Major-General of Justice Sergei Golkin, acting deputy head of the main department for the investigation of especially important cases of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, told Kommersant how the investigation into the most resonant crimes of recent years is being conducted.

- What matters become especially important and fall into the production of your management?

- These are cases of crimes that have caused a great public outcry, including in relation to persons who replace state posts of the Russian Federation and subjects. This approach is in line with the Concept of the Development of the National System for Countering the Legalization (Laundering) of Proceeds from Crime and Financing of Terrorism, approved by the President of Russia. In addition, we investigate terrorist acts, catastrophes, deliberate killings, fraud in the credit and financial sphere, embezzlement of budget funds. The investigator-general, and we have such 22, should be able to investigate crimes of any orientation. For example, in the 1990s I specialized in the investigation of crimes against a person (murder, rape, etc.), but, working in the central apparatus, I investigated economic, tax, official crimes, the same murders, as well as cases about banditry. I can note that recently the investigators completed one of these cases - the gang of Konstantin Piskarev, known under the moniker Kostya Bolshoy, acting since 1999 in Moscow and other regions.

It was found that the members of this gang committed more than 20 murders, including the head of the Sergiev Posad administration, Evgeni Dusko. According to the investigation, the last crime was committed exactly seven years ago by Piskarev himself, who shot an officer from a pistol. The murder was connected with the victim's professional activities.

- This year, sentences were passed on charges of taking bribes to two governors - Alexander Khoroshavin and Nikita Belykh. What processes are expected in the near future?

- Former governors of the Sakhalin and Kirov regions Khoroshavin and Belykh, I recall, were sentenced to 13 and 8 years of imprisonment respectively, and also have to pay fines of 500 million rubles. and 48 million rubles. The case of ex-head Komi Geiser, accused of organizing a criminal community, is heard in court. The cases concerning the former heads of Mary El and Udmurtia Leonid Markelov and Alexander Solovyov are also over: officials accused of taking bribes are now getting acquainted with their materials.

- The loudest attack of recent years - in the metro of St. Petersburg. When will the case be in court?

- Now 11 of his figurants get acquainted with the materials of the criminal case. In the final stage of the investigation, in addition to the terrorist act, as well as crimes related to the illegal trafficking in arms and explosives, they were charged with participation in the terrorist community (Part 2, Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code). According to the preliminary investigation, the accused were members of a group that is structurally part of a terrorist organization that is banned in the territory of the Russian Federation. It was created by natives of Uzbekistan and Kirghizia who then left for Syria. After losing to the government armed forces, they went over to terror, including on the territory of our country.

- Until now, it remains a mystery why the suicide bomber Akbarzhon Jalilov went to the subway with two bombs?

- According to the investigation, at first he left the IED at the station "Ploshchad Vosstaniya" to remotely activate it, and then using a second bomb to self-detonate. Experts believe that due to design errors, the first IED did not work. Jalilov, returning to the site of the bookmark, saw that law enforcement officers were engaged in the bomb, took a train, and, on a stretch between the stations Sennaya Ploshchad and Technological Institute, activated a bomb that he had with him. Killed 15 people, more than 50 were injured.

- Among the accused are Shokhist Karimov, a Moscow greengrocer who is much older than his alleged accomplices. How was she connected with the terrorists?

"I would not want to focus on the actions of each accused in this case, because they still have to prove their guilt in court. I can only say that, according to the investigation, she provided various services to other participants, in particular, activated SIM cards, provided them with telephones. This was done to complicate the work of special services to prevent a terrorist attack.

- Who determines how to investigate investigative generals and how?

- Chairman of the Investigative Committee (Alexander Bastrykin .- "Kommersant"), since they are senior investigators for particularly important cases under the chairperson of the TFR. He calls and hears results. At the same time I would like to note that in cases with a large number of victims, such as, for example, a fire in the Kemerovo shopping and entertainment center "Winter Cherry", there is not only departmental, but also public control. The leaders of the committee, our administration and the investigators themselves meet with the victims, talk about what work is done on the case, answer the questions arising in this connection, and simply help people who find themselves in difficult life situations.

- In the case of a fire in the SEC "Winter Cherry" the main defendants have already been named. Perhaps the emergence of new ones?

- Accusation in the final version will be presented to seven persons in the next few days, including the fireman Sergei Genin, the manager of the shopping and entertainment center "Winter Cherry", Nadezhda Suddenok, the general director of Kemerovo Confectionary Plant (KKK owned by the SEC) Yulia Bogdanova and the company's CEO "System integrator" Igor Polozinenko. Depending on the role of each of them, they are charged with committing crimes under Art. 109, 219, 285, 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (causing death by negligence, violation of fire safety requirements, abuse of official powers, rendering services that do not meet safety requirements, resulting in the death of two or more persons).

The investigation of the main case will be continued. I do not exclude that new figures will appear in it, including officials who gave permission for the construction and operation of the SEC.

