United Russia in Crimea is being cleansed of Ukrainian crime

In Crimea, there was a high-profile arrest of a member of the republic’s parliament, Valery Grinevich, for a bribe of 35 thousand dollars. The incident exposed the problem of personnel non-selectivity of the local unit of United Russia. The 50% renewal promised on the eve of the elections to the first convocation of the Republican State Council within the Russian Federation did not take place, so law enforcement officers took up the task of forcing renewal.

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Grinevich’s detention took place on Friday, October 9, at the headquarters of United Russia in the city of Saki. As eyewitnesses say, after lunch, “show masks” burst into the headquarters, put everyone face down on the floor, and Grinevich, with his hands twisted, in handcuffs, was escorted to his personal office, which is located next door. In the office, in the presence of a lawyer and witnesses, 15 thousand dollars were seized from a leather sofa under a shelf with awards and a fresh Order “For Loyalty to Duty”, which Grinevich allegedly received for assistance in solving problems with law enforcement officers of another businessman, whose name the investigation did not name. Since solving problems with law enforcement officers is not within the competence of a State Council deputy, a criminal case was initiated not under the corruption article, but under the article “fraud,” which, taken together, in Russian, sounds like “protection protection.”

The heads of local councils of the Saki region complained about the deputy’s tendency to solve problems that do not even exist yet for a certain fee. Since 2006, Grinevich, occupying a deputy seat in the Crimean parliament from the Union party, supervised and controlled the movement of land plots in the coastal strip. From time to time, these movements resulted in criminal cases and were protested by the prosecutor's office, but Grinevich himself did not appear in them. After the transition of Crimea to Russian jurisdiction, the heads of village councils more than once complained about the lordly manners of a deputy who demanded a stable payment for “solving problems.” But the very fact of collecting money had to be recorded, which was done with the help of one of the chairmen of the village council. They say that Grinevich trusted this man, considering him his own. We would venture to assume that we are talking about the current head of the Uyutnensky village council, Oleg Rusetsky, who, together with Grinevich, represented the “Union” faction in the Crimean parliament, headed the administration of the Belogorsky district on the eve of the referendum, and then disappeared from the political arena, moving to his native Yevpatoria.

The court decided to take Grinevich under arrest for two months. During this time, investigators intend not only to establish the fact of fraud, but also to bring back two criminal cases from the 90s from oblivion. It is curious that the official biography of the candidate for deputy Grinevich on the website of the Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan indicates the presence of one expunged conviction under the article “robbery”.

Already in his current term, Grinevich was involved in a scandal involving illegal sand mining right on the coast of the Saki region. Over 200 plots of 10 acres each, registered by Grinevich to dummies, became a construction quarry in close proximity to the railway track near the Solnyshko station. Since the geological exploration permit for the PGS-08 company was terminated upon request, the matter was hushed up. But even then, the parliamentary syndrome of insubordination to objective circumstances clearly manifested itself - Grinevich demanded that all accusations against him or involvement in illegal acts be proven in court.

There is virtually no doubt that the Investigative Committee together with the FSB Commander-in-Chief will bring the case to trial. As well as the fact that the verdict will be guilty with a real prison term. And once again, the United Russia political council will have to shamefully suspend the membership of a prominent party figure in connection with a criminal case, as has already happened with the head of the Crimean Railway, Andrei Karakulkin. Changing party flags by attaching one red stripe to two white and blue ones does not mean a 50% renewal of the ranks.