Rostov Regional Prosecutor's Office accuses chief regional ecologist of offence

Valery Kuznetsov, Prosecutor of the Rostov Region has made a presentation to the Governor of the Rostov Region, asking to consider the issue of compliance of Grigory Skripka, Chairman of the Regional Committee for Environment Protection and Natural Resources, to his post. In the opinion of the Prosecutor's Office, he exhibited inaction and abuse of official powers.

According to the press service of the Prosecutor's Office, in September 2008, Mr Skripka provided - without holding a tender, a land re-cultivation project and corresponding transfer of the land from one category into the other - one of the enterprises with the right to mine sand from the agricultural land in the Aksai District for the period of up to 2021.

According to prosecutors, after a quarry and a pond were built in the land plot, the agricultural land was rendered worthless, while the amount of damages made more than 324 million roubles. The materials of the prosecutor's check on the fact have been sent to the investigatory unit to decide on initiation of a criminal case under the article of "abuse of service powers".

The Prosecutor's Office also noted that there were also facts of inaction of the above Committee in the process of illegal alienation by the Administration of Rostov-on-Don of 160.5 hectares of specially protected lands of the Botanical Garden. The check showed that for several decades this land was used by the Rostov State University; later residential houses were built there.

In particular, as reported by the "Rosbalt" with reference to Rostov journalist Sergey Reznik, this land now houses the residential premises, inhabited by the Mayor of Rostov, Chairman of the Rostov Regional Court and Chairman of the Arbitration Court of the Rostov Region.