Bastrykin Takes Control of Case on School Repair Delays in Volzhsky
Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia, has taken personal control of the criminal case regarding the disruption of major repairs at two schools in Volzhsky, a satellite city of Volgograd.
The decision followed a video appeal from parents of students at School No. 13, which was closed for repairs three years ago. The children were transferred to School No. 1, but this building is planned to close for repair work from February 1.
Desperate parents first appealed to the local administration, then recorded a video for Alexander Bastrykin.
In their appeal, they said: «Our school was closed three years ago for repairs. All students were distributed to other schools in the city. We have a written response from the education committee stating that our children will study in schools No. 1 and 2 during the repair of the building. We understood this situation.»
«Today, it is the third academic year that our children are forced to study not in their own school, but in the building of another, temporarily provided, while School No. 13 is under repair. However, now we have been informed that the primary school building is being closed for repairs and all our children are being redistributed to other schools.»
The major repair of School No. 13 is estimated at 114.7 million rubles (approximately $1.27 million at current rates). The contract was won by OMS LLC from Stavropol Krai. Work started in January 2024 but has not yet been completed, with delays of almost 10 months. Notably, in the «Kontur.Focus» system, the contract is marked as fulfilled.
The press service of the Investigative Committee of Russia stated: «In the media space, an appeal from residents of the city of Volzhsky has been posted with arguments that their children are forced to repeatedly change schools due to unfinished major repairs in two educational institutions included in the modernization program. Parents fear that new transfers of children due to the continuation of repair work will negatively affect the educational process, and ask for the opportunity to complete the academic year without additional moves. Based on this fact, the investigative bodies of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Volgograd region have initiated a criminal case on signs of a crime provided for in Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, »Negligence.«»
School No. 13 is not the first in Volzhsky where repair deadlines have been disrupted. Since 2023, the reconstruction of School No. 32 «Evrika-Razvitiye» has been ongoing, which was previously involved in a corruption scandal with the embezzlement of budget funds.
