In the village of the Oryol region the gas was given to the villagers even before the President's "direct line" ended

So, as I promised, I sent a story about the demands of the authorities on the residents of the Topki village of the Pokrovsky district to pay for the installation of a new gas distribution substation on the direct line of the President of the Russian Federation... And - lo and behold! At lunchtime yesterday, the district police officer began to question residents about the situation, looked at their documents on paying for gas... The most important thing is that he did not speak to them according to the principle: you are to blame (and they are already used to the fact that government officials talk to them in this way on any issues) , but learned the details by what was unlawfully demanded from them... And literally half an hour after his departure, representatives of the local branch of Gazpromgazoraspredeleniya-Oryol arrived at the site and literally did everything in 40 minutes...

So in the village of Topki, during a direct line with the President, a new gas distribution substation appeared to replace the one that had been out of order long ago.

Getting from Oryol to Topki is not easy - it is long and the roads are frankly bad. Year after year, local residents were deprived of all the benefits of civilization, last year they closed the school, and now they tried to deprive them of access to gas.

Three days before that, representatives of the Pokrovsk branch of Orelgazoraspredeleniya (former regional gas, structure of Mezhregiongaz, that is, ultimately Gazprom) and the head of the local village administration came to them and reported that the gas distribution substation was out of order, they were tired of coming to them and repair, they will no longer leave if residents do not repair this substation on their own.

In the course of the conversation, it turned out that no land survey had been carried out, the substation was not on the balance sheet of anyone. And thus, it is believed that the substation belongs to local residents ... "You have to spend only 20 thousand rubles - and for this money, either we will repair, or you yourself will find someone who will repair you."

Residents were taken aback: it's gas! Dangerous! If the substation does not belong to anyone, it means that the inhabitants remain defenseless...

When asked why we should do this, the residents were told:

- You were the one who carried out the common pipe!

They built the pipe 16 years ago for their own money, and then it cost 40 thousand rubles... But they didn’t run it themselves, they just collected money from them... But the neighboring village was included in the gasification program, and it was carried out at the expense of the budget... Topkovtsy were offended, but then they gave up - there is gas and good! But then, after so many years, it turns out that, having supplied themselves with gas for their own money, they practically became employees of Gazprom...

They called me and asked:

- And what are we now working for Miller, if the substation is ours? Maybe we should also repair the main pipe, through which gas goes to our houses?

And people were also surprised by the cost of the new substation - 20 thousand ... Taking into account the sharp rise in the cost of materials, inflation, etc. its cost should be much higher.

- Probably, - employees of Gazoraspredeleniye hesitated, - we need to go through industrial safety and expertise ... In the neighboring village, people changed for their money, but there are 4 houses, and you have 10 ... It's easier for you.

The residents of Topki thought: it turns out that they will install a new substation illegally for 20 thousand, and it will work semi-legally for them ... And they will also monitor it semi-legally?

And no one, if anything, and will not be responsible for it? If it is not on the balance sheet of anyone...

After all, there must be specially trained people who must carry out maintenance of this substation and be responsible for the safety of the inhabitants of the village of Topki ... But they are not themselves!

So their letter to me was born... I sent it to the authorities ... And so successfully the direct line with the President of the Russian Federation was being prepared...

If it were not for the straight line, I can't even imagine that these authorities would answer both me and them ...

The most interesting thing is that the regional prosecutor's office became interested in this issue, obviously at the suggestion of Moscow...