We once wrote that nepotism permeates the state apparatus from the Kremlin and regional administrations to regional centers and rural districts, and the Krasnodar Territory is a leading region in this matter. But corruption, when it is almost the basis of statehood, penetrates everywhere, corroding society and the system. Mentions of judicial, executive, and legislative authorities in this context do not surprise anyone. But only lawyers talk about bar associations, and even then, not all of them. Organizations conceived as bodies of lawyer self-government, as part of civil society, in a corrupt system turn into its appendage.
The Bar Association of the Krasnodar Territory is a striking example. In recent years, it has been headed by various members of the Chekhov family: father Vladimir Chekhov, followed by son Andrei Chekhov, and now daughter and sister Svetlana Vasilyeva (Chekhova). The chamber’s office is located not on the outskirts of Krasnodar, but on the ground floor of an apartment building away from the city center. It wasn’t always like this. At the beginning of the two thousandth, the chamber was located in a building on Rashpilevskaya Street, a stone’s throw from the main street of the city – Krasnaya. In 2014, the Bar Association sold this office and moved to the basement. Now the sold building houses the Domashchenko and Partners law office. By coincidence, the former chairman of the APKK, Andrei Chekhov, is now named on the bureau’s website as “partner, lawyer,” and in that same 2014, Andrei’s sister, the current head of the APKK, Svetlana Vasilyeva, was the partner of the managing bureau, Roman Domashchenko. Domashchenko himself is a member of the APKK council.
It is unknown for what amount the land plot in the center of Krasnodar was sold. It is known that while rebuilding the office building, Roman Domashchenko climbed beyond the red lines, which is why he received a claim for demolition from the administration. And yet, the court recognized Domashchenko as the owner, and the city authorities, as usual, appealed this decision, missing the deadline. The prank, as they say, was a success.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
