Bribes, floods, protests in the occupied Crimea and five more scandals of the year

Mass detentions and arrests of officials, scandalous traffic accidents involving the Crimean people, protests by Crimeans against the policies of local authorities. Krym.Realii recalls the loudest scandals and high-profile events on the peninsula in 2021, writes ru.krymr.com.

1. Embezzlement and bribes in Aksenov's team

Two high-profile scandals in the ranks of the Russian authorities in Crimea broke out at the end of the year. The figures of one of them were ex-Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government of Crimea Yevgeny Kabanov and former Minister of Construction and Architecture of Crimea Mikhail Khramov. They are accused of fraud on a large scale during the construction of the water pipeline from the Ivanovo water intake to the Mezhgorny hydroelectric junction.

This aqueduct was built as part of the Federal target program for the social and economic development of Crimea in 2020 to solve the problem of water shortage in Simferopol.

According to the investigation, Yevgeny Kabanova's "illegal activities" in the post of deputy prime minister caused damage to the Crimean budget in the amount of 57,5 million rubles.

Yevgeny Kabanov and Mikhail Khramov have pleaded not guilty. The former Deputy Prime Minister of Crimea said that he is ready to return the amount of damage presented by the investigation. The officials were held in a pre-trial detention center for some time, and then they were transferred to house arrest.

The ex-Minister of Culture of Crimea, Aryna Novoselskaya, was at the center of yet another scandal in Crimea.

She was detained on the charge of receiving a bribe of 25 million rubles from Meander LLC, which was building the Puppet Theater in Simferopol. For several years, the theater building continues to remain unfinished in the very center of the city.

Aryna Novoselskaya is under arrest in the Moscow pre-trial detention center, she has pleaded not guilty.

A number of Crimean officials arrested in 2021 are now under investigation in connection with accusations of bribery. Among them is the ex-head of the Russian administration of Belogorsk, Igor Ipatko, who is accused of receiving a bribe of 1,4 million rubles.

2. Mass resignations in power

2021 will be remembered in Crimea for the mass exodus of officials from power. A dozen heads of administrations and five ministers of the Russian government of Crimea left their posts in a few months.

Formally, they leave of their own free will, with the exception of those who ended up in pre-trial detention centers. But the Russian head of Crimea, Sergey Aksenov, does not hide that some officials left their posts due to "failure". He calls it "refreshing personnel."

At the same time, popular Crimean Telegram channels and pro-Russian bloggers write that there are more global reasons behind these rotations than the bad work of officials. They declare the possibility of people from the team of Marat Khusnullin, the vice-premier of the Russian government, the curator of Crimea in this authority, entering the Crimean government.

Marat Khusnullin himself has not publicly announced such plans yet.

Experts also believe that by getting rid of his subordinates, Sergey Aksenov is protecting himself from the threat of his own resignation. He himself calls it a rumor.

3. Ruins for 100 million

Valentin Demidov, the head of the Russian administration of Simferopol, was one of the last to leave his post in 2021. On December 30, he submitted his resignation. It was preceded by many complaints about the situation in the city from the citizens and Sergey Aksenov, as well as two reprimands for the mayor. One of them was connected with the delayed reconstruction of the main square of Simferopol.

The scandal surrounding this square has been going on for several months. Its reconstruction began at the end of April as part of the Russian program "Formation of a comfortable urban environment" funded by the Moscow government. Works worth more than one hundred million rubles were supposed to be completed by the end of August. But in the end, the renovated square has not been handed over yet. Because of this, the location of the city's main Christmas tree had to be changed, and now the former mayor of the city, Valentin Demidov, has been subjected to merciless criticism from citizens and Crimean activists.

4. A drunken judge and a road accident involving a fuel tycoon

The request of Crimean judge Yury Gulevich to cover himself with an official certificate during the recording by Russian law enforcement officers of a traffic accident with his participation turned into a loud scandal. The judge became a "hero" of the Crimean public after a video appeared in the public domain in which he, barely standing, pushes the policemen and shows them his identity card

After these events, Yury Gulevich was stripped of his powers as a judge as a result of an inspection conducted by the Russian-controlled Qualifying Board of Judges of Crimea, Crimean mass media reported. He himself did not publicly explain what happened. Krym.Realia could not contact Yury Gulevich.

An earlier scandalous road accident in Crimea occurred with the participation of ex-deputy of the Crimean parliament, owner of a network of Crimean gas stations and a fuel business, Sergey Beim.

