Albin's resignation. "Zenith Arena" - a man-made "black hole" Albina-Slyunyaeva

In the federal media, publications have recently begun to appear that tell in detail about the professional and life path of the St. Petersburg vice-governor Igor Albin. Moreover, the materials often contain such details that their hero himself probably would not want to remember.

The reason for the negative attention of federal channels and publications to the figure of a generally unremarkable Russian official was the high-profile story about the construction of a stadium on Krestovsky Island. It began to be built long before Albin came to St. Petersburg politics, but they decided to finish it by the start of the football championship for the Confederations Cup. That is, by the summer of 2017, in order to later host several games of the World Cup in 2018 there. Experts who have delved into the situation say that Mr. Albin did a lot to become the curator of this construction: before him, Marat Oganesyan, another member of the team of Governor Poltavchenko, who suddenly left Smolny more than a year ago, was responsible for the stadium, and, they say, not only on his own desire, but also at the request of Igor Albin.

Last April, Marat Hovhannisyan reported that the stadium was 80% ready. This July, Albin reports - by 85%. Even if the all-Russian scandal surrounding the construction of the stadium had not flared up last week, the federal leaders of preparations for international football competitions would still be stirred up from day to day from the amazing pace of work at the facility, which began to be built back in 2007 at the expense of federal and regional budgets. And after all, the feds have something to compare with: Sochi sports facilities were built by Deputy Prime Ministers Dmitry Kozak and Alexander Zhukov in three years.

As previously reported by Lack of Spirituality, on July 13 there was another scandal related to the construction of a stadium on Krestovsky Island. Workers due to delays in wages from the construction site. The general contractor Inzhtransstroy-SPB (from among the structures of Oleg Deripaska) openly announced the suspension of the construction of the stadium and made accusations of sabotaging the work against the city administration. “A situation has arisen in which the customer, represented by the city administration, is doing everything to disrupt the deadlines for completing the project,” the contractor's company said in a statement. According to the general contractor, Smolny plans to conclude a contract for the completion of the stadium with another company, which Inzhtransstroy-SPB considers impossible at this stage of construction, since this will significantly delay the completion of the stadium. The general contractor notes that the customer did not pay for the already completed work in the amount of 1 billion rubles, and also did not resolve the issue of compensation for unprofitable work and supplies. Igor Albin, on behalf of the customer, in turn, accuses the contractor of delaying construction, inefficient spending of budget funds and unwillingness to report to the city administration.

And now the federal media are accusing Igor Albin of disrupting the construction of the stadium and almost the entire Russian world championship, and they remember at the wrong time that Albin is actually Slyunyaev.

So, the REN TV channel recalled how the current vice-governor of the Northern capital commented on the collapse in the Ministry of Regional Development, which he headed for some time. “In September 2014, Igor Slyunyaev was removed from the post of Minister of Regional Development,” the journalists of the TV channel say in their story. - Moreover, the activity of the official led to the fact that I had to get rid of not only the head, but also the entire ministry completely. The resignation followed a series of failures of the president's orders. So, in 2013, the president instructed the minister to sort out the situation with a sudden increase in utility rates. However, even Slyunyaev learned about the problem itself only at a meeting with the head of state.”

By the way, it is still easy to find a link to a video of this conversation on YouTube if you type the phrase “Putin reprimands Slyunyaev.” Also, a video is circulating on the network from a meeting of the State Council on Housing and Utilities on May 31, 2013, where, after Igor Slyunyaev’s speech at the rank of Minister of Regional Development, President Vladimir Putin asks him: “Igor Nikolayevich, where do you work?”.

In their story, REN-TV journalists emphasize that in September 2014, Igor Albin explained the collapse of the Ministry of Regional Development not by his unsatisfactory work, but by the machinations of ill-wishers. In correspondence with REN TV journalists, he tried to present what was happening as a political order: “It’s disgusting to watch how you work off your dirty fees,” Minister Slyunyaev wrote at the time. The official, apparently, sincerely believed that he was not to blame for the collapse of the ministry. And he even appealed to the Almighty: “You started a bad game, God is your Judge, however, he is my Judge too,” the minister wrote.

