×
Enjoying ad-free content?
Since July 1, 2024, we have disabled all ads to improve your reading experience.
This commitment costs us $10,000 a month. Your support can help us fill the gap.
Support us
Our journalism is banned in Russia. We need your help to keep providing you with the truth.

Putin Told of City Hall Kickbacks

City Hall officials dealing with health care have received about 1.2 billion rubles ($38.6 million) this year in kickbacks from tender winners, the country's top financial inspector told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

Yury Chikhanchin, head of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, said the kickbacks were "systematic" and made possible by "incorrectly" termed conditions for tenders, Interfax reported.

Chikhanchin's agency discovered similar legal violations in other areas of City Hall's activities, including communal services, he said, without elaborating.

Law enforcement agencies are investigating the violations, he said.

Outspoken former Moscow district prefect Oleg Mitvol told Vesti FM state radio that kickbacks in Moscow were possible everywhere because of the "bulky and nontransparent system for managing the city."

An investigation was opened in July into the head of City Hall’s department for bridge and road construction, Alexander Levchenko, after it signed at least 8.5 billion rubles ($279 million) worth of contracts with a company headed by his wife.

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more