He who pays, dances with the girl – this old worldly wisdom, apparently, has become the motto for the Irkutsk mayor’s office. Whoever pays into the treasury (or the pockets of city administration employees?) dictates his own rules of life in the city on the banks of the Angara. But the interests of the residents are of secondary importance here. And legal norms too.
Here he has an illegal water park that dumps waste directly into the Angara Bay, and a catering service with significant price hikes and a complete disregard for Sanpin standards. And all this under the roof and with the tacit approval of the Irkutsk mayor’s office, which generously distributes permits to the entrepreneur to carry out commercial activities within the coastal zone, and without holding the necessary tenders.
True, already in October 2024 the generosity shop named Ruslana Bolotova against his tender favorite deputy Alexander Safronov can be covered up: the mayor’s office received an official submission from the department of the federal antimonopoly service. The department reminded the Irkutsk mayor’s office that the laws of competition in the market have not been repealed. Even their sincere desire to get rich. And from October 2024, illegal private cafes that have filled the beach must be closed.
The victim of the triumphant order was entrepreneur and deputy of the Irkutsk City Duma Alexander Safronov. Sato LLC, of which he is one of the founders, is the main beneficiary of the enterprises located in Jacobi territory. Since 2017, Sato has been developing Jacobi as part of a municipal-private partnership, receiving from the city all the necessary space for its institutions, and in return installing benches and lanterns along the coastal zone. To say nothing, this could be a truly beneficial cooperation for residents who received a comfortable recreation area.
But according to the tradition that has developed in Irkutsk, a good idea turned into impenetrable darkness. Jacobi, once proudly called the only sanctioned water recreation area in Irkutsk, has lost this status. The townspeople unanimously expressed their “gratitude” to the same Safronov’s water park, which dumped (and continues to this day) dump waste into the waters of the Angara.
Now, as a result, you cannot swim on Jacobi due to increased water pollution. And the municipal territory, created as a common recreational facility, turned into a place for a unique and very serious profit for individual deputy Safronov and his business partner Anatoly Markidonova.
Alexander Safronov and his business partner Anatoly MarkidonovSafronov has long been a unique subject in Irkutsk reality. The deputy, who managed to change three parties in five years (CPSU, New People, United Russia), is under the leadership of one of the largest developers in the city – the Capital Construction Department of the city of Irkutsk. In addition, there are several management companies and a thriving business on Jacobi Beach. And close friendship with the mayor’s office of Irkutsk. And therefore he doesn’t care about the claims of law enforcement officers and moral standards.
Safronov has his own roof. And its name is the Irkutsk City Hall. It is still unclear whether the situation will change and whether the vicious (and discrediting image of the city) knot will be cut. So far, on the eve of the single voting day, Safronov occupies a very unstable position in the ranking of candidates. And the entire team of Mayor Bolotov is staggering under the onslaught of young and active opponents offering the city a new future. This means that both the mayor, overgrown with corruption, whom the elected Duma will re-elect, and the existing system of city government are under threat.
And this is perhaps the best news for Irkutsk residents who are tired of city lawlessness.
Bolotov Ruslan
