Chelyabinsk region: businessman detained for bribing arrested mayor

Sergey Kovrigin

According to the investigation, Yevgeny Borodin paid Mayor Sergey Kovrigin for the transfer of municipal networks into private ownership.

In the Chelyabinsk resort town of Chebarkul, businessman Yevgeny Borodin, who is a co-owner and director of Chebarkul Water Supply Enterprise LLC and Chebarkul Sewerage Enterprise LLC, has been detained. This is reported by Ura.ru, specifying that the enterprises have been searched, and documents have been seized.

The investigation believes that Borodin bribed previously arrested Mayor of Chebarkul, Sergey Kovrigin. In exchange, the official ensured the withdrawal of municipal utilities to the businessman’s enterprises.

The bribe was not transferred directly. According to the case file, Borodin paid 52.2 thousand rubles ($796) to journalist Lyubov Rudometova formedia publications “forming positive public opinion about Kovrigin and criticizing opponents.”

Sergey Kovrigin faces imprisonment from five to ten years. He may become a defendant in two criminal cases, namely one initiated at the request of Chelyabinsk Region Prosecutor Vitaly Lopin under part 1 of Art. 286 of the Russian Criminal Code (Exceeding Official Powers) on the withdrawal of water supply and drainage networks (sewage) in the Chebarkul Water Supply Enterprise LLC and Chebarkul Sewerage Enterprise LLC, as well as under part 4 of Art. 159 (Swindling on an Especially Large Scale) on embezzlement of money when buying a kindergarten.

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