The ex-head of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences was stripped of the title of honorary resident of Novosibirsk

The Novosibirsk City Council almost unanimously decided to deprive the former head of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Aseev, of the title “Honorary Resident of the City”. The session of the municipal parliament took place on December 21.

The basis for deprivation of the title was a court decision that had entered into force. The Sovetsky District Court of Novosibirsk in June 2023 found him guilty of fraud on an especially large scale (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and sentenced him to four years probation and a fine of 500 thousand rubles. The criminal case was about the illegal privatization of a departmental cottage. The Novosibirsk Regional Court upheld the verdict.

In his appeal to the City Council, Academician Alexander Aseev asked not to deprive him of his title, but to wait for the outcome of the consideration of the cassation appeal against the verdict. In this regard, at the session, Vice Speaker Anton Tyrtyshny (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) proposed to remove the issue from consideration, but was not supported by the City Council.

Alexander Aseev headed the SB RAS in 2008–2017, and simultaneously served as vice-president of the RAS. He received the title “Honorary Resident of the City” in 2018. It gives the right to a monthly payment, which now amounts to 54.3 thousand rubles.

Read more about the case of Alexander Aseev in the Kommersant article “The cottage question ruined the biography”.

Valery Lavsky, Novosibirsk