“However,” REN-TV continues, “Slyunyaev became famous not only as a minister. Previously, he served as governor of the Kostroma region. He is still remembered there. Slyunyaev arranged celebrations for any reason. With his departure, the region owed almost 10 billion rubles, which is more than its annual budget at that time.

Very resonant during the governorship of Slyunyaev was the case of the newlyweds, whose facade of the building collapsed right behind them during the shooting, reminds REN-TV. - The facade of the house was then covered with a cloth and left in this state for months. Meanwhile, already at the post of minister, Slyunyaev asked for 200 million rubles. They say that the people of Kostroma are still happy about the rise of their mayor, which led to his separation from the Kostroma region.

“Later, Slyunyaev, already with a new surname - Albin - ended up in the government of St. Petersburg,” REN-TV develops the plot. “There were some scandals here, too.” Moscow TV crews recall how the townspeople were shocked by Albin's proposal to independently remove snow from the streets in winter, as the equipment could not cope. “The money was allocated for cleaning the streets properly,” the TV channel emphasizes. By the way, let us recall that two days later, in response to this proposal, a collection of signatures for Albin's resignation was initiated on the website change.org.

The Morning News also last week recalled the Kostroma period of Igor Albin's work. “On the initiative of Slyunyaev (Albina), the Kostroma Regional Duma in 2008-2011 repeatedly amended the budget of the Kostroma Region, allocating funds to finance a number of projects and programs. In 2011, amendments to the budget were made on a monthly basis. According to the opposition, these spending are excessive and "non-core": they increase the budget deficit without leading to any concrete results," writes The Morning News.

Turning to the story of the stadium, the publication also recalls Slyunyaev’s ministerial time: “A major“ sawing ”scandal occurred when, in June 2014, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Regional Development Vasily Kopylov and representatives of several departments of this department conducted an audit of the implementation of the federal target program (FTP) “Socio-economic development Republic of Ingushetia for 2010-2016”. At the same time, Deputy Minister Kopylov personally came to the region and inspected construction sites. According to media reports, Kopylov did not see any violations. But during the prosecutor's inspection of the use of budgetary funds for the implementation of the federal target program (FTP) "Socio-economic development of the Republic of Ingushetia for 2010-2016", gross violations were found. This was especially true for the construction of a glass factory, an oncology dispensary and a hostel for a boarding school in Ingushetia.

As a result, on September 8, 2014, at the suggestion of the Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, in order to optimize the executive authorities, the Ministry of Regional Development was abolished by Vladimir Putin's decree.

In other words, (Albina) Slyunyaev was not just fired. He reached the "peak" of inefficiency - the ministry under his leadership was liquidated!

It would seem that Albina (Slyunyaev) should have been imprisoned soon, but then the unbelievable happened. The governor of St. Petersburg, Georgy Poltavchenko, warmed up an official in his government! exclaims The Morning News.

In the chapter about the St. Petersburg period of Igor Albin, the publication recalls that in the winter of 2014, on the eve of the rise in price of tokens, St. Petersburg residents faced huge queues for tokens, which were sold first by 4 pieces, then by 3, and then completely one at a time. “Then the angry townspeople literally “pelled” Albin (Slyunyaev) with critical messages on the Internet. It was quite possible to foresee queues for tokens in anticipation of their rise in price. To which the official did not lose his head and advised the Petersburgers "to call on the heavenly office," writes The Morning News.

The publication also recalls that, at least earlier, the official had a habit of appearing everywhere, including at meetings in government bodies, with a combat pistol in a holster under his jacket. According to the media, who once noticed this to journalists, Albina's press secretary explained that this was actually a dummy, but later her patron confirmed to the press that the weapon was military.

The Morning News writes that this year St. Petersburg vice-governor Albin (Slyunyaev), who oversees housing and communal services, “disappeared 100 million rubles!” to a significant increase in air temperature and, accordingly, a decrease in the volume of heat output to houses. In other words, the officials counted heat for the residents of St. Petersburg with the money that they did not have to pay - for an extra 100 million rubles!

Journalists of the publication ask themselves: “Igor Nikolayevich remains in his place. Why?" And they put forward the version that "Albina (Slyunyaev) is called" Georgy Poltavchenko's favorite. “On the sidelines they say that Slyunyaev and Poltavchenko became close even when the first was the governor of the Kostroma region, and the second was the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District,” writes The Morning News.

