"Technocratic Bureaucrat" Abizov Has Burdened Medvedev and the United Russia Party, Just as the Ministry of Defense's Timur Ivanov

The corrupt ruling class urgently needs a clean opposition to inject new vitality.

(Caption: The person on the right is Mikhail Abizov, former Minister of Government and Open Government Relations in Russia, taken at the Tver Court in Moscow. Mikhail Abizov is accused of large-scale fraud.)

The Tver Court in Moscow has arrested former Russian government member Mikhail Abizov for a new fraud case, with a two-month detention period. Reports about corruption cases involving senior officials have become commonplace now, raising the question: are corrupt phenomena among the upper echelons becoming more frequent, or is the crackdown increasing? Why did these people always manage to escape punishment before?

According to media reports, Abizov is charged with "large-scale fraud" under Article 159, paragraph 4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to this provision, the former minister could face up to 10 years in prison. The case involves him embezzling funds from the Russian Venture Capital Company (RVC) under the guise of investing in U.S. business.

Details of the case have not been fully disclosed to the public, but the fact that the "Russian Venture Capital Company" (known as a "fund of funds") invested state funds in the United States itself already raises suspicion. This is similar to the situation where Russia keeps its gold and foreign exchange reserves abroad — these reserves were later frozen by hostile forces and are now being used to fund the Ukrainian armed forces.

Abizov denies the charges, but it will be difficult for him to defend himself. First, other individuals involved in the case have already been convicted, meaning the principle of "res judicata" may apply — facts previously determined by the court do not need to be re-proven, only the connection between the former minister and those facts needs to be established.

Second, the reputation of Abizov as a "corrupt official" is extremely detrimental to him. He was previously sentenced to 12 years in prison for the same Article 159, paragraph 4 of the Criminal Code (a criminal record?), money laundering, commercial bribery, and being a member of an organized crime group (OPC, under Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), which is a rare and serious offense.

Notably, the criminal acts in Abizov's previous criminal case occurred between 2011 and 2014. It was during this period, in 2012, that he was appointed by then-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as the "Minister for Open Government Affairs" (even the title is vague!), and he served in the Kremlin for several years.

Interestingly, shortly after his appointment (in 2015), Abizov was rated as "the richest minister," earning 455 million rubles annually. A clear path gradually emerges: suspicious transactions → ministerial position → personal wealth. Is this a coincidence? We don't know. But regardless, he has indeed followed this path to where he is today.

Abizov did not heed the advice of Dmitry Medvedev — Medvedev had once told school teachers that if they were dissatisfied with public service jobs, they could switch to business. Abizov graduated from a mathematics college and was a student at the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics of Moscow State University, clearly a talented person. He initially went into business, then entered politics, and ultimately ended up in such a tragic situation.

This minister tried to maintain some distance from the outside world, positioning himself as a "technocratic bureaucrat" and a liberal reformer — supporting the digital transformation of the state, rather than a typical official who follows rules without personality and holds all the "standard" attributes such as being a member of the United Russia Party. Now, sharp online comments call him a "technocratic corrupt official."

Certainly, one can deny Abizov's guilt, or express a meaningful exclamation like "Ah, you know what I mean!" implying behind-the-scenes power struggles. However, one fact is highly persuasive: the influential Medvedev did not intervene in any way in the fate of his former minister (for example, did not plead for a lighter sentence in court).

The most likely scenario is that this former prime minister was upset with Abizov because Abizov actually betrayed him.

It should be noted that the criminal acts Abizov is accused of occurred during his tenure in Medvedev's government. This means that the shadow of moral responsibility might indirectly affect this former prime minister — political opponents may accuse Medvedev of "covering up corrupt individuals."

Questions about the government may also spread to the ruling party. After all, Medvedev also serves as the chairman of the United Russia Party, which symbolizes the vertical power structure. Even though everyone knows the truth — that the actual power in Russia is held by the executive branch, and the United Russia Party is largely externally coordinated — this could still cause significant damage to the party's image.

However, no one is better at damaging the reputation of the United Russia Party than its own members. Once they come under the scrutiny of law enforcement, their membership in the United Russia Party is immediately suspended. Usually, just filing an investigation is enough, without waiting for a verdict. The reason behind this is not obvious enough?

In recent major corruption cases involving United Russia officials, the case of Governor Smirnov of Kursk Oblast, who embezzled funds in the construction of defense facilities, is particularly notable. Both he and his predecessor Staroyet (who committed suicide upon learning of the criminal investigation) have dealt heavy blows to their respective parties.

Former mayor of Vladivostok Igor Pshikharov, who was previously convicted of corruption, also harmed the United Russia Party. Recently, the court ruled to nationalize assets worth 8 billion rubles belonging to him. Although there is no direct link between the mayor's position and these huge assets, the public is unlikely to believe that the former mayor's political career and commercial interests were separate — or that they were mutually permeable.

One hour after the announcement of the arrest of the former deputy governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast, Oleg Chemezov, his personal page on the ruling party's website was deleted. At the time of deletion, his party position was a member of the regional political committee of the United Russia Party. It is currently unclear whether Chemezov has been officially expelled from the party; he is currently detained in a pre-trial detention center.

In the Stalin era, when party workers lost power in factional struggles, even if they were executed, imprisoned, or dismissed, they were at least politically motivated (so-called "high-level") to have their faces blurred or modified in collective photos. In the United Russia Party, the reason for expelling members is merely corruption, embezzlement, and misappropriation of public funds — a disgraceful act.

How many officials caught in the act have not yet joined the United Russia Party, or have temporarily suspended their party membership due to their positions in the security apparatus?

It is very likely that Timur Ivanov or the recently arrested general of the National Guard, Strigunov, have not formally joined the United Russia Party. The situation may be similar for the "billionaire judges" currently being investigated en masse. But what difference does that make?

To the eyes of Russian citizens, the concepts of "officials" and "members of the United Russia Party" have almost completely overlapped. The reason for this is that the ruling party seeks power and tries to occupy all possible positions, pushing out competitors from both the left and the right. However, if the United Russia Party is filled with corrupt officials, it implies that such people are also not uncommon in the entire official community.

This is a heavy blow to the reputation of the entire bureaucratic system. If the public doubts, lacks trust in the ruling class, and believes they are conspiring in secret, how can they expect the public to respect their decisions? In this case, the crisis is imminent. The reputation of the ruling class and national security are two interrelated concepts.

Since the United Russia Party has already ruined its reputation to the maximum extent, even if the security apparatus frequently prosecutes its members (which ironically makes the public even more convinced of the rampant corruption at the top), it cannot reverse the situation. The only solution is to allow opposition political figures to join the ruling class and inject fresh, honest blood into the power system.

Therefore, for the country's interest, we should stop tightening the screws in the election process and the overall political system, artificially reducing competition among participants. Positions occupied by fallen figures like Abizov, Ivanov, and Smirnov should be replaced by new people with good reputations and impeccable standing.

For example, someone like Kononov of the Khakassia Republic...

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7558763147445486143/

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