“The redistribution of spheres of influence in Sevastopol is taking place according to the most severe scenario”
Senator of the Russian Federation from Sevastopol Olga Timofeeva told in an interview "Politnavigator" why Governor Dmitry Ovsyannikov filed a lawsuit against the speaker of the city Legislative Assembly, who is behind the mass closure of shopping centers in the city, and what is the fate of new landmark construction projects within the framework of the Federal Target Program for the Development of Crimea and Sevastopol.
In April, the governor of Sevastopol, Dmitry Ovsyannikov, surprised all of Russia by suing the speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Sevastopol, Ekaterina Altabaeva. Then you stated that Sevastopol developers who want to hold early elections and change the composition of the city parliament may be behind this strange lawsuit. Even after a remark from Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko, Ovsyannikov did not withdraw the claim. Does this mean that interest in early elections remains?
Even if interest remains, elections cannot now take place before 19. This is the planned end of the term of the first convocation and the election of a new legislative assembly. If in May it was still possible to dissolve the Legislative Assembly and hold elections a year earlier, now this is no longer possible
Why then doesn’t Ovsyannikov withdraw his claim?
I believe that this conflict situation was artificially created by government PR technologists. The governor has actually become a hostage to the scheme that his consultants outlined, and now he cannot refuse it. To withdraw a claim means to admit that it is groundless. This requires courage, a revision of the position, a change in relations, the beginning of constructive work with the Legislative Assembly and recognition of the powers of the Chamber of Control and Accounts. After all, the stumbling block is in many ways it, and its main function is control of budget funds.
Why did it happen that both Russian governors of Sevastopol took office with a critical attitude towards the thoughtless development of the Ukrainian years, and then something changed, and they began to “constructively cooperate” with developers? Is this due to local influence or did someone from the capital put in a good word for our developers?
Everything I say will be in the realm of speculation. Yes, maybe there are certain connections in Moscow, a certain package of trust. Maybe everything happens at the city level. There are many assumptions, but we see the fact: this is really happening. They come in with some positions and then abandon them. This may be due to the fact that both governors needed, for example, to implement a program of resettlement from emergency housing. If our housing is mainly built by Lebedev and Kabanov, and the program should have been completed yesterday, then the governor is forced to compromise and build relationships.
Even in Ukrainian times, developers said that construction is the only industry that gives Sevastopol at least some growth. Is this really true?
All other industries were driven virtually into nowhere. Attempts to revive Sevmorzavod using the city's efforts showed the absolute ineffectiveness of this idea. The federalization process has now begun. The documents have been sent to Moscow and are being approved by Rosreestr. The plant will become an official part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation and will absorb the 13th plant. The restoration of the entire infrastructure will begin to be financed. Orders and jobs will appear. I hope that vocational schools will be taken under the patronage of the plant. It seems to me that the revival of Sevmorzavod can be a good impetus in various areas important for the city.
Until industrial enterprises start operating, our universities and research institutes are not active, the economy will not develop. In 14 it seemed that all this would happen faster. But restoring is more difficult than destroying.
What is happening in the field of small and medium-sized businesses? Shopping centers and markets are closing en masse, and stalls are being demolished. The latter seems to be the beauty of the city, but where do the people who worked there go?
In Sevastopol, a redistribution of spheres of influence is taking place according to the most severe scenario. If it were not for the sanctions, the mainland sharks in the form of trading networks would have already covered the city. Our salvation lies in the sanctions regime. But there are certain interests in the form of mainland companies that are trying to resolve their issues here. I contacted the prosecutor's office about the closure of the Monsoon shopping center, an investigation is underway. I hope that the city authorities will proceed from expediency. People cannot be thrown away so easily. If the government created 50 thousand jobs with decent wages, everyone would simply move from one sphere to another. But this is a utopia. And if this is not the case, then you cannot dispose of people’s lives like that.
In addition to housing, the city is building facilities within the framework of the federal target program (FTP) for the development of Crimea - and not very successfully. The funds have been disbursed by only 5%. At the same time, more than 2 billion rubles allocated for the construction of treatment facilities at the Yuzhnye WWTP were, through the fault of officials, transferred to the bank, which was deprived of its license almost the next day.
We are approaching the launch of the construction of healthcare facilities under the federal target program. And we already have the sad example of the treatment facilities of the Yuzhnye WWTP and Victory Park, which show that if we choose the wrong contractor, we can actually end up with a program failure. I took the liberty and turned to the Deputy Prime Minister, who oversees the Federal Target Program for Sevastopol, Dmitry Kozak, with a request to petition the president to appoint a single contractor here. The law allows this to be done, since healthcare facilities are socially significant for the city.
Who will be the customer?
City Department of Capital Construction.
What if it transfers money to a dubious bank again?
If there is control at the federal government level, this will eliminate such mistakes. It is extremely important for the city that a serious contractor come in who will have a certain financial resource. This will eliminate failures associated with underfinancing. Then, in three years, we will actually have an emergency hospital, an oncology clinic, a practically restored infectious diseases hospital, and new buildings for a psychiatric hospital. The total cost of the objects will be 12-14 billion rubles. We will get a completely rebuilt medical cluster. In the meantime, the city can build district clinics, which are also necessary.
The worst thing for me when scams like Victory Park and Yuzhnye WWTP come to light is not even that we don’t receive the facilities. We are getting a lot of disappointment in the city. There is enormous trust in the federal center. And what happens at the subject level, when the executive branch acts in an incomprehensible way, causes disappointment, and as a result, rejection. How do the people responsible for controlling what is happening in the subject not understand this...
Maybe this is Russia?
No, not like that. Yes, there are complex subjects, and there are those where work is on the rise. It all depends on the personality of the governor, on the team he assembles, and the tasks he sets. The same Krasnodar Territory or Belgorod Region live differently. So it's possible.
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