In favor of the governor's all-round patronage, his subordinate is also told by what St. Petersburg experts are already telling about the reasons for the scandal around the stadium: they say that the general contractor does not manage the subcontractors that were supplied by Albin and are directly subordinate to Smolny. Also, knowledgeable people claim that the scandal that has gone public is a consequence of the struggle that unfolded for the last tranche of the city treasury for the construction of the stadium in 4.3 billion rubles. Allegedly, Oleg Deripaska's general contractor cannot share this money with Igor Albin's subcontractors.

Meanwhile, workers from the construction site of the century, who had not seen their wages for a long time, sent a letter to Governor Georgy Plotavchenko. Their letter was also quoted by the St. Petersburg Vesti: “Albin I.N. at each meeting, he humiliates our entire team and leaders, not embarrassed in terms, and also threatens to bring all those who are objectionable to him to criminal liability. He completely discredited our work, ruined the construction management system. We can no longer tolerate bullying and arbitrariness from Mr. Albin.”

And REN-TV, after the quote, gives a certificate that dozens of searches were recently carried out in the case of fraud during the construction of the Zenit Arena. The loss of 800 million rubles was revealed. “Igor Albin says he does not know where the money went, but the public remembers that the topic of his dissertation was “Criminal transfer of capital,” the channel says.

Causes:

Experts call the stadium "the last object of Igor Albin." It is likely that the city government will not get out of this story without loss. And the first to lose a place (so far only a place) will be the construction curator Igor Albin. And, perhaps, this will not happen, because there is another version explaining why the scandalous official has not yet paid with either his place or his freedom for any of his many mistakes in different posts and with different names. Allegedly, Igor Albin, through his wife, is a distant relative of Svetlana Medvedeva, the wife of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. However, the fact that the federal media (and through them many city ones) launched a direct informational attack on the vice-governor indicates either that this version is false, or that the number of Mr. Albin-Slyunyaev's mistakes already outweighs his own two. surnames, and distant relationship with someone else's and very influential.

Consequences:

If the St. Petersburg stadium is not completed by the summer of 2017, when the matches of the Confederations Cup are scheduled, then these important games and matches within the framework of the 2018 World Cup will simply be transferred to Sochi or Moscow's Luzhniki. The World Cup will not be disrupted due to Albin's actions and the state will fulfill its guarantees to international football organizations. However, before that time, elections to the State Duma and the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg should take place, and many reckless candidates have already got involved in commenting on the stadium scandal, taking the position of one of the parties. So carelessly behaved, for example, running for the Duma in the 217th district, the leader of the Party of Growth Oksana Dmitrieva, who supported Igor Albin. It is possible that the signal of the federal media is addressed precisely to such as she: Albina is being prepared for resignation.

The change of a surname by a man is a rather rare event, especially if it occurs in the 5th decade of life. This requires a really good reason. For a federal-level politician, such a rebranding is generally unacceptable due to the riskiness of the act. The Russian electorate, not particularly interested in politics, can easily be confused.

Former Kostroma Governor and Minister of Regional Development Igor Slyunyaev, before being appointed to a new post in St. Petersburg, boldly took such an extraordinary step. He explained his decision by the results of research by specialists who, in the darkness of centuries, tried to restore all branches of the genealogical tree of a high-ranking official. The investigation was generously paid for from the wallet of a passionate desire to establish the true roots of Slyunyaev, who ignited an interest in history during his five-year tenure as head of the primordially Russian region, which, due to circumstances, became the cradle of the history of the last Russian royal Romanov dynasty.

The curiosity of the statesman was completely satisfied. In the male line, his ancestors bore the historical noble surname of Albina. So a modern Russian official, a former Komsomol member Slyunyaev, became a nobleman Albin. His strange initiative was not supported by his own son, who preferred the name of his mother - Khotin. The opinion prevailing among the people was divided between two versions. The first is based on the obvious dissonance for the Russian ear of the former surname Slyunyaev. It is worth remembering the cinematic masterpiece directed by Eldar Ryazanov “Say a word about the poor hussar”, where the State Councilor Merzlyaev, to his great displeasure, turns into Merzyaev at the end of the film. With such a terrible name in Russia, you can’t make a career. Another thing is the noble sonorous surnames Mikhalkov or Konchalovsky!

