Bulletproof vest vs Mercedes: the authorities of which regions choose glamor and luxury

Alexander Dybin

No holiday

Perhaps the most striking case of this fall took place in Chelyabinsk. Here, the city authorities decided to spend almost 400 million of additional budget revenues on the purchase of lighting equipment to decorate the city for the New Year. Perhaps the purchases would have passed without any problems, if not for the amount. So the authorities managed to announce two auctions for a total of almost 200 million for the purchase of garlands to create a light corridor on the Kirov pedestrian street, as well as for the purchase of light art objects. Despite the fact that the city already has one light tunnel, donated to the city several years ago by a large industrial enterprise. The city hall was going to install the old tunnel in another place. The purchase came to the attention of the federal media and bloggers and provoked a whole wave of public actions with a request to save money on holidays in favor of helping mobilized citizens with equipment. Apparently this question was already up in the air, and the purchase of Chelyabinsk officials became a trigger. Next came initiatives from officials. One of the first to refuse spending on New Year's decorations was the governor of the Kurgan region Vadim Shumkov , who announced that the region could save as much as three million rubles if it decorated the cities with last year's garlands.

The governor of the Leningrad region Alexander Drozdenko also called on officials to save money. Eventually? A number of cities and regions announced the rejection of New Year's spending or their significant adjustment. So Belgorod, Kaluga, the mentioned Kurgan and Kurgan region, Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, Tobolsk and Yalta refused to purchase jewelry, hold corporate parties for employees of the administration or hold festive events. The officials from Chelyabinsk also had to moderate their appetites. According to the head of the local headquarters of the ONF, Denis Ryzhiy , the authorities and the public have come to a compromise and 154 million of the New Year's money will be spent on the purchase of ammunition for the mobilized.

“154 million rubles will be spent on the purchase of quadrocopters, thermal imagers, night vision devices and other ammunition, which is worth its weight in gold on the front line and objectively saves lives,” Ryzhiy said. - This technique is never superfluous for fighters. The first batch of purchased equipment will be handed over to our fighters in the near future.”

At the same time, the city hall of Chelyabinsk managed to buy garlands. So, following the results of the auction for the purchase of equipment for the light tunnel, according to the public procurement portal, the contract was concluded with the Omega company from St. Petersburg. True, the initial price fell from 124 to 86 million.

No drink or snack

Another group of annoying purchases is food and alcohol orders. In fact, many state institutions have their own "food unit" and they are forced to buy food through the public procurement portal. But, as a rule, attention is paid to auctions of divisions that organize receptions, solemn and celebratory events. Such structures exist in every region. And this fall, their auctions have come under special scrutiny, because the shopping list usually includes delicacies and alcohol.

Thus, in the Leningrad Region, the government affairs department announced an auction for the organization of field services in 2023. 6 million rubles were allocated for these activities. The presence of vodka, cognac, wine and champagne drew attention to itself. On the same days, the governor of the Leningrad region , Alexander Drozdenko , demanded total savings from his subordinates, assuring that "the time for dancing has passed." As soon as the media wrote about the purchase, the auction was canceled and they promised to carry out the purchase without alcohol.

The Chelyabinsk region also excelled, where elite alcohol was found in a similar purchase. The Purchasing Organization Center of the Chelyabinsk Region announced two auctions for the supply of Chateau Pey La Tour Bordeaux wine for 200.9 thousand rubles and Remy Martin cognac for 400 thousand rubles. Auctions were announced on 6 and 10 October. Here, after the hype on the Internet, the governor announced a ban on the purchase of alcohol. True, as in the case of garlands, the purchase was nevertheless carried out. One auction, the one that is more expensive, was canceled, but the contract for the supply of wine was nevertheless concluded. This is evidenced by the data of the public procurement portal.

We also paid attention to food purchases in Tyumen, where the authorities ordered banquet services. There, a festive table for officials cost from 1000 to 1200 per person.

