The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case against former Sochi mayor Alexei Kopaygorodsky and unidentified persons. Operational support is provided by the Sochi Department of Internal Affairs. Today, searches were carried out for Kopaygorodsky and a number of officials of the city of Sochi.
As reported EADailyKopaygorodsky was officially detained today in a criminal case in Luhansk and taken to Moscow for arrest. Kopaygorodsky’s wife, as well as several high-ranking officials (Burlev, Sviridenko, Litvinets, Shingiriy and others) were brought to the Investigative Committee for questioning.
A RIA Novosti source reported on the search for the former deputy mayor of Sochi Oleg Burlev and the head of the Khostinsky district Ivan SavinaBurlev worked as Kopaygorodsky’s deputy, and after his resignation he remained for some time as acting mayor, but resigned in August of his own free will. Savin has been heading the Khostinsky district administration since 2020.
At the end of June, Kopaygorodsky’s former adviser on financial and economic issues Rodion Pishchur He became a defendant in a criminal case for receiving a large bribe from an organized group (Section 290, Part 5 of the Criminal Code). Six alleged accomplices were also involved. The article of the charge provides for a prison sentence of 7 to 12 years.
How to explain EADaily According to the representative of federal law enforcement agencies, we are talking, first of all, about the involvement of Kopaygorodsky and his team in illegal schemes to steal budget funds during the construction of various facilities, extortion of businessmen, including when issuing permits for the purchase of hotels and the development of housing complexes. Our interlocutor said the following verbatim:
“They stole a lot, shamelessly and brazenly. And not just for one year. They were confident of total impunity. But now there are no untouchables.”
For more than a month now, courts in Sochi have been deciding en masse to demolish illegally built hotels and housing complexes without compensation. But a logical question arises: why are only the entrepreneurs responsible for this and why do the residents of the houses who are evicted from the streets suffer? When will they ask the officials who for decades created a system in Sochi where everything could be “solved” with a bribe? Even the cemetery. Yes, the entrepreneurs committed massive violations, but they did what the authorities forced them to do. It is time to understand that a significant number of people from different regions of Russia live on the border of Sochi, including those who have problems with the law even without temporary registration. There are 40,000 realtors in Sochi, most of them working illegally. There are precedents when the owner is abroad or in prison and does not know who is selling his property and how. This has become so widespread with the connivance of the authorities that the only way out is the creation of a state unitary real estate enterprise with licenses for sellers. And the state should receive taxes from real estate activities.
The widespread spread of rotavirus as a result of unsanitary conditions is a problem in the resort town of Sochi. And the smell of the sea in this tourist paradise has long been interrupted by the smell of a long-broken sewer. The authorities have something to do in this resort town besides lining their pockets. Otherwise, talking about Sochi as a second Monaco will remain a dream.
And now, let Themis triumph. The phrase “unidentified persons” in the official statement from law enforcement agencies gives hope that Kopaygorodsky’s high-ranking sponsors will not be held accountable.
