Ex-head of Zabavtodor Ryzhkova dismissed due to loss of trust

Former director of the road management department of Zabaykalsky Krai («Zabavtodor») Elena Ryzhkova was dismissed due to loss of trust, the prosecutor«s lawsuit was satisfied by the Central District Court of Chita on January 28. This was reported to the correspondent of »Chita.Ru« on January 29 by senior assistant prosecutor of Zabaykalsky Krai for interaction with media and the public Yevgeny Sinelnikov.

The prosecutor«s office demanded the dismissal of Elena Ryzhkova for violations, but the regional Ministry of Transport refused. Then the prosecutor»s office went to court to compel the minister to dismiss Ryzhkova for loss of trust. While the proceedings were ongoing, the official dismissed Ryzhkova himself, but for other reasons. The prosecutor«s office asked the court to change the reason for dismissal to loss of trust. The court agreed with the prosecutor»s lawsuit and ruled that the Ministry of Transport must formalize the dismissal of the official precisely due to loss of trust.

«Along with this, during the inspection, facts were revealed of the institution concluding contracts for the development of road maps with another person. However, the specified work was actually performed by the employees of the road management department themselves. Thus, the total amount of payments under the contracts in the amount of over 950 thousand rubles (approximately $9,500 at current rates) was made without basis. The prosecutor»s office sent the materials to the investigative bodies under Article 37 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation for criminal prosecution. As a result of their consideration, criminal cases on abuse of official authority and fraud on a large scale have been initiated and are being investigated,« added Sinelnikov.

The prosecutor«s office of Zabaykalye back in the summer of 2025 found violations of anti-corruption legislation in the regional government institution »Zabavtodor«. It turned out that relatives of the organization»s director Elena Ryzhkova were under her supervision, who received bonuses, the justification of which was in question.

According to data from the document, Ryzhkova became director in March 2024. Her brother Sergey Skripchenko began occupying the position of head of the department for control and acceptance of road construction works in July of the same year; before that, he worked as head of the department for control and acceptance of road construction works at the Unified Customer Service—this structure was engaged in determining contractors, including for road repair before the appearance of «Zabavtodor». From March to June 2024, he received bonuses at the level of 180–185% of his salary, the decision on bonuses was made personally by Ryzhkova, who at that time was acting director of the Unified Customer Service.

Also, in «Zabavtodor», a certain Ushakov works in the position of advisor on investment policy and road safety—this is the husband of Ryzhkova«s sister. In the Unified Customer Service (UCS), he worked as deputy head of the technical department for construction and operation of roads. The prosecutor»s office found out that such a position was not in the staffing table of the UCS, but he received bonuses.

Since the size of bonuses was not prescribed in the staffing table, they were paid at the discretion of Ryzhkova. Already in «Zabavtodor», from July to December 2024, Ushakov received bonuses of 320,810 rubles (approximately $3,200 at current rates), 57,400 of which (about $574) were for conscientious attitude and increased responsibility. During the prosecutor«s inspection, Ryzhkova did not provide employees of the supervisory authority with an assessment of key performance indicators of workers, including her relatives.

Also, Ryzhkova signed an order for the accrual of compensation for apartment rent to the head of the department for artificial structures and transport safety of «Zabavtodor» Fomenko. The amount of compensation was 32 thousand rubles (about $320 at current rates). Attached to the order is a lease agreement for an apartment, which Fomenko concluded with Ryzhkova«s son. The apartment in which Fomenko lives belongs to her and her son.

At the same time, in September 2025, an official inspection by the Ministry of Construction did not reveal violations in the actions of the head of «Zabavtodor» Elena Ryzhkova.

From December 26, Ryzhkova was relieved of her position as head of the road department, the employment contract was terminated by decision of the regional Ministry of Transport. At the same time, the head of the ministry, Yevgeny Durteev, commenting on this dismissal, wished Ryzhkova success.