In the Irkutsk region, the authorities bought edible souvenirs from local specialties for almost 2 million rubles for the 85th anniversary of the region. So dried pine cones, wild garlic with bacon, willow-tea, pine nuts and fern salad went for gifts. Almost another 10 million was spent on organizing receptions in honor of the anniversary.

Used Mercedes

Car purchases are one of the most annoying spending items for officials. Scandals related to inappropriate purchases of expensive cars occur regularly. This fall, the trend is domestic cars and Chinese brands. And it's not about economy or patriotic feelings. Due to the withdrawal of a number of Western and Japanese companies from the Russian car market, there are no other cars in the country yet. Although there are officials who were able to cope with this problem.

So, in the Leningrad region , purchases of Lada have been announced. The auction was announced by the administration of the Romanovsky settlement. Officials have one and a half million for which they want to buy Lada Vesta. Earlier, the administration of the village of Sertolovo in the same Leningrad region announced the purchase of an off-road vehicle of the Chinese brand Haval.

Two Lada Vestas were recently bought for officials of the administration of Krasnoyarsk . And for the deputies of the regional legislative assembly, they buy two Geely Atlas Pro SUVs for five million rubles.

But there are “Old Believers” in relation to cars, for example, the government of the Rostov region announced an auction for three cars for 14 million rubles. Judging by the materials of the purchase, this is a Hyundai Staria for 5.9 million rubles and two used Mercedes-Benz E-Class for 8.2 million. The documents state that cars must be no older than 2019. At the same time, the same officials put up for sale part of their garage, namely the GAZ-14 Chaika. The rarity will be sold at auction, the initial price is 365 thousand rubles.

ONF activists found several expensive purchases. Thus, the state company Rosagroleasing is going to buy a Hyundai Genesis G90L (or equivalent) for 17.9 million rubles. Still honored by officials and Toyota Land Cruiser. According to the ONF, the capital repair fund of the Lipetsk region wants to purchase such a car for 8.7 million rubles. In addition, the Kruzak was liked by the Kemerovo city municipal property management committee, which purchases two off-road vehicles for two city companies.

Coffins, armchairs and cameras 4k

But not only alcohol and expensive cars in purchases cause bewilderment among residents of the regions. So in Tyumen, 13.5 million rubles were spent on swings made of metal structures, which are installed near the city administration.

In Nizhny Novgorod, they found 9.4 million rubles to develop an application that will allow citizens to communicate with officials, report problems, leave requests and receive answers. There are already quite a few such communication channels, from the portal of public services to social networks, which the authorities have recently been obliged to maintain. They also allocated 50 million for the traditional toy congress, which took place last week.

MUP "Ritual" from Kazan will spend more than 4 million rubles on elite coffins made of precious wood. But here the funeral directors are excused by the fact that these coffins will be resold.

The Volgograd Regional Duma canceled an auction for almost 2 million rubles for the purchase of furniture for deputies. This happened after Duma chairman Alexander Bloshkin asked his colleagues "not to show wealth and joy."

The authorities of St. Petersburg also talked about saving. But nevertheless they announced an auction for the purchase of equipment for the city legislature. Zaks will receive voting devices for 63 million rubles, as well as equipment for broadcasting from the meeting room in high-definition 4k.

Expert opinion

Political consultant, director of the analytical center "Politgen" Yaroslav Ignatovsky believes that against the background of discussions about such purchases, an initiative to control the expediency of purchases may appear.

“On the one hand, we see proposals from some governors to deprive themselves and their subordinates of their salaries to buy equipment for the mobilized, and at the same time we see non-transparent purchases for dubious purposes,” the expert says. - This opening is not today. We have been wondering for many years: why spend millions on luxury goods. But today the issue becomes more relevant. Lots of redirect that money to other uses. There are many organizations, both state and non-profit, that monitor the compliance of purchases with the law, I do not exclude that an initiative may appear to and to verify the feasibility of these purchases. Instead of the same equipment for the Parliament of St. Petersburg for 63 million, you can buy, for example, for 3 million or 13, and save the rest.