Kadyrov Fund activities question transparency of Chechnya's budget

According to calculations of the "Caucasian Knot", over the past six days, officials of the Chechen Republic, which is subsidized from the Russian federal budget, have reported on at least 12 infrastructure and social projects financed by the Akhmat Kadyrov Fund.

Among other things, the Akhmat Kadyrov Fund is making purchases for state bodies and agencies. Thus, in mid-October, Ramzan Kadyrov presented, on behalf of the regional Akhmat Kadyrov Fund, 33 new SUVs (sport utility vehicles) models UAZ-Patriot and Niva to two divisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Chechnya.

Natella Ponomaryova, a lawyer from Saint Petersburg, believes that it would be more logical if the founders of the fund made such donations. "I've never heard before about any fund making such gifts to state bodies. Here, we need to study the accompanying documents: what, how and in what form is presented. For example, no donations are allowed among legal entities," Ms Ponomaryova told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The "Caucasian Knot" has no information on how the transfer of the above SUVs from the Akhmat Kadyrov Fund to the Chechen MIA was legally documented. There is no information about it on the MIA's website, and the relevant documents have not been published.

Tumso Abdurakhmanov, a Chechen blogger, treats the allocation of 30 of the above SUVs to the Kurchaloi and Shali ROVDs (District Interior Divisions) as quite logical, "because both the head of Chechnya and the speaker of the Chechen are natives of these districts," Mr Abdurakhmanov has noted in his comment to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 5, 2019 at 09:34 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.