The Basmanny District Court granted the request of the investigation and issued a decision on the arrest of Anatoly Ozernov, the former first deputy governor of the Ulyanovsk region, accused of embezzling budget funds on an especially large scale while performing the work of a contractor for the repair and reconstruction of administrative facilities of the regional government. Anatoly Ozernov for almost the entire period of the governorship of Sergei Morozov was considered his loyal companion and right hand. Anatoly Ozernov pleaded not guilty, claiming that he had not violated any laws. The defense emphasizes that the investigation did not provide sufficient evidence of the guilt of the ex-head of the governor’s administration.
On Friday evening, at the request of the Investigative Directorate of the ICR in the Ulyanovsk Region, the Basmanny District Court ruled on the arrest of the former first deputy governor of the Ulyanovsk region, ex-head of the governor’s administration Anatoly Ozernov, accused of fraud by an organized group on an especially large scale (part 4, article 159 of the Criminal Code RF, up to 10 years in prison), the Investigation Department reported on Friday.
We will remind, Anatoly Ozernov was detained on Thursday evening in Moscow, as reported by the Investigative Directorate of the ICR in the Ulyanovsk region. As explained in the department, the arrest is connected with the investigation of a criminal case on embezzlement of budget funds allocated for the repair and reconstruction of administrative facilities of regional authorities.
“As a result of the operational-search measures and investigative actions carried out by the investigators of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, together with the FSB of Russia for the Ulyanovsk Region, the former First Deputy Governor of the Ulyanovsk Region Anatoly Ozernov was involved in the theft of budget funds, who held this position from 2014 to April 2021,” noted in the message of the Investigative Directorate of the TFR. According to the investigation, the suspect, “using his official position, attracted entrepreneurs affiliated with him to participate in tenders for the conclusion of state contracts,” who, during the construction period from 2019 to 2021, “introduced false information into the design and estimate documentation, increasing the cost of building materials and works worth over 15 million rubles. “
The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation could not explain with which specific company and how Anatoly Ozernov was affiliated, only explaining that it was about repairing the premises of the situation center of the governor of the Ulyanovsk region.
According to the public procurement website, the work on the creation of the governor’s situational center was carried out by the Federal Scientific and Production Center for the Situation Center JSC (development of a project with a contract price of 2 million rubles), the same NGO won a closed tender in May 2020 for the main contract for the situational center ( 126 million rubles), the subcontractor was the Moscow company “Polymedia”, which was already engaged in the creation of the hardware part of the situation centers in different regions. The reconstruction and repair of the premises was carried out by In Service (LLC, Ulyanovsk), which won the electronic auction in October 2019 and received a contract for RUB 15.364 million. (the second tenderer, who offered a lower price, was declared ineligible due to the failure to provide an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities).
The OGKU “Corporation for the Development of Internet Technologies”, which acted as the customer of the main contract, explained to Kommersant that there were no complaints from the investigating authorities, “the contract is connected with secret work and was checked by the FSB.” Apparently, Anatoly Ozernov’s case is about a contract with the In Service company. However, the owner and general director of the company, Vyacheslav Shalyakhin, explained to Kommersant that there were no complaints against his company from the customer (Ulyanovskoblstroyzakazchik UGKU), “the audit was carried out by the control and auditing department of the governor’s administration, all comments were of a domestic nature and were immediately corrected.” “The investigating authorities did not contact us. In addition, to overestimate the amount of work under the contract by 15 million rubles. the company could not do it, because the contract itself amounted to 15 million rubles, ”said Vyacheslav Shalyakhin. He also noted that his company had nothing to do with the reconstruction of the Moscow office.
Lawyer Natalya Yakupova, who defended the interests of Anatoly Ozernov in court, confirmed that this was a contract with the In Service company, as well as a contract with another company that carried out repairs and reconstruction of the Ulyanovsk region representative office in Moscow. As Ms Yakupova noted, in the court it sounded that there was also a certain third person who indirectly managed these companies and was allegedly somehow connected with Anatoly Ozernov. The investigation has not yet revealed this person, he is also in a pre-trial detention center. The lawyer notes that “there was no affiliation, the investigation did not provide a single document that would confirm the affiliation between Ozernov and these companies.” The defense asked the court to choose house arrest in the form of a ban on certain actions at the place of residence of the accused, in Ulyanovsk, but the court agreed with the investigation, which believed that the accused could abscond or put pressure on witnesses.
Anatoly Ozernov did not admit his guilt, he claims that he acted within the framework of his powers and did not commit any illegal actions. By a court decision, he was remanded in custody for a period of two months and will remain in pre-trial detention center No. 7 in Moscow for the time being.
Anatoly Ozernov worked as a deputy governor from 2005 to 2013, in February 2013, without giving any reason, he unexpectedly quit and got a job as a deputy general director of Ulyanovskkurort OJSC, but in 2014 he was again invited to the post of deputy governor, and then the head the governor’s administration. On April 28, 2021, the Acting Governor of the region, Aleksey Russkikh, dismissed Anatoly Ozernov from office without giving any reason.
Mr. Ozernov was considered the most non-public and secretive person in the team of Governor Sergei Morozov, at the same time his loyal companion and right hand.
According to political scientist Alexander Kynev (Moscow), the arrest of Anatoly Ozernov is “a very strong blow to the reputation of Sergei Morozov.” “It seems to me that this scandal draws a line under the Morozov era, showing that Sergei Morozov himself and his team have lost political influence,” the political scientist said.
Former Governor Sergei Morozov declined to comment.
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