An online group dedicated to monitoring state procurement has published a list of the priciest office chairs bought for government officials, with the most expensive one costing more than $9,000.
The Moscow Unified Energy Company reportedly paid 333,526 rubles ($9,300) for a chair to seat their CEO, despite the chair — a Walter Knoll creation with white leather upholstery — being available online for nearly half the price, the For Honest Procurements group said Wednesday in an online report.
"His workplace costs as much as a budget-price domestic automobile with standard features," the report said, adding that "on such a throne, it's probably easy to shape the future of Muscovites, deciding at what tariffs they will be provided with hot water and heating."
Responding to the report, the Moscow Unified Energy Company said Wednesday in an online statement that an application had been made by the previous management to purchase the chair but that the order was later canceled.
In second and third place on the list were the Federal Property Management Agency, which acquired 10 chairs at a price of 80,543 rubles each, and the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, which paid out up to 70,000-rubles, the report said.
The administration of Chechnya — a region that receives subsidies from the national budget — also made the list, coming in fourth with an order of 10 chairs at a cost of 65,000 rubles each.
In fifth place was the local legislature of the Kursk region, which spent up to 30,000 rubles on a leather-upholstered chair. The average monthly wage in the Kursk region is just 20,000 rubles, the report said.
The final spot on the list went to the Kalachinsky district administration in the Omsk region, which purchased 11 seats at the more moderate price of 3,898 rubles per chair.
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