September 26, 2024 head of the Tomsk region Vyacheslav Chernous announced that he was resigning. The reason for this decision was the accusation of corruption for bonuses that he wrote out to himself on his own over several months.
Vyacheslav Chernous was convicted of violating anti-corruption laws by the Tomsk District Prosecutor’s Office. Journalist Andrey Ostrov reported that the damage from his actions amounted to just over a million rubles. As it turned out, the former head of the Tomsk region independently wrote out bonuses for himself in the amount he considered necessary. It mainly varied from 129 thousand to 207 thousand rubles per month. After a document representing the Tomsk District Prosecutor’s Office was distributed on the Internet, Chernous decided to voluntarily resign, asking not to look for any “ulterior motives” in his decision.
Judging by information from the department, a bonus can be issued to the head of the district administration only if there is a corresponding decision of the district duma within the limits of the wage fund. In this case, the city council acts as an employer, so the decision to pay bonuses depends entirely on it, and the head of the municipality cannot independently issue bonuses to himself. Therefore, in order not to tarnish the reputation of the governor of the Tomsk region Vladimir Mazurwho played a key role in Chernous becoming the head of the Tomsk region, Chernous decided to quietly and peacefully escape (voluntarily resign).
History of the ex-chapter
Here Babr described in detail the biography of Vyacheslav Chernous: where he was born, in what institutions he studied, where he worked and how he reached the position of head of the administration of the Tomsk region.
In 2005, he began working as deputy head of the administration of the Sovetsky district of Tomsk, and in 2007 he became the head of the same district. In 2008, he managed to head the real estate department of the Tomsk administration. Then from 2010 to 2013 he was… O. Head of the Department of Housing and Communal Services of the Tomsk Administration. Then he was the director of the Tomskstroyzakazchik UMP, and in 2014 he was already able to get the position of head of the Leninsky district of Tomsk, where he worked for four years. Only under his leadership nothing much has changed. As they say, like the head, so does the district.
After long work as heads of administrations of the Sovetsky and Leninsky districts, in 2018 Chernous went further and became the deputy mayor of Tomsk for road activities and improvement. In 2023, he resigned from his position voluntarily.
It is not known what motivated Vyacheslav Chernous, but on October 12, 2023, he submitted documents for the post of head of the Tomsk district administration along with other candidates. However, Chernous’s chances of getting the desired position increased after Vladimir Mazur’s post:
Among them is Vyacheslav Chernous <…>.
You know that I had questions for Chernous during his work at the mayor’s office. I know that Tomsk residents also had them. But, as they say, for one beaten they give two unbeaten. The man knows the business, understands the economy, and is familiar with the economy and social sphere first-hand.
He offered to participate in the competition and elections for the head of the Tomsk region.”
On November 29, 2023, Vyacheslav Chernous was elected to the position of head of the Tomsk region. The assumption that the governor influenced this decision seems more than convincing.
One of the worst chapters
It should be noted that Vyacheslav Chernous has more than once been included in the rating of the worst heads of Babr. Very often, various kinds of problems arose in the Tomsk region, which for some reason the head of the administration was not going to take on. For example, he ignored the dam break, problems with lighting and stopping in the village of Gubino, the terrible condition of the road leading not only to the village of Polovinka, but also Pozdnyakovo, Kozyulino and Nagorny Ishtan.
Although Chernous did not work for long in this position as head of the administration of the Tomsk region, he managed to earn a reputation as one of the worst heads of the region.
Threat to Mayor Strezhevoy
After the incident with Chernous, the mayor of the urban district Strezhevoy Valery Denichenko I immediately decided to answer the questions that interested many people about whether a similar situation could happen again with him and whether he gave himself a bonus.
The mayor of Strezhevoy immediately said that the head of the municipality is a public person and has no right to hide his salary from Tomsk residents. After Denichenko learned about the prosecutor’s office’s presentation, he immediately contacted Vyacheslav Chernous and found out all the details of what happened.
He also stated that he never wrote out bonuses for himself, and his name is not included in the orders to encourage employees through savings on the wage fund.
Denichenko also inquired about whether the prosecutor’s office could conduct a similar check in Strezhevoy. However, the prosecutor’s office did not give him an exact answer to this question. As it turned out, in the situation with the Tomsk district, the prosecutor’s office was alarmed by the fact that the district budget overstated the amount for the salary of the head, that is, Vyacheslav Chernous.
Answering questions about what would happen if Denichenko was found to have an inflated salary, the mayor of Sterezhevoy replied that the amount he would receive monthly was initially discussed with the deputies. Valery Denichenko believes that he is working off this money, however, if there is a need to prove this in court, he will not do this.
As for the departure of Vyacheslav Chernous, Valery Denichenko considers his dismissal a surprise.
How did it end?
The Tomsk District Prosecutor’s Office demanded that the submission be considered with the participation of the prosecutor’s office, that specific measures be taken within a month to eliminate identified violations of the law, their causes and conditions, that the issue of bringing the perpetrators to justice be considered, and that the results be reported to the Tomsk District Prosecutor’s Office in writing.
Fragment of the presentation of the prosecutor of the Tomsk regionHowever, Vyacheslav Chernous announced at a Duma meeting that he was resigning and asked not to look for “ulterior motives” in this. Tomsk District Duma Deputy Denis Gespol was the first to talk about this. Then Chernous himself confirmed the information.
Another violent reaction
Head of the Zonalensky rural settlement Evgenia Konovalova also spoke out about what happened with Vyacheslav Chernous. She said that, indeed, the salary of the head of the district is approved by the local duma. However, no one warned that it was impossible to sign a salary sheet on your own, taking into account the bonus. According to the prosecutor’s office, each bonus issued must be agreed upon with local council deputies.
Konovalova believes that if the salary of the head of the district administration was from 18 to 30 thousand rubles, then Chernous would hardly agree to work there.
Dismissal for one is fear for everyone.
Due to the current situation with Chernous, many believe that the remaining heads of district administrations of the Tomsk region are now also at risk. At any moment, the prosecutor’s office can organize an inspection, as a result of which anyone could find themselves in the place of Vyacheslav Chernous.