The second version relies more on the biography of Igor Nikolaevich Slyunyaev, who, according to many, is not entirely successful, who has gone from a young age to a fully mature one. Starting life from scratch is a natural desire of many losers. The surname of the secondary hero of the immortal novel by Ilf and Petrov "The Twelve Chairs" of the brilliant locksmith Viktor Mikhailovich Polesov, whose numerous undertakings ended in inevitable collapse, is best suited for Slyunyaev.

Through the MIA

It is generally difficult to rank Igor Albin among the losers. It is better to characterize his life as rather unpredictable, with unexpectedly sharp turns, but never leading to disaster. Albin-Slyunyaev can justifiably be proud of his unsinkability. A former paratrooper sergeant from Western Siberia was able to pass the entrance exams at Moscow State University and begin his studies at the Faculty of Chemistry.

In just 2 years, he decided to drastically change the direction of his life and, instead of becoming an engineer, he preferred to apply to the Moscow Higher Police School. The country lived in the turbulent end of the 80s. Cadet Slyunyaev has established himself as an active social activist, heading the Komsomol committee of the educational institution. It is worth recalling that in those years, the leaders of the Komsomol from the lowest to the highest level were a vile, odious layer, consisting without exception of potential villains, sincerely despised by ordinary people.

In 1992, Slyunyaev received the epaulettes of a lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but did not rush to attack the criminals. A couple of years later, he surfaced on the board, albeit inconspicuous, but still a bank - Mossibinternetbank. The thirst for new knowledge led the novice banker to the Academy of Public Administration, which he graduated in 1999 with a degree in Finance and Credit. A decade later, the experience of practical activity in the banking sector provided inimitable material for a Ph.D.

government official

The next steps that Igor Slyunyaev overcame were the Ministry for Cooperation with the CIS Countries, where he was noted as a Deputy Minister, and the Federal Road Service. In the late 1990s, with the advent of Vladimir Putin, a native of the special services, to the highest posts of the state, former and current employees of law enforcement agencies became very much in demand. Some of the familiar Komsomol members remembered the policeman Slyunyaev. The police lieutenant, who retrained as a banker, was quickly awarded the title of senator, representing the interests of the Altai Territory in the Federation Council.

Following the wishes of President Putin, in 2007 Igor Slyunyaev was approved by the regional assembly of deputies as the governor of the Kostroma region. The word "region" Slyunyaev did not respect, constantly replacing it with "province". For the inhabitants of Kostroma and its environs, he remained in memory under the names Border or Gosha the Magnificent. The provincial capital of Kostroma completely decorated its roads with a curb stone produced at one of the enterprises owned by the current governor.

The age-old history of the province so blinded the newcomer Siberian with its significance that, paying tribute to the events that took place on the ancient land, he threw all his efforts into popularizing its spiritual and historical heritage. Cultural and entertainment events in those years in Kostroma took place in an endless series - the Constellation festival, an exhibition of products from the Faberge factory, the Susanin-Trophy motor rally, the Romanov Festival, the Bethlehem Star festival, governor's charity balls, the Severnaya Nadezhda dog sled race ”, expensive productions of classical operas Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina.

Regional debt

The passion of the first person for the rich historical heritage was generously paid for from the regional budget. It has become a practice to adjust it monthly to suit the wishes of the governor. As if Ivan Susanin had risen from the grave, Igor Slyunyaev did not lead the Poles into the jungle of dense forests, but the region entrusted to him to economic collapse. The annual deficit of the regional budget reached almost 3 billion rubles, which amounted to more than a quarter of the federal subject's own revenues. The size of the state debt of the region exceeded the entire volume of the regional budget.

The governor became the initiator of the rather controversial use of the Avangard commercial bank in the scheme of transferring utility bills from the population according to an inexplicably complex scheme through the Kostroma sales company to the accounts of OAO Management Company Rusenergocapital. At the same time, the all-Russian rating of governor Slyunyaev's management efficiency has steadily grown steadily over the years, moving him to the top of the list. The hangover came after the regular Duma elections. Slyunyaev habitually topped the regional list of candidates from the ruling United Russia party, acting as a "political locomotive".

