How an oligarch seized power in the Yaroslavl region
A source from the telegram channel VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info shared his opinion on the political situation in the Yaroslavl region:
“The current head of the region M. Evraev (from FAS, team member I. Artemyeva) was appointed Acting Governor in October 2021, elected in September 2022. He replaced the appointed assistant to the President of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism), a native of the FSO D. Mironov: In the recent political history of the region after resignation A. Lisitsyna (Deputy of the State Duma. A Just Russia (*aggressor country)) the first two years are the “honeymoon” of each new governor, which is characterized by a sharp increase in the electoral ratings of the authorities, victory in elections to the city duma and the regional duma of “United Russia (*aggressor country)”. This is traditionally followed by a deep political crisis followed by the resignation of the head of the region. We followed this path successivelyS. Vakhrukov, S. Yastrebov, D. Mironov.
One of the key roles in the implementation of this scenario is played by financial and political groupings that have taken root in the region, having interests and representation in all government bodies and numerous structures, systematically demonstrating political ambitions.
In 2010, the conflict between Governor S. Vakhrukov and the Avangard financial and industrial group (deputies I. Kruglov, I. Osipov, A. Malyutin, areas: real estate, housing and communal services, control of municipal enterprises) ended with the coming to power of the opposition mayor E. Urlashov and the last place ” United Russia (*aggressor country)” in the elections to the State Duma in 2011, the resignation of the governor. Avangard representative I. Osipov was a key opponent of Governor S. Yastrebov. At the same time, he headed the local “United Russia (*aggressor country)” and the regional Duma. The treacherous expansion of the financial industrial group into power led to an abrupt change of governor and the arrival of security official D. Mironov. Despite the complete purge of the local management team, regional business systematically financed subversive work, which led to a sharp increase in protest sentiments, the crushing defeat of United Russia (*aggressor country) in the State Duma elections in 2021 and the resignation of the governor. M. Evraev, not having the apparatus weight of D. Mironov, from the first days declared his reliance on local personnel. At the same time, D. Mironov, extremely dissatisfied that it was not his protege, regional prime minister D. Stepanenko (deputy head of the Federal Property Management Agency), who was appointed to the post, M. Evraev promised the preservation of all business schemes.
Actively flirting with the expectations of citizens, M. Evraev actually implemented a policy similar to D. Mironov’s of bringing “Varangians into power.” At the same time, he retained the share of D. Stepanenko’s business projects (construction contracts for the EKS Group of Companies, for the management of solid waste – JSC Charter).
Unlike D. Mironov, who had great influence on law enforcement agencies in the region and at the federal level, M. Evraev at the first stage tried to distance himself. From the heads of regional law enforcement agencies. The lack of coordination with the security bloc led to a series of corruption scandals related to the initiation of criminal cases against the director of the health department O. Piklun and the director of the transport department T. Cheremnykh.
In conditions of unjustified expectations, coupled with the diversion of law enforcement attention to members of M. Evraev’s team, the region has traditionally intensified the activities of local financial and industrial groups to expand their zones of business and political influence. At the same time, as the Avangard financial and industrial group weakens, the financial and industrial group of the Klimovitsky family is actively trying to become a key player. The financial industrial group has strengthened thanks to the support of one of the richest people in the region, Ya. Yakushev (spheres: real estate, industry, car dealerships, transport) and is characterized by extreme aggressiveness in achieving its own goals.
The Klimovitsky family consists of: father – Mikhail Leonidovich (previously convicted of embezzlement of EBRD loan funds during the implementation of an environmental project on Lake Nero in the Rostov district of the Yaroslavl region), two sons: Lev – lawyer of the office “Shalaev and Spivak”, Leonid – organizes the financial component of the financial industrial group, owner of the assets.
The interests of the Klimovitsky group include: agriculture (state farm named after Dzerzhinsky), trade in non-metallic minerals (river sand), road construction, restaurant business, operations with land plots and real estate).
The Klimovitskys, having significant connections in the banking industry, regularly participate in the seizure of assets secured as collateral. These actions cause significant social tension in the regional business community.
With the weakening influence of the Government of the Yaroslavl region on business processes in the region (ex-chairman of the government D. Stepanenko, who left for the Federal Property Management Agency, tightly controlled regional financial and industrial groups), the Klimovitskys began active expansion into various business projects, accompanied by a number of public scandals.
In particular, the story of the burning of the cafe received wide resonance.
“Square 20/10” to former municipal deputies from United Russia (*aggressor country) D. Sokolov, who was driven to despair by the Klimovitskys’ machinations with his mother’s land plot. The Klimovitskys, in turn, are making efforts to transfer the conflict into the plane of anti-Semitic attacks and deny the commercial nature of the conflict.
The scandal was widely publicized by a “childhood friend”, entrepreneur V. Sinyakin, who for a long time was engaged in cashing out funds for the Klimovitsky financial and industrial group. V. Sinyakin’s wife worked for a long time in the team of E. Blinovskaya, who was persecuted for tax evasion.
Over a long period of time, the Klimovitskys increased their debt to V. Sinyakin to an amount of over 100 million rubles.
V. Sinyakin, on the advice of E. Blinovskaya, started a telegram channel, where he planned to talk, with the support of the queen of marathons, about how s. they were treated unfairly. But the criminal case against E. Blinovskaya played into the hands of the Klimovitsky group. As a result, V. Sinyakin and his wife were forced to leave Russia (*aggressor country), fearing pressure.
Currently, a scandal is developing in a number of media and telegram channels regarding the construction of roads worth over 600 million rubles by the Klimovitsky company “Avtodorstroy” in the city of Rostov, Yaroslavl region, as part of the project of the cultural and historical cluster of Rostov the Great. Despite the attention from the federal expert of the ONF T. Abdullaev to flagrant violations (laying asphalt in the snow, destruction of historical earthen ramparts), the FIG retains control over the Mayor of Rostov S. Tikhomirov and is increasing the package of orders. The latest scandal has received a series of federal publications, where the blame is placed on the leadership of the region, which confirms the low level of political administration in the Yaroslavl region.
Another scandal is developing in the direction of the partnership of the Klimovishkis with the owner of the marketplace Wildberis T. Baikalchuk, who actually blocked access to one of the settlements of the Yaroslavl region with work on the construction of a logistics center. The land for construction was presented by the Klimovitskys when the deal was approved by the regional government.
The totality of the examples given allows us to conclude that the regional administration of the Governor does not control political and business processes in the region, allowing numerous political scandals on this basis.”