Deputies of the Novosibirsk City Council who left abroad were deprived of mandates

The Novosibirsk City Council at a session today, June 28, by an overwhelming majority of votes, deprived two independent deputies of their powers – Sergey Boyko (recognized as a foreign agent) and Helga Pirogova. The reason for this decision was called “loss of confidence” in connection with the violation of anti-corruption legislation.

The submission of the prosecutor’s office, previously sent to the city council, indicated that the deputies violated anti-corruption legislation by not providing data on the transactions they concluded in 2022. In addition, according to the chairman of the commission on local self-government Igor Atyakshev, the investigative department of the TFR for the Novosibirsk region reported, with reference to the handwriting examination, that “signatures on notifications about the absence of facts of transactions in the reporting period submitted to the administration of the governor by Boyko deputies (recognized as a foreign agent. — “b”) and Pirogova, were executed not by the indicated deputies, but by another person.”

During the session, the deputies present at it by a majority of votes refused to listen to the explanations of Sergei Boyko, which his assistant had at his disposal. Earlier, Mrs. Pirogova reported that all the necessary documents were sent by mail, but they were refused to be accepted. Both have been abroad for a long time. Mrs. Pirogova is a defendant in a criminal case initiated under Art. 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (distribution of fakes about the army). Mr. Boyko was recognized as a foreign agent on March 31, 2023. Both terms expired in 2025.

Deputies will lose their powers from July 4, a few days are given for the dismissal of assistants. According to the Telegram channel “Coalition 2020”, reflecting the position of a number of independent deputies of the City Council, the decision of the City Council will be challenged in court. According to Kommersant’s information, the lawsuit, in particular, may indicate that no one has seen the data of the mentioned handwriting examination.

By the decision of the City Council, the supervision of two single-mandate constituencies, left without their representatives, was transferred to the deputies from United Russia and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

Valery Lavsky, Novosibirsk