The irresponsible Kostroma electorate, thinking more about their own stomach, and not about the lofty and eternal, “lowered” the governor and fellow party candidates to one of the last places in Russia. Slightly more than 30% of those who voted for "EdRo" indicated the reality of the exaggerated ratings of the governor. Igor Slyunyaev resigned of his own free will, handing President Putin his resignation.

Ministry's verdict

The President accepted it and entrusted a valuable worker from his point of view with a new front of activity. Igor Slyunyaev headed the Ministry of Regional Development in order to become the gravedigger of this state structure in 2 years. During the leadership of the ministry, its walls were shaken by a grandiose scandal with the use of funds for a targeted state program for the socio-economic development of the Republic of Ingushetia.

Control bodies revealed a horrendous squandering of budgetary funds. The president's patience has also run out. He publicly criticized the minister and blamed him for the grandiose increase in tariffs for housing and communal services in the Russian regions. The sentence to the ministry was signed, but not to Igor Slyunyaev.

Under the new surname Albin, he showed up in St. Petersburg in the position of vice-governor in charge of housing and communal services and transport. The former Slyunyaev met Governor Peter Poltavchenko during his work as the presidential representative in the Central Federal District and somehow fascinated him. Immediately after landing in a new leadership position, Albin stunned the people of St. Petersburg with his initiative to clean the yards and streets with the help of the residents themselves. The city was covered with snow due to heavy snowfalls, and public utilities and their leaders demonstrated complete impotence in the face of the elements. Subordinates spread information on social networks that the vice-governor took a shovel in his hands and, setting a personal example, as if the reincarnated Vladimir Ilyich on a community work day, cleared a whole lane in the historical part of the city. Initiatives to collect signatures for his resignation could not be avoided. So far, the new surname does not really help Igor Albin.

St. Petersburg hosted a number of events dedicated to the opening of the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. The press conference dedicated to the opening of the Cup was attended by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samura and head of the Organizing Committee Alexei Sorokin. Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the opening ceremony. He delivered a welcoming speech, attended the first match at the St. Petersburg Arena.

All these events have one thing in common - the "architect of victories", the curator of the construction of the main stadium of the 2018 World Cup, the vice-governor of St. Petersburg Igor Albin was not seen at any official event. He was not invited anywhere, because even the mention of him damages the image of the authorities, and the authorities distance themselves from him.

Albin felt offended - he was deprived of a holiday! And as compensation, he held his own press conference, which was ignored by most of the media, but meanwhile he issued a number of interesting statements for understanding his intentions.

From his speech it is immediately clear what he is most afraid of in the future (after all, the stadium will still be checked by the Accounts Chamber). Albin hastened to make a number of statements:

- "The stadium was built and operated. It fully complies with the requirements of FIFA";
- Speaking about the cost of the arena, the vice-governor called it "adequate": "Believe my expert opinion, this is not the most expensive stadium in the world";
- "From the moment I supervised the completion of the stadium, there was no corruption";
- Negotiations are underway to transfer the stadium to the concession of FC Zenit: "I don't think there will be any problems with the transfer."

In addition to "heroism" and "feat" in the construction of the stadium, Albin spoke about the achievements (of course, his own) in the development of the city's transport infrastructure.

At the same time, listing his "exploits", Albin modestly kept silent about his achievements in solving the problem of "deceived investors". But before that, on June 15, he met with residents of the Leninsky Park residential complex to hand over the keys. Albin said that in the case of equity holders of the Gorod Group of Companies, an end has been put. However, equity holders are in no hurry to thank the "benefactor" - they accuse the State Construction Supervision Authority of accepting low-quality houses: some balconies are not glazed in the houses, fire safety measures are not observed, and there are other serious shortcomings. On June 18, equity holders of the Gorod Group of Companies went to another rally demanding to complete the construction of their houses and hand them over in good condition. But 11 more houses have not been completed! Of these, in 9 houses, Albin promised to give out the keys in September 2017. There are 3 months left before this deadline, but the houses are not being built! Shareholders sent their demands by registered mail to Vladimir Putin.

And with the stadium, not everything is as smooth as Albin says. And, the most interesting thing is that he himself also talks about this, perhaps not quite adequately evaluating his statements.

according to him, all the “jambs” at the stadium are eliminated at the expense of the organizing committee-2018, “more precisely, the Directorate for the operation of sports facilities” (that is, again at the expense of the budget).

