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Stepashin Accuses PM of Ignoring Law
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Текст: Gazeta.Ru
Chief of the Audit Chamber and one-time Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin delivered a sensational report to the Federation Council, the upper house of Russian legislature, on Wednesday. Instead of beginning with a summary of his agency’s work this year, the chairman of the Audit Chamber, the financial watchdog which operates under the auspices of the Federal Assembly, Sergei Stepashin told the upper house about his plans for future.
In his address the Audit Chamber’s chief decided to forestall the senators’ curiosity concerning the of the recently launched criminal investigations into alleged violations by several high-placed ministerial officials.
The news that criminal proceedings had been instigated against the head of the Railroads Ministry Nikolai Aksyonenko and against certain officials at the Ministry for Emergency Situations, hit the headlines in October this year. The criminal cases were opened by the Prosecutor General’s Office reportedly on the basis of reports of violations detected by the Audit Chamber during checks of those ministries.
Soon afterwards it emerged that the Audit Chamber had been conducting inspections of other ministries. There has even been speculation in the media that the Prosecutor General’s Office has a so-called black list of ‘doomed’ high-ranking bureaucrats.
Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov has categorically denied all such rumours. At the time when the news of the ministerial inspections broke, Ustinov was busy supervising the investigation into the sinking of the Kursk submarine and occupied with improving his image against the background of the cold Barents Sea and the giant wreck of the sub.
In the meantime back in Moscow Ustinov’s deputies were busy doing the dirty work for him, delving into the past deeds of figures who rose to prominence during Yeltsin’s presidency and who have maintained their wealth and or power. It is no secret that Ustinov himself falls into that category.
Officials at the Prosecutor General’s Office as well as the parliamentary auditors have tried hard to play down the scandal, fuelled by speculative media reports alleging that the criminal investigations cases into certain officials were instigated under “direct political” orders from the Kremlin.
Both prosecutors and auditors have repeatedly claimed that the check ups and consequent investigations are simply routine work that had been initiated many months previously.
And on Wednesday, appearing before the senators, the chief auditor Sergei Stepashin began by assuring the audience that all speculation about his agency’s alleged resolution to disrupt the work of certain ministries and to have certain officials prosecuted and dismissed were not in the least substantiated.
Stepashin stressed that in fulfilling its duties to inspect the spending of state funds the Audit Chamber acts in full compliance with the Constitution.
Stepashin then called for the Federation Council to cooperate more closely with his agency.
“All we need is political support from parliament, similar to support rendered to us by the president,” Stepashin said and to repeated that the Chamber had never received any special instructions concerning anyone in the upper house.
Stepashin then proceeded to complain that unlike the president, with whom he said the Audit Chamber has recently been working closely, the government and especially its head – Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, has of late become completely uncooperative.
Stepashin announced that at its next session the Audit Chamber intends to issue an injunction concerning the government’s failure to abide by the provisions of effective legislation, and in particular on its failure to review the auditors’ inquiries based on the results of checks of governmental agencies.
Stepashin said that if the government was quicker to react to the results of audits, the Audit Chamber would work far more effectively and even the number of criminal cases could fall, Stepashin suggested.
“It is not that I'm dissatisfied, “dissatisfied” is an emotional word. I'm a little bothered by the somewhat indifferent attitude of the cabinet - not the ministers themselves, there's no problem there, but with the cabinet as a whole, to many of our proposals and the question of cooperation. In a letter to (Russian Prime Minister) Mikhail Kasyanov I formulated a number of concrete proposals and I’ll be expecting an answer. If I don't get one, then I'll have to raise the issue with the head of state (President Vladimir Putin).”
“The point is to react to proposals and to correct mistakes, not to take people to court.
As a former Interior Minister I'm well placed to say: it's very easy to just put someone in prison. It's much harder to prevent violations and create normal economic conditions so that violations don't take place,” Stdepashin said.
Coincidentally or not Sergei Stepashin launched his daring attack on the cabinet when neither Putin nor Kasyanov were in the country. As is known, Vladimir Putin is busy talking arms reductions and anti-terrorism measures with his US counterpart at the latter’s family ranch in Texas, while Mikhail Kasyanov is on an official visit to Spain.
To conclude the Audit Chamber’s chief reported on the successful results of his agency’s work over the past year. In particular, Stepashin said that lately the Audit Chamber has been working in close cooperation with the law enforcement bodies and power-wielding agencies. In 2000 and to date in 2001 prosecutors have opened 48 criminal cases based on the findings of the Auditor Chamber’s inspections. Stepashin said that in 2000 the auditors conducted 613 inspections, as a result of which the embezzlement of 23.2 billion rubles was detected.
15 НОЯБРЯ 17:01
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