FULL NAME: Bastrykin Alexander Ivanovich
Date of Birth: 08/27/1953, Pskov, RSFSR, USSR
Position held: Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation

Biography:

Born on August 27, 1953 in Pskov into a family of workers. Father, Ivan Ilyich (1920-1993) is a native of the Krasnodar Territory, from a family of hereditary Kuban Cossacks. In the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army since 1939, he was drafted into the navy by Komsomol recruitment. He began his service in Kronstadt. Participant of the Soviet-Finnish (1939-1940) and Great Patriotic War, naval officer. During the Great Patriotic War, he initially fought as part of coastal units, and then on torpedo boats of the Northern Fleet. He had military awards. So, by order No.: 5/n dated May 25, 1945 to 1 div. Air defense COMOR SF squad leader, radiometrist of the 356th separate battalion VNOS SF senior Red Navy man Bastrykin I. I. was awarded the medal “For Military Merit”. In 1942, at the front, he joined the CPSU (b). He was also awarded the medals “For the Defense of the Soviet Arctic” and “For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” In 1985 he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree. Bastrykin’s grandfather, Ilya Kallistratovich, was shot in 1942 by the Nazi occupiers in the courtyard of his own house, in the village of Novo-Mikhailovskaya, Krasnodar Territory, as the father of a Komsomol and Red Navy member who fought on the fronts of the struggle against the Nazi invaders. Mother, Evgenia Antonovna Antonova, was born in the city of Luga, Leningrad region, in a large peasant family. Her father died in the First World War, and her brother died on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Since 1926 she lived in Leningrad, worked as a hired help - as a nanny and housekeeper. Then she served in the Soviet merchant fleet on foreign ships. In 1941, on one of the sea vessels. She took part in the so-called “Tallinn Transition” - the transition of warships of the Baltic Fleet from Tallinn to Leningrad. Survived the siege of Leningrad. She worked as a machine operator in a besieged city at a defense enterprise. Since 1943, she fought in the combat units of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet and was an anti-aircraft gunner. She took part in the hardest battles for Königsberg. He has military awards: “For the defense of Leningrad”, “For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” and other awards. In 1987 she was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree. Since 1958, Bastrykin has lived with his parents in Leningrad.

Education and career

In 1970, Bastrykin graduated from secondary school No. 27 in the Vasileostrovsky district of Leningrad with in-depth study of the Russian language, literature and history. In 1975 he graduated from the Faculty of Law of Leningrad State University (LSU). He studied in the same group with V.V. Putin and served as the head of this group. Subsequently, Bastrykin entered Putin’s closest circle of associates, where he received the informal nickname “Starosta.”

In his youth, Bastrykin studied classical dance for eight years at the People's Ballet Theater of the Palace of Culture named after the First Five-Year Plan. Along with this, he was fond of volleyball and played guitar in the student vocal and instrumental ensemble of the Faculty of Law of Leningrad State University. He attended theater classes at the Leningrad Cinema House and the school for young journalists at the Leningrad youth newspaper Smena.

In 1975-1978 he served in the internal affairs bodies of Leningrad as a criminal investigation inspector and investigator.

While working as a police officer, he joined the ranks of the CPSU. He did not leave the party until its activities ceased in 1991.

In 1979-1980 - graduate student at the Faculty of Law of Leningrad State University in the department of criminal procedure and criminology. In graduate school, he began teaching in the academic discipline "criminal procedure - criminology." He also taught at other universities in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), and later in Moscow.
In 1980, he defended his candidate’s dissertation at the Academic Council of the Faculty of Law of Leningrad State University on the topic: “ Problems of criminal cases involving foreign citizens" In 1987, he defended his doctoral dissertation there. Interaction of domestic and international law in the field of Soviet criminal proceedings».

In 1980-1988 - teacher at the Faculty of Law of Leningrad State University in the department of criminal procedure and criminology. He combined teaching activities at the university with socio-political work.

In 1980-1982 - secretary of the Komsomol committee of Leningrad State University, member of the party committee of Leningrad State University.

