Vice-mayor of Volzhsky, Volgograd district, suspected of abuse of authority

Deputy Head of Administration of the town of Volzhsky, Head of Department of municipal property management Ella Kuzmina is suspected of abuse of authority with allotment of a land parcel in 2011.

According to the investigation's version, the suspect's cohabiter appealed to the Administration of Volzhsky asking to allot him a land parcel for construction of a trade and exhibition center. Two weeks later a similar request was submitted by a director of another company. Wishing to help her common-law husband Deputy Head of the municipal Administration used her authority in consideration of statements from juridical persons and taking respective decisions she shelved the second organization's request.

The investigation established that during the next four months Kuzmina initiated meetings with the director of the above mentioned company during which she insisted that he should withdraw his request.

"Later the suspect promoted preparation and signing the respective resolution by Head of the town", Natalia Kunitskaya, senior assistant of the manager of regional department of Committee of Inquiry of Russia (CIR) for relations with mass media, said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

She informed that according to the legislation in force, in this case Mayor's office should have held an auction on the right of singing a contract of building lease.

Investigative Department of CIR in Volgograd region initiated a criminal case against Ella Kuzmina according to part 1, clause 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of authority) based on the materials referred from regional Department of Federal Security Service and Chief Directorate of the Ministry of Interior Affairs in Volgograd region.

Investigative actions to establish all the circumstances of the crime are currently in process. Searches are carried out domiciliary and in the office of Head of Department of municipal property.