In the Yaroslavl Region, the Department of the Agro-Industrial Complex filed a lawsuit against the participants in the federal program for the development of rural areas.

During the audit by the Chamber of Control and Accounts, it turned out that ten specialists - including doctors and teachers - had illegally received subsidies for the construction of houses.

The total amount, according to human rights activists, was 19 million rubles.

According to the terms of the program, only rural residents could participate in it, but funds were also allocated to those who were registered in Yaroslavl.

On this fact, a check has already been initiated by the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia in the Yaroslavl Region and the regional prosecutor's office. 

However, the Yaroslavl residents themselves, who received subsidies, claim that they honestly provided all the documents, did not hide the place of registration and fulfilled the terms of the contract - they lived and worked in rural areas, spending money on improving their living conditions.

"I didn't hide anything"

Doctor of the Yaroslavl Central Hospital Anna Balashova tells RT that she learned about the federal program "Sustainable Development of Rural Areas" by chance, from her patient.

According to Anna, then she lived with her family in the village of Krasnye Tkachi, Yaroslavl region.

Together with her husband, they dreamed of their own house, but construction proceeded slowly: in two years they managed to lay the foundation and erect the walls.

Anna says that she turned to the district administration and there they explained to her that the federal program allows young professionals under 35 to receive subsidies for improving housing conditions, including building a private house.

In return, the program participant undertakes to work in the specialty for five years in rural areas.

According to Anna, among the documents that she needed to submit to apply for participation were certificates of permanent registration in Yaroslavl and temporary registration in the village.

After the approval of the package of documents, Balashova applied to the regional Department of the Agro-Industrial Complex (AIC), which issues a certificate for improving housing conditions.

On March 23, 2017, a tripartite agreement was signed between Anna, the Yaroslavl Central Regional Hospital and the Department of the AIC (the document is at the disposal of RT).

For each participant in the program, the amount is calculated individually, in the case of the Balashov family, it amounted to 1 million 164 thousand rubles.

Including with the help of this money, the family finally completed the house.

“After we became participants in the program, they came to us with checks, they saw that we really lived in the village and were building a house.

I continued to work in a clinic in Krasnye Tkachi and also in a hospital in the neighboring village of Karabikha, "Anna said in an interview with RT.

  • Anna with her daughter at her house in Red Weavers

  • © Photo from personal archive

Two and a half years later, Anna unexpectedly received a subpoena: the Department of AIC demanded that the doctor return the subsidies in full.

As it turned out in court, in 2019, the regional Control and Accounts Chamber revealed an error in admitting Yaroslavl residents to participate in the federal program.

As noted in the inspection materials (available to RT), a citizen cannot count on subsidies under the program if he moves to a village from the administrative center of this district, in this case, Yaroslavl.

In the statement of claim, the Department of AIC noted that since Balashova confirmed with her signature that she was familiar with the conditions of participation in the program, she "realized that she could not be a participant in the target program in connection with the move from Yaroslavl to the Yaroslavl municipal district."

At the same time, during the court hearings, a representative of the Department of the Agro-Industrial Complex confirmed that Balashova had provided the documents necessary for participation in the program, "including a passport with registration at the place of residence in Yaroslavl."

"The representative of the plaintiff did not dispute the fact that on the part of Balashova the trilateral agreement is being duly fulfilled, the construction of housing has been carried out by her, the social payment has been used for its intended purpose," the court decision says (available to RT).

In July of this year, the Yaroslavl District Court denied the Department of Agro-Industrial Complex to satisfy the claim in full.

However, the department appealed the decision.

As a result, in November, the Yaroslavl Regional Court ordered Balashov to return the money.

“I went to the local administration several times, collected all the documents, did not hide anything from them.

I was told that everything was fine, and I was included in the program, and now they are demanding money because of someone else's mistake, ”Anna is indignant. 

Participants by mistake

In addition to Anna, there are nine more participants in the federal program in Yaroslavl, from whom the local authorities demand to return the money to the budget.

As a public activist, the initiator of the Free Yaroslavl group, Andrei Broy, explained to RT, all these recipients could not initially count on subsidies, since they were registered in Yaroslavl.

“All of them are young people up to 35 years old: teachers, doctors, workers.

We joined the program in 2017.

The total amount of subsidies paid to these citizens within the framework of the concluded agreements is 19 million rubles, ”says Broey.

Now, he said, some of them are deducting money from their salaries.

“I know that one state farm worker has money deducted from his wages against the subsidies spent,” says the activist.

He notes that out of ten participants in the program, only two managed to win the courts and defend the right not to return subsidies.

“In four cases, the cassation court has already sided with the Department of the Agro-Industrial Complex and ordered citizens to pay money back to the budget,” added Andrei Broy.

Lawyer Maxim Lyapin represented in court the interests of a Yaroslavl teacher who found himself in a similar situation. 

“As in the case of Balashova, the district court sided with my client, but the Department of the AIC appealed the decision.

While the case has not yet been considered in the regional court, there is hope for a favorable result, since the public drew attention to this unfair situation, "the lawyer told RT.

The regional Department of the agro-industrial complex explains that the lawsuits were filed against the citizens, since such a recommendation was given by the Control and Accounts Chamber.

“In the audit of the Accounts Chamber, it was indicated that the statement of claim must be submitted to the applicants themselves, who became participants in the program.

So far, none of the defendants has paid subsidies back to the budget in full, "department director Yevgeny Sorokin told RT.

He noted that since November 30, the department has been conducting an internal investigation.

The official who oversaw this direction in the department was dismissed last year.

According to Sorokin, it is not easy to find out what caused the error, since the lists of potential participants are submitted to the AIC Department by regional administrations.

Perhaps the mistake was made there.

The administration of the Yaroslavl district told RT that their task was to help people collect documents to apply for participation in the program.

The final decision on the conclusion of the contract and the payment of subsidies was made by the Department of AIC.

Earlier, the district prosecutor's office also filed lawsuits, but demanded that the budget funds be paid not by citizens, but by the district administration and the Department of the AIC.

“The names of the participants in the program appear in lawsuits because their rights are affected in these proceedings.

The prosecutor's office went to court with claims to collect money not from specific citizens, but from the administration of the Yaroslavl municipal district and the regional Department of the agro-industrial complex, ”the press service of the regional prosecutor's office told RT.

The supervisory agency initiated a check on these facts to find out, because of whose mistake ten specialists were inappropriately paid subsidies under the federal program.