So, perhaps, we will soon change the leadership of the Ministry of Construction.

But I wouldn't want to live in a house built to building standards designed by such "professionals".
Judge for yourself, at least from this statement by Albin on the turf problem at the Zenit Arena: “When we were preparing the temporary infrastructure, no one thought that the roll-out field feels better in natural conditions. And, having placed the media center on the roll-out field slab, We've created a big problem for ourselves."

But not all is lost! According to him, now the authorities are working out different options for solving this problem:

1. Dismantling of temporary structures and direction of the field to the outer perimeter, to the slab;
2. Leave everything as it is, but there is a high probability that in the end you will have to change the lawn again;
3. Find another place for the media center, which will require laying communications to receive a high-quality broadcast.

"We will make a decision before the end of this month," Albin says cheerfully. And it can be understood: new tasks - new budgets - new problems. Etc.

Mikhail Mikhailovich Zhvanetsky is right: "... the process is more important than the result; the process is life, the result is death. ... Certainty is incorrigible, and uncertainty is life."

Last Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the opening ceremony of the WHSD central section, where he met with St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko. At the same time, the head of state ignored the stadium under construction just a hundred meters from the highway on Krestovsky Island. There, the president was waited by the vice-governor Igor Albin, who has recently been increasingly called the next head of St. Petersburg. The Telegraph saw this as a sign that Albin's gubernatorial ambitions were supported only by a massivePR-campaign in urban media.

Until the Kremlin explodes

It must be admitted that the current governor of St. Petersburg, Georgy Poltavchenko, is already tired. First of all, to himself, in his current status. When in 2011 he replaced Valentina Matvienko, his appearance was associated with the fact that the Kremlin could not decide on the main contender for the post of governor of St. Petersburg, and therefore it was decided to appoint a figure who more or less suited everyone. Meanwhile, Poltavchenko has been “holding his seat” for more than five years, and from time to time rumors flare up about his leaving for a promotion.

Over the years, relations between a former colleague of Vladimir Putin and the Northern capital have not outgrown the level of a marriage of convenience. The dim image of the governor compared to his predecessor made St. Petersburg residents forget about the existence of the head of the city, but it allows sociologists to consistently fix the low negative rating of Poltavchenko - city life flows, there are no ups, but no downs either. The mayor himself from time to time glances towards the Kremlin and waits for a signal.

The last of them, according to RBC sources, sounded this summer. According to the publication, Georgy Poltavchenko was considered as a candidate for the post of speaker of the new State Duma, or even as the head of the joint Investigative Committee. The rumors grew stronger every day, and it came to the point that at the end of September, the Nevsky News information resources and the Federal News Agency consistently reported Poltavchenko's resignation as a fait accompli. Poltavchenko even had to make a special official refutation of the rumors.

“He (Putin) did not make such a decision and did not speak to me on this subject. I have no desire to leave your glorious ranks, I want to work with you as long as possible, ”the mayor said, promising to severely punish those who spread rumors in the future.

Knowing how unpredictable the president's personnel decisions are, one cannot rule out the possibility that Poltavchenko will leave his post in the near future, and therefore a queue of applicants is lining up for a potentially vacant seat. Meanwhile, according to city TV channels, newspapers and Internet portals, the only worthy candidate for this position is Vice Governor Igor Albin.

I went crazy, I came to Smolny

Igor Albin owes his appearance on the banks of the Neva to Governor Poltavchenko, whom he knew from the time when one, under the surname Slyunyaev, served as governor of the Kostroma region, and the other oversaw the region as a permanent representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District. Albin was called Poltavchenko's favorite, and it is not surprising that when Albin's career took a serious turn, the invitation came from St. Petersburg.

In February 2013, the president gave Slyunyaev the now-famous public flogging for an unjustifiably sharp increase in housing and communal services tariffs. “Here they are, payments. Go and explain to people why there is such a jump... And in Murmansk, you say, in some municipalities by more than 200 percent. Are you out of your mind?!” - Putin shamed the official on the air of federal TV channels. Slyunyaev, visibly blushing, tried to object, and, in the end, promised to correct the violations. The President gave Slyunyaev almost a year and a half, but in September 2014, patience came to an end, and the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation was abolished.

