Recently, Crimean “gauleiters” Sergey Aksyonov and Vladimir Konstantinov decided to report on the “support measures” provided to the remnants of Crimean business following an “unusual” summer season. It is worth recalling that, as “rescue measures,” the occupation “authorities” promised entrepreneurs a “suspension of tax audits, extensions for debt collection deadlines, a freeze on late-payment penalties, installment plans for contributions”, and “a reduction in rental rates”.
We have previously noted that these measures are essentially trivial formalities; in reality, no one is actually lowering rent, as “municipal and republic-owned property” is not leased to businesses directly, but rather through intermediary entities via “subleasing”.
The figures provided by the “gauleiters” now confirm this: for instance, fewer than 500 Crimean firms, out of the 24,000 involved in these sectors, have requested a “suspension of audits.”
Only 42 companies have exercised their “right to defer the fulfillment of obligations,” and the “gauleiters” have prudently chosen to remain silent altogether regarding statistics on “rent adjustments.”
In short, there is no sign of any significant number of people willing to waste their time pursuing these fake “benefits” on the peninsula. Furthermore, the “gauleiters'” statements raise an intriguing question about the fate of the “federal funds”, whether the amount is 7 billion or 3.7 billion, as Aksyonov, Konstantinov, and the latter’s subordinate in the “State сouncil,” Olga Vinogradova, have clearly gotten their stories mixed up regarding these “minor details.”
These funds were ostensibly intended primarily for employers whose staff had been on “downtime” (forced idleness) since June 26, serving as compensation for two-thirds of their payroll costs.
Naturally, this was not available to just anyone, only to those who submitted their downtime documentation on time, even though, back in the summer, the occupying authorities had, to put it mildly, discouraged any such “alarmist” behavior.
As it turns out, 2.7 billion out of the aforementioned 3.7 billion has already been “allocated and spent”, not by just anyone, but by commercial entities affiliated with key Crimean collaborators. Meanwhile, the final billion-ruble tranche of “federal funds” failed to materialize; instead, there are promises of less than 400 million, a sum that, should it even reach the peninsula, will likely be siphoned off by the same individuals.
As for the fate of the other 4 billion previously promised, the “gauleiters” have chosen to remain silent. Furthermore, Crimean residents are being promised additional “federal funds” to “reimburse a portion of the costs” associated with planting winter grain crops this autumn.
The logic employed by the occupiers here mirrors the “transport insurance” scam we previously described: the primary goal is simply to make promises that encourage people to plant winter crops, something many farmers had no intention of doing this year, after which, to borrow a favorite saying of these figures, “let the grass not grow at all” as they couldn’t care less what happens next.
