The accused top manager is unable to regain contact with the company
(kommersant.ru) - As it became known to Kommersant (Коммерсантъ), Konstantin Mashinskiy, Deputy Director General of the ALROSA company accused of abuse by the ICR (Investigative Committee of Russia) was under investigation. The court issued a restraining order relating to the businessman, which included the use of the Internet, as well as all types of communications. The restraining order was appealed not only by the defence attorney of the top manager, but also by ALROSA’s CEO Sergey Ivanov who believed that this prevented his team member from participation in managing the company. The Moscow City Court rejected the appeal full and complete.
According to Kommersant, a criminal case against Konstantin Mashinskiy was initiated on September 19, 2022. At that time, the Investigative Committee of the ICR for the Northern District of Moscow, on the basis of the materials provided by the FSB (Federal Security Service), established that the top manager was involved in the commission of a crime under Part 1 of Article 201 (abuse of authority) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. As a result, after the investigative interview, the investigation officers detained Mr. Mashinskiy, charged him and appealed to the Savyolovsky District Court, which granted their request for a restraining order.
The restraining order included the communication of the accused person with witnesses, witnesses to the search, experts and specialists who appeared in the materials of the criminal case. Also, the top manager was not allowed to use landline and mobile phones, messengers, tablets, computers, etc. with an Internet access.
According to the court decision, Mr. Mashinskiy could get an access to communications in the event of calling an ambulance, to contact law enforcement officers and emergency services only.
Mr. Mashinskiy was displeased with the restraints, that is why his defence attorney Andrey Bastrakov lodged an appeal with the Moscow City Court, asking the Court to relax them. As follows from the decision of the city court motivating the request, the defence attorney indicated that due to the prohibitions imposed by the District Court, his client was “deprived of the opportunity to communicate within the framework of his work”. In turn, the lack of an opportunity to call or talk both with the company’s managers and his subordinate employees, according to the defence attorney, “significantly made it difficult for Konstantin Mashinskiy to perform his labour functions, and this has already blunted the effectiveness of managing the ALROSA”. In the company, Mr. Bastrakov pointed out, his client “was a key official”.
The defence attorney asked the appellate instance to change the decision made by the Savyolovsky District Court and allow his client to “use all means of communication”, including the Internet. At the same time, the defence attorney referred to the appeal of ALROSA’s CEO Sergey Ivanov who also asked the Court to remove restraints from his deputy that obstructed him in the discharge of his official duties, but the appeal did not agree with this.
According to the Moscow City Court, without appropriate restraints, the top manager, using his position, “may influence the witnesses from among the company’s employees, destroy evidence, influence the victim or otherwise seek to prevent the investigation”.
Defence attorney Bastrakov and the press service of ALROSA refrained from comments.
At the same time, it should be noted that prior to joining ALROSA in 2016, Mr. Mashinskiy worked at the SIBUR company where he was Vice President for Organizational Affairs, and later on, he was Senior Vice President, Head of the Corporate Governance and Organizational Development Sector of the Stroytransgaz company. At ALROSA, he was also responsible for corporate affairs.
By Alexey Sokovnin