In 1982-1983 - Secretary of the Leningrad City Committee of the Komsomol. According to Rimma Akhmirova, Bastrykin, as secretary of the city committee of the Komsomol in April 1980, personally expelled Boris Grebenshchikov from the Komsomol for his “politically illiterate” performance in March 1980 at the Tbilisi rock festival “Spring Rhythms”. However, on April 21, 2016, during a meeting between Bastrykin and Grebenshchikov, B. B. Grebenshchikov denied this information, saying that Bastrykin did not expel him from the Komsomol.

In 1983-1985 - Secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the Komsomol. Oversaw the work of the departments of agitation and propaganda, culture, military-patriotic education of youth, the Leningrad city Komsomol operational detachment, issues of interaction with Komsomol organizations of the Leningrad Military District, the Leningrad Naval Base, internal and border troops, law enforcement agencies of Leningrad and the Leningrad region. He was a people's deputy of the Dzerzhinsky District Council of People's Deputies of Leningrad and the Lomonosov Council of People's Deputies of the Leningrad Region.

In 1986-1988 - Deputy Secretary of the CPSU Party Committee of Leningrad State University for ideological work.

In 1988-1991 - director of the Institute for Advanced Training of Investigative Workers at the USSR Prosecutor's Office in Leningrad, head of the department of investigative tactics.

October 1991 - January 1992 - temporarily not working.

1992 - Head of the Department of Law at the St. Petersburg Humanitarian University of Trade Unions.

1992-1995 - rector and professor of the St. Petersburg Law Institute.

In 1995 - head of the department and professor of the department of transport law of the St. Petersburg State University of Water Communications, St. Petersburg. In 1996-1998 - assistant to the commander of the district troops for legal work - head of the legal department of the North-Western district of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia . At the same time, he taught at the St. Petersburg Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and the St. Petersburg School of Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. In 1998-2001 - Director of the North-Western Branch of the Russian Legal Academy of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Academic Council, Head of the Department of Theory of State and Law .In 2001-2006, he headed the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the Northwestern Federal District, continuing his teaching work at the Russian Legal Academy of the Ministry of Justice of Russia. From June 12 to October 6, 2006 - Head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the Central Federal District district. On October 6, 2006, at the 183rd meeting of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, Bastrykin was confirmed as Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. As Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, he oversaw issues of compliance with the law in the preliminary investigation bodies. On June 22, 2007, at the 206th meeting of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, a resolution was adopted on the procedure for appointing the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. At the same meeting, Bastrykin was confirmed as the First Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation - Chairman of the Investigative Committee at the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation. On September 7, 2007, Bastrykin took up his duties in his new position. He was not relieved from the post of First Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. From October 4, 2010, he acted, and from January 15, 2011, he was appointed Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. Member of the Presidium of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for counteraction (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated July 28, 2012 ., 1060); member of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for Cossack Affairs (Order of the President of the Russian Federation of July 31, 2012, 352-pr); member of the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of June 26, 2013 No. 579). In 2013, according to the publication Slon.ru, the Investigative Committee of Russia, along with other law enforcement agencies, became a political entity autonomous from the presidential administration.

Scientific, pedagogical and social activities

He gave lectures in educational institutions and scientific institutions of France, Germany, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, China, Cuba, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Belarus. Author of more than 150 scientific, educational, educational, methodological and popular science works on criminal procedure, criminology, criminal and international law, theory of state and law, a number of them have been translated into English, French and German.
Professor of the All-Russian University of Justice (RPA) of the Ministry of Justice of Russia, Moscow State Law University named after. O. E. Kutafina (MSAL). Member of the dissertation council at St. Petersburg State University. Full member of the Petrine Academy of Sciences and Arts, Russian Academy of Social Sciences, Baltic Pedagogical Academy. Member of the Academic Council of the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Member of the Union of Writers of Russia. First Vice-President of the All-Russian public organization “Outstanding Commanders and Navy Commanders of the Fatherland”; Honorary Chairman of the National Association “Union of Veterans of Investigation”; member of the Board of Trustees of the Academic Maly Theater; member of the Board of Trustees of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; honorary member of the Presidium of the World Russian People's Council; Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation on issues of providing assistance to orphans and children without parental care and the Coordination Council on issues of assistance to children of Ukraine.

Entrepreneurial activity

On March 1, 2000, together with his wife Olga Alexandrova, he founded the company “LAW Bohemia” in the Czech Republic, in the city of Kladno; on July 22, 2008, he transferred the company to Oksana Prokopova.

