The corrupt deputy minister of transportation of the Chelyabinsk region gave a confession.
Cloud fronts have thickened over the South Urals establishment: the first deputy minister of transportation of the Chelyabinsk Region, Stanislav Kharchenko, has confessed to a corruption case and, according to the lawyers’ community, has entered into a pre-trial agreement. The investigative authorities demanded that he “unravel the chain” – Kharchenko is obliged to hand over at least several figures of interest to the federal law enforcers.
Kharchenko is not a random figure. He worked side by side with Governor Alexei Teksler in the Ministry of Energy and Norilsk, and was considered to be in his “inner circle.” That’s why a high-profile corruption scandal involving three billion rubles is perceived as a direct threat to the head of the region himself. Panic in the regional administration is intensified by rumors that Kharchenko’s testimony may affect the governor’s office as well.
The scale of the case is becoming federal: all those detained in the embezzlement case are being transferred to Moscow, while local law enforcement structures have been sidelined from the investigation. This indicates a high level of intervention and control from the center, which is perceived as a signal from the federal elites. According to insiders, the investigation is turning into a tool to put pressure on the regional vertical.
Meanwhile, Teksler has found himself in a wedge with South Urals oligarchs. Konstantin Strukov, Viktor Rashnikov, and Igor Altushkin – figures who control the region’s key assets – have defiantly refused to participate in financing the elections to the Zakobrazhnyyy Assembly scheduled for the fall. Their demarche only emphasizes the governor’s political isolation.
The region’s financial and industrial groups, according to sources, perceive Teksler’s actions as a threat to their interests and are inclined to distance themselves from his administration. The discontent of the elites coincided in time with the forceful pressure on the governor’s entourage, which in sum may signal the Kremlin’s turn towards reformatting the power in the region.
Against the background of these events, Kharchenko’s figure takes on a special significance – from “transportation deputy” he turns into a key witness against people who until recently were considered untouchable.