#5
Moscow Times
November 15, 2001
Stepashin Fires Broadside at Premier
By Alla Startseva
Staff Writer
Audit Chamber chief Sergei Stepashin blasted Mikhail Kasyanov in a gruff speech to parliament Wednesday, accusing the prime minister of ignoring reams of evidence of massive budget fraud and threatening to go over his head with an appeal to the president if he didn't act.
In a report that lasted nearly an hour, Stepashin, a former prime minister, told senators in the Federation Council that he had uncovered 23.2 billion rubles' ($776 million) worth of misappropriations in the first 10 months of the year alone and that Kasyanov and the government were "dodging" their duty to act on these abuses.
"I have formulated specific suggestions in a letter to Mikhail Kasyanov and will be waiting for a reply," Interfax quoted Stepashin as saying. "If there won't be any, than I will have to discuss it with the head of state," he said.
The Audit Chamber is parliament's budgetary watchdog. It has no power to prosecute and can only issue findings and make recommendations. Stepashin, who is also a former general and interior minister, is a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, who convinced him to take up his current post in April last year instead of running for governor of St. Petersburg.
In a trend political observers see as confirmation of his resurgent political stature, Stepashin has become increasing aggressive over the last month and he made it clear Wednesday that he is doing so with the full support of Putin.
"[I am] actively working with the head of state," Stepashin was quoted as saying.
He said that when he was prime minister he "had a great relationship with the chairman of the Audit Chamber" and urged Kasyanov to "finally take notice" of him.
He said the government has the power to "act on the chamber's suggestions and correct" abuses without "driving people to court."
The announcement last month that the Prosecutor General's Office had launched an investigation, based on an Audit Chamber report, of large-scale embezzlement within the powerful Railways Ministry, was long overdue, Stepashin said, reminding senators that problems in the ministry were first reported three years ago.
"Prosecutor General [Vladimir] Ustinov ... began doing what the government should have been doing itself [a long time ago]," Stepashin said.
He said he had written Kasyanov about the chamber's findings six months ago, but he never received an answer -- so he informed Putin about it.
"The indifferent attitude by the government on this problem confuses me," he said.
Some political observers said the recent flurry of investigations launched by the Prosecutor General's Office, based on Audit Chamber reports, is part of a concerted effort to rid the government of remaining Yeltsin-era "family" members like Kasyanov and Railways Minister Nikolai Aksyonenko -- a charge Stepashin called "absolutely groundless" on Wednesday.
Aksyonenko went on vacation shortly after the investigation into his ministry was announced and by law can't be removed before he returns to work, which his spokesman has said will be Dec. 7. Also currently under increased scrutiny is Press Minister Mikhail Lesin, State Fisheries Committee chief Yevgeny Nazdratenko, the State Customs Committee and the Emergency Situations Ministry.
Stepashin said the chamber is also continuing its "very serious" scrutiny of the Kremlin property department, the State Road Fund, the Natural Resources Ministry and regional budgets.
And in an effort to expand its reach, the chamber is working more closely with law enforcement bodies and plans to sign a cooperation agreement with the new Financial Monitoring Committee, said Stepashin.
Stepashin also said that in the future the chamber would focus more on state debts and called for a ban on privatizing strategically important companies before the Audit Chamber could inspect them.
Valery Goreglyad, a senator from Sakhalin, said in a telephone interview that the upper house was "quiet" during Stepashin's speech, which went on "for quite a serious period of time," and was well received.
"Since the [Cabinet] continues ignoring Audit Chamber findings, council members showed understanding," said Goreglyad.
The Audit Chamber's legal power, according to the Constitution, hasn't changed, but its political power has grown, Goreglyad said.
Others agreed.
Yury Korgunyuk, a political analyst at the Indem think tank, said Stepashin is still offended at being fired as prime minister in 1999 and that Putin appointed him Audit Chamber chief for a special purpose -- removing the Yeltsin-era holdovers.
"Putin had certain obligations to Yeltsin, but those have already been fulfilled," said Heritage Foundation political analyst Yevgeny Volk. "Now, when it's time to report on the anti-corruption campaign, Putin is seizing the moment to take a stab at precisely those members of the Yeltsin team -- and Kasyanov is a member," Volk said.
"But Stepashin as an individual plays a significant role as well. The political career of Stepashin is clearly not finished yet," Volk said. "While he is at the Audit Chamber he is strengthening his position."
"Stepashin will knock himself out to achieve his full potential," Korgunyuk said.
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