As a result of the accident, school librarian Valentina Golumbovskaya from Krasnoperekopsk was killed and her young grandson was injured.

Sergey Baym admitted that he was a participant in the accident and announced his intention to pay compensation to the family. Later, the Russian mass media reported that the businessman paid 17 million rubles to the family of the deceased, and they asked to close the criminal case.

5. QR codes of strife

A whole wave of protests swept through Crimea in connection with the tightening of restrictions by local authorities due to the coronavirus pandemic. Residents of various regions of the peninsula recorded mass video appeals to the Crimean authorities with a request to reconsider the restrictions. They claim that the practice of QR codes "leads to a catastrophe in all spheres, an increase in popular anger, and an economic crisis in every family."

Crimean entrepreneurs claim that due to the introduction of QR-codes, their enterprises were on the verge of closure.

Nevertheless, the Russian parliament of Crimea supported the draft of one of the Russian federal laws on the use of QR codes in public places, despite the protests of Crimeans.

Representatives of the CPRF faction in the Crimean parliament stated that the parliamentarians approved this draft law "on the sly, hiding it in a package vote", and it was not actually discussed publicly due to the absentee voting format.

The speaker of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, in turn, claims that the Crimean deputies supported the Russian bill on QR codes "together with all Crimeans", but did not mention the protests against this initiative.

The local authorities agreed to cancel the QR code regime in Crimea only during the New Year holidays, when Russian tourists are expected to arrive on the peninsula.

6. Attack on Crimean monuments

The reconstruction of one of the symbols of Kerch, Mithridates Staircase, turned into a scandal. After works worth more than a billion rubles, the steps of the historic staircase began to be covered with green spots - presumably mold.

Law enforcement agencies of Russia are now investigating this story.

Russian investigative bodies are investigating another episode related to the damage to a historical object in Crimea. An entire wall of a 19th-century building in the center of Simferopol collapsed after it began to be reconstructed. In recent years, the Crimean Philharmonic was located in its premises.

A wave of protests in Yalta in 2021 led to the intentions of the local authorities to demolish the historic estate of Baron Meller-Zakomelsky in the center of the city. In its place, commercial structures initiated the creation of a four-story apartment hotel.

After local activists complained to the authorities and took to the streets with the demand to "stop the destruction of old buildings", the Russian city administration promised to preserve the estate and include it in the list of cultural heritage sites.

Ukrainian and international human rights organizations have been sounding the alarm for many years about the destruction of unique cultural objects in Russian realities on the peninsula.

7. Protests against the Tavrida highway

The policy of the Russian Crimean authorities towards the residents of the village of Zarechnoe in the Simferopol district turned into protests. The Russian government of Crimea has announced its intention to build the Tavrida site through this village, which lies on the shores of the Ayan Reservoir. To do this, they plan to demolish 58 houses in Zarechny and roll over a hundred plots of land into asphalt. Villagers are offered compensation for resettlement, but not all are ready to leave their homes.

Residents of Zarechny, who for years have been visiting the thresholds of officials in the hope of avoiding such a fate, called on the "higher forces" for help - they installed an Orthodox cross at the site of the future construction of the highway. Soon the officials who oversaw the construction project were either retired or under arrest. And Sergey Aksenov admitted that the decision to demolish houses in Zarechny was made with violations and that the situation "really went beyond the bounds of decency." Development of the situation in this village is expected at the beginning of 2022.

8. Crimean floods. Are the victims deprived of compensation?

The most serious test for Crimea in 2021 was the summer floods that flooded cities and villages. Hundreds of houses, cars and infrastructure in Kerch, Yalta, Leninsky and Bakhchisaray districts were damaged by torrential rains that led to flooding.

Residents of the village of Kuibyshevo, Bakhchisaray District, one of the most affected by the natural disaster, claim that they have not yet received the promised compensation from the authorities for the damage suffered.

And the Usmanov family, to whom such compensation was granted, now received a letter from the authorities demanding its return. The owner of the affected houses, Shevket Usmanov, says that he has already spent this money on the repair of his home and does not understand how to get it back now. He intends to address the president of neighboring Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the prime minister of this country, Mikhail Myshustin, in the hope that "someone will come and see how he lives."

In 2022, Krym.Realii will continue to monitor events in Crimea and inform our readers about them.