The train of scandals forced Slyunyaev to go downhill and change the ministerial portfolio to the folder of the vice-governor. However, having moved to St. Petersburg, the official from the first days began to prove that this stage was only a temporary retreat. In a new place, already under a new surname, Albin started a vigorous activity. A large team of Albin PR people chose to play on the opposite effect. If Poltavchenko tries to remain inconspicuous and sometimes unjustifiably avoids getting into the field of view of the media, then the vice-governor, on the contrary, climbs on the rampage and each time finds himself at the forefront of the attack.

Snow fell - Albin was ahead of everyone, with a shovel at the ready. The deceived equity holders are indignant - the vice-governor is already right there, and under the gunpoint of television cameras he promises to solve all problems, beautifully putting his right hand to his heart. "Zenith-Arena" ... It doesn't matter that the general contractor has reached the finish line and is building the facility, despite the growing debts of the customer represented by the city authorities - Albin goes into a spectacular conflict and expels the mighty Transstroy from the construction site, literally like Jesus Christ - merchants from temple.

All events are actively commented on by the official in social networks, where he has thousands of subscribers, and in specially selected media. Outside representatives of the press are not allowed to Albin. Indicative are the words of the press secretary of the vice-governor Elena Mikhina, said in response to the Telegraph's request to ask the official questions in writing. “Under the law on the media, of course, you have the right to ask any questions, but it would be better for me if you don’t send them,” Mikhina explained.

The man who decides issues in the Smolny

As a result, it is not easy for an uninitiated observer to get rid of the feeling that the government of St. Petersburg has seven lazy vice-governors and one Albin, who works for seven. In the October media rating of members of the government, prepared by Medialogy, Albin once again takes first place, ahead of the closest pursuer Alexander Govorunov in terms of citation by exactly seven times.

An illustrative story happened in September, when, going on vacation, Poltavchenko, in accordance with the law of St. Petersburg, left the head of his administration, Govorunov, to act as governor. Albin on the same day moved his working office to the stadium under construction on Krestovsky Island. According to the official version, in order to personally control the progress of construction from morning to late evening. According to informed sources, because of the desire to emphasize their own influence. “The law is law, but businessmen study the Internet and the press and draw information from there, to whom to go to“ solve problems ”, - explained the interlocutor of Telegraph from the government apparatus.

It is easy to believe in the unofficial version after watching the video "Remembering the past year", which Albin's team made at the end of 2015. Thirteen minutes of a well-edited video speaks not even of the gubernatorial, but truly presidential ambitions of the St. Petersburg official. They say that after the appearance of the advertising clip, Albina was immediately hinted from above at his excessive ambition and asked to remove the creation, but he refused.

The vice-governor's PR-machine is working with a large margin of power. She was able to neutralize even the powerful effect of the wave of criticism launched by "unknown ill-wishers" against Albin (however, no one doubted that the structures of Transstroy, expelled from the construction of the stadium, were behind this). Then, with an interval of several days, several TV channels broadcast stories similar in script, in which the masks of virtue were “torn off” from a popular official.

Immediately, well-known figures of culture and sports of St. Petersburg, from Mikhail Boyarsky to Daniil Granin, spoke in defense of the injured vice-governor, as if on command, the oppositional Novaya Gazeta made a report on the working days of the “king carpenter” at the Zenit Arena, and even Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko hastened to assure that he had no doubts about the successful completion of the facility on Krestovsky Island. “The situation has changed radically, it is clear that the situation is absolutely under control. We very much hope and expect that this will continue,” the minister said in front of the cameras and shook hands with Albin.

Governor's post instead of imprisonment

Interlocutors interviewed by Telegraph in the political circles of the city unanimously consider the probability of Igor Albin's appearance as governor of St. Petersburg to be extremely low. As counterarguments, his annoying manner of solving issues was cited, a characteristic feature of which is dragging his people into already working structures.

The replacement of Transstroy with a non-core Metrostroy at Zenit Arena is not the only example. It was the same with the construction committee, within which a separate commission appeared, resolving (and more often not resolving) the issues of equity holders. The same thing happens with urban infrastructure projects, where VTB Bank is increasingly entering, pushing the Rossiya Bank, which is more familiar to St. Petersburg, and multiplying the number of Albin's ill-wishers in higher circles.

