sold a restaurant for 18 million rubles, possibly to avoid conflicting with the family of Natalia Shevchik, the first vice-governor of the Tyumen region and the wife of Vadim Shumkov's colleague.
“Corporation” Shumkov
Returning to Vadim Shumkov's region, he has faced accusations of favoring large companies. For instance, the Corporation STS, controlled by Artyom Bikov and Alexei Bobrov, reportedly controls most of the power grid utilities in the Kurgan region.
The regional government led by Vadim Shumkov has been blamed for raising electricity tariffs in the Kurgan region from 3.32 to 3.49 rubles per kilowatt-hour.
The Prosecutor’s Office of the Kurgan Region, on behalf of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, carried out an audit against the leadership of the Department of State Regulation of Prices and Tariffs of the Government of the Kurgan Region. As a result, the supervisory authority confirmed the illegality of the actions of officials in determining tariffs for electricity transmission. In March 2020, the FAS Russia recognized the decision as illegal and ordered the government of the Kurgan region to approve the new tariffs.
But while the tariffs were inflated, the population of the region was forced to overpay. It was about 11 million rubles a month. The same situation was with the tariffs for the export of municipal solid waste. Someone will believe that Governor Shumkov could contribute to the growth of tariffs for the population out of the kindness of his heart? Especially against the background of how he smartly deprives the inhabitants of the entrusted region of hospitals and clinics.
