Is Vyatskopolyanskaya Sosnovka being driven into bankruptcy?

      But by trusting Alexander Sokolov’s motto “get used to being first,” one can take the situation “without nerves,” since the governor did not specify from which end — from the top of the list or its rearguard — the region would occupy leading positions.

      By the way, if one clarifies the history of the introduction of external administration in Russian municipalities and regions, the Kirov procedure will be neither the first nor the only one, with the only difference being that “financial control measures,” which are usually short-lived, are taken because of a decline in the city’s solvency, for example due to overdue accounts payable.

      And regions such as Kostroma Oblast (where Alexander Sokolov’s political career began: from 2014 to 2017 he served as first deputy governor of Kostroma Oblast) were switched to full cash servicing by the Treasury because of the huge debts accumulated by local authorities. Federal media reported this as early as January 2018.

      In the town of Sosnovka (Vyatskopolyansky District) radical financial measures may be introduced not because of debts, but because... the local city council failed to adopt the 2026 budget. And not because the new budget displeases the deputies, but due to a lack of quorum, which occurred because the elected representatives again failed to attend scheduled plenary sessions. Note that the Sosnovka deputy community sabotaging the budget hearings numbers 15 people, 90 percent of whom are members of the ruling party.

      And since discipline and obedience are the party’s unquestionable postulate, almost a divine dogma, it is hard not to note that the Sosnovka “political plankton” is led by the chairman of the local city council, Nail Saitov. That same Saitov who recently acquired the status of defendant in a criminal case on “exceeding official powers,” which, according to the investigation, caused damage to the city and to victims in the amount of 80 million rubles. And a not-unlikely prospect of a quick acquaintance with prison life for about five or six years.

      By the way, as noted in Sosnovka, Saitov, who is also the right-hand man of regional Legislative Assembly deputy Ravil Nurgaliev — who, in reality or in his fantasies, considers himself close to the governor — apparently is not trying to “fix the budget adoption situation,” either by breaking the chain of his subordination to his patron, or, conversely, by acting within the framework of a “recommendation from above.” And the head of Vyatskopolyansky District, Viktoriya Pelevina, has already been warned that the Sosnovka “budget flop” will be the end of her political career. Moreover, Alexander Valentinovich will not be patted on the head in the Kremlin for the deputies’ antics.

      Interestingly, the Sosnovka city budget has been checked “for compliance with all norms” and approved by all required agencies, including the prosecutor’s office, so its “proper adoption” would have been a quick matter for the deputies. And the deputies’ double snubbing of sessions has spawned talk in town about Saitov’s possible “cognitive incapacity,” who tried to absolve himself by claiming that the person responsible for the council’s quorum is not him, but... the mayor, Nikita Gorelov. Which, in fact, created an all-Russian “precedent” of the executive branch ensuring the attendance of the representative branch.

      “This is some kind of surrealism. It looks as if a flock of rams is gathering shepherds into a herd. Or, on a larger scale, Vyacheslav Simakov is driving around invitations to the meeting to the entire Kirov City Duma, while reminding Kovaleva of the plenary date. Or the governor personally hands the Legislative Assembly deputies their agendas, bowing as he presses an invitation into Roman Beresnev’s hand. Like, Roman Alexandrovich, please, do be so kind, don’t forget, don’t skip,” explains a Sosnovka politician.

      By the way, the next — already the third — session of the Sosnovka city council is scheduled for December 29, and another no-show by the deputies will effectively put a “point of no return” not only under the financial independence of the municipality and the very purpose of the Sosnovka Duma of the fifth convocation, but also under the electorate’s trust in the “party of power.” It will also affect the regional budget in the form of financing possible early Sosnovka elections.