It is the lack of real support in the end that can be decisive for the successful continuation of the career of a lieutenant governor. Some connections in law enforcement agencies... Even some relatives in the government (according to unconfirmed information, his wife is a cousin of Dmitry Medvedev's wife)... But all this is more than words and myths hyped in social networks.

So the vice-governor of St. Petersburg rushes from object to object. He tries to convince the most important person in the Kremlin that times have changed, and the crooked official Slyunyaev is a thing of the past. He was replaced by a "powerful business executive", "having rich experience in leadership work", besides "popular among the people" Igor Albin. The successful completion of the construction of the stadium on Krestovsky Island will become his profession de foi - either further to power, or straight to the monastery, away from the employees of the Investigative Committee and the FSB following on his heels.

A campaign for the resignation of Vice Governor Igor Albin has started in the northern capital. Yesterday, initiative Petersburgers, with the support of radical city defenders, picketed Smolny. The collection of signatures under an appeal to Governor Georgy Poltavchenko has begun. The picketers demand the dismissal of Albin and his entire team "without severance pay." The defendant himself reacts to the expression of the people's will extremely nervously.

According to the organizers of the action, Igor Albin is a "stranger", "a Muscovite from the provinces". Which has nothing to do with St. Petersburg, "does not love and does not understand the city and its inhabitants." For almost two years of his vice-governorship, Albin could not or did not want to solve a single urgent urban planning problem in St. Petersburg.

The list of claims presented to Albin, even in the abstract, takes a dozen pages. So, during the stay of this official at a high post in Smolny in St. Petersburg, the protection of cultural heritage sites has noticeably deteriorated. Defenders of the Alexandrino Historical Park claim that the vice-governor is engaged in "open lobbying" of the interests of the developer of the Ulyanka quarters, Voin-V LLC. In general, in their opinion, Albin personally "covers" the seal building, carried out in many parts of the city under the guise of renovation of Khrushchev. It was at the suggestion of Albin that the budget funds intended for the development of social facilities were transferred into the "black hole" - to complete the construction of the Zenit Arena stadium.

The organizers of the campaign justify their position for a wide range of citizens: “In public, Albin willingly scolds “negligent” subordinates, shaking his fists. All this is obligingly covered by the prosmolninist media. But it is obvious that all this “violent activity” is just a well-directed PR campaign. There is no content behind the ominous declarations.”

"Incompatible with Petersburg!" - such a verdict is issued to Albin by residents of the northern capital. City guards have prepared the text of an appeal to Governor Georgy Poltavchenko. Where the need for the resignation of his presumptuous deputy is intelligibly explained. The incompetence and lack of professionalism of the official himself and his staff are pointed out. This initiative is part of a massive campaign against the construction lobby.

The action on September 6 at the walls of Smolny forced the vice-governor to go out to the protesters and try to "neutralize" them. Which led to even more scandal. “Albin convinced citizens that the renovation was being carried out legally, and the ERA city protection group was a corrupt organization controlled from France,” said Nikolai Lavrentiev, an activist of the ERA group, a member of the leadership of ICOMOS in the Russian Federation.

The very first publication of this in the media caused Igor Nikolaevich a fit of anger. “Albin personally called the defenders of the renovation quarter on Ligovka, demanded denials, threatened legal proceedings, accused him of slander,” say participants in the events. In connection with such an inadequate reaction of the official, the activists decided to make the campaign for his resignation indefinite. They are confident that they will collect tens of thousands of signatures from citizens.

In turn, analysts recall that five years ago, in the elections to the State Duma, Albin (at that time Slyunyaev) headed the Kostroma regional group of the United Russia list. The Kostroma candidates then showed one of the worst results in the country, gaining just over 30%.

Two years ago, in the fall of 2014, city defenders demanded the resignation of the then profile vice-governor, Marat Oganesyan. The campaign was held under the slogan "Oganesyan - the lobbyist of the construction mafia - get out of Smolny!" The chair wobbled heavily. But it took about six months for the top manager from the executive branch to leave his post.

This time the activists - opponents of Albin, expect to cope faster.

Violetta Litova, especially for "In Crisis.ru"