- Kommersant published preliminary data on the causes of the fire - closure in the lighting system caused by the leakage of thawed water. The version about deliberate introduction of fire or arson in the SEC is no longer considered?

"As part of the investigation, it is not so much the cause of the fire itself that is important for us, as the negligence, acts or omissions of the officials that led to the tragedy. How did it work there? Representatives of the "System Integrator" suggested that Bogdanova conclude several additional agreements to put in order the fire protection system installed in the "Winter Cherry" before them. But Bogdanov, as it was established, decided to save about 7 million rubles. As a result, when the fire broke out, the automatic water fire extinguishing system did not work, there was no powder on the fourth and fifth floors of the building, and the fire alarm was not connected.

Trying to escape from fire and smoke, people on the fourth floor of the shopping center rushed to the fire exits, but they were blocked. One of the doors, for example, was closed to a bicycle lock in the form of a cable. The result of savings, negligence in the performance of their official duties and negligence - 60 dead!

- Do you think there are signs of an organized criminal community in the case of the former Dagestani ministers?

- The former Prime Minister of Dagestan Abdusamad Hamidov, his two deputies and the former minister of education of the republic are accused of especially large fraud. In addition to the well-known officials in the republic, ten more persons are on trial, several people are wanted. Further investigation will show whether in their actions this composition (the organization of the criminal community or participation in it - "b").

- It was possible to establish the origin of the 9 billion rubles withdrawn from the accused of taking bribes of ex-employee of the GUEBC and the Central Bank Dmitry Zakharchenko?

- In the case of Dmitry Zakharchenko, as well as Alexander Khoroshavin, we have done a huge amount of work so that through the court it is possible to convert the money withdrawn from them to the state's income. Billions of Zakharchenko, as well as numerous real estate objects at the disposal of his relatives and friends, had, according to the investigation, a criminal origin. But I do not want to delve into the details, as the investigation continues.

I can say that the former colonel's case is clearly not the last thing: we, together with the operational services, revealed several more corrupt episodes with the alleged involvement of Zakharchenko.

- Recently, the ECHR found ineffective the investigation into the 2006 murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a Novaya Gazeta columnist, because the customer of this crime was not identified. The version of the Russian authorities that they were Boris Berezovsky was not convinced by Strasbourg.

- The name of Berezovsky appears not only in the case of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, but also Paul Klebnikov (editor-in-chief of the Russian version of Forbes magazine, shot dead in 2004. - Kommersant), as well as Sergei Yushenkov, one of the leaders of the Liberal Russia party (killed in the year 2003. - "Kommersant"). He had not only certain motives for the commission of these crimes, but also indirect connections with the accused and convicts. However, the British authorities refused to cooperate with us on all these matters under the pretext that this is contrary to their national interests, so the investigation could not receive answers to many questions.

- Kirill Serebrennikov, accused of embezzlement of budgetary funds, claims that they were spent only on the "Platform" project. What is the basis for the investigation?

- Serebrennikov had a power of attorney to manage all finances within the framework of the "Platform", but the budgetary funds, as established by the investigation, were mostly spent after cashing not on the organization of performances (actors and props), but on completely different goals.

In particular, they returned to the same Serebrennikov and other accused. Accounting is an exact science. And on the seized accounting documents, we traced the movement of all funds allocated by the Ministry of Culture to the "Platform". The relevant reporting was also submitted to the Ministry of Culture. According to witnesses, the staff of the Department of State Support for Arts and National Creativity of the Ministry, headed by another person involved in our investigation, Sofia Apfelbaum, drew her attention to suspicious payments, but she not only took no measures, but extended funding. In a criminal case, there is sufficient evidence of the guilt of its defendants, and when they begin a public trial, everyone will be able to verify this.

- In your production there was a criminal case of Sergei Zirinov, a former deputy of the Krasnodar Territory Legislative Assembly, who was sentenced for a long time for organizing a series of murders and attempts. Participants prepared a crime abroad and even took out spetsnaz weapons.

- This case really stands out among others. At first, his figures, as in the films about the mafia, vowed at the grave of Uncle Zirinov that they would kill everyone who, according to them, could have been involved in his death. Acquired weapons in Abkhazia, including a special machine "Val". For him, by the way, they asked for $ 40 thousand. Zirinov agreed to this amount, when one of the executors, a former special forces commander, said that he was not a "sucker" to go to "business" with "Kalash". One of the victims planned by the bandits lived in France. There, the performers in the Chevrolet Suburban seat managed to deliver equally rare spetsnaz weapons - the gun is noiseless PB (factory index 6P9), equipped with a removable silencer. They tracked down the victim, but did not shoot, thinking that they would not be sent to France more on a "business trip". About the place in the forest, where they buried the gun, we were told by the gang members themselves. Then we used one of the cartographic services that allow you to view satellite images from the satellite. The figurants of the case described where to find this place in relation to certain objects. The weapons were seized by our French counterparts, delivered to Moscow and became a case in the criminal case, as it was used to commit other crimes.