Activities as head of the Russian Investigative Committee

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (initially under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation) was formed in record time - three and a half months after the adoption of the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin on its formation. In 2008, Bastrykin personally led the murders of the prosecutor of the Saratov region. The carefully prepared contract murder was solved in an extremely short time - within three weeks. In August 2008, he personally headed the work of the investigative group of the Investigative Committee consisting of 250 investigators on the territory of South Ossetia to investigate the facts of Georgia’s armed aggression against South Ossetia. The result was more than 500 volumes of the criminal case transferred by Russia to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. On May 22, 2009, Bastrykin made sharp statements at an interdepartmental meeting on combating crime among migrants and improving migration, in particular, he drew attention to the increased level of illegal migration to Russia, to the high level of corruption in the “Federal Migration Service”, noted that guest workers are moving to an illegal position, uniting in groups, creating gangs. Bastrykin also noted the distortion of data in reports on illegal immigration, calling them “bravura reports, sounding in high offices.” On November 29, 2009, while Bastrykin was working as the head of the investigative and operational group at the site of the Nevsky Express high-speed train explosion, a second explosive device was detonated in the immediate vicinity of him and the members of the group. As a result of the explosion, Bastrykin received a concussion and a moderate injury. In 2010, he led the massacre in the village of Kushchevskaya, Krasnodar Territory. He led the activities of the investigative team of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation to investigate the criminal activities of Barsukov-Kumarin, who was sentenced on August 18, 2016 to 23 years in prison. In 2014 year initiated criminal prosecution of senior officials of the Ministry of Defense and Internal Affairs of Ukraine, as well as military personnel of the Ukrainian army for committing serious crimes against the civilian population of South-East Ukraine. These individuals have been charged with committing war crimes and genocide, they have been put on the international wanted list. He introduced monthly personal receptions of citizens by the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in Moscow and other regions of Russia into daily practice, and opened reception rooms of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the regions. At the initiative of Bastrykin in 2016 The Council of Heads of Investigative Bodies of the Investigative Committee of Russia was formed to discuss current problems in the activities of territorial divisions of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, as well as the Council of Young Investigators of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation to discuss and solve pressing problems in their activities. He initiated the creation of the Cadet Corps of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation named after Alexander Nevsky in Moscow, as well as cadet classes in various regions of the country. On his initiative, the Moscow and St. Petersburg Academy of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation were created and are successfully functioning. On September 1, 2017, the second cadet corps of the Investigative Committee of Russia is expected to open in St. Petersburg.
Bastrykin implemented by his decision the re-establishment of the Institute of Forensic Science within the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation as a research base for the development of applied research in the field of criminology. In July 2017, Bastrykin decided to create a Forensic Center in the Investigative Committee. September 8, 2015 in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta Bastrykin stated that the investigation conducted by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation established that the Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk in 1994-1995, as part of a detachment of Ukrainian nationalists UNA-UNSO, took part in the First Chechen War on the side of Ichkeria and was involved in the murders and torture of Russian soldiers during the storming of Grozny, and also that “Yatsenyuk, along with other active participants in the UNA-UNSO, was awarded Dzhokhar Dudayev’s highest award “Honor of the Nation” in December 1995 for the destruction of Russian military personnel.” In 2017, Yatsenyuk was put on the international wanted list.

Legislative initiatives

On February 26, 2015, at the board of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Bastrykin proposed eliminating from the Constitution of the Russian Federation the provisions on the unconditional priority of generally recognized principles and norms of international law over the domestic law of the Russian Federation. At the same time, he referred to the experience of many foreign countries where more flexible legal mechanisms for protecting domestic legal sovereignty are in place. In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta on April 28, 2015, Bastrykin proposed, firstly, to exclude from the Constitution of the Russian Federation the provisions according to which international law constitutes an integral part of the legal system of the Russian Federation. Secondly, to give the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation not only the right, but also the direct responsibility to verify the constitutional provisions of international law that claim to be a regulator of intrastate relations. Thirdly, to supplement the Russian criminal procedural legislation with norms regulating the grounds and procedure for carrying out procedural actions in the production of crimes of an international nature. Fourth, to initiate the issue of creating an international tribunal to investigate international crimes committed in the southeast of Ukraine.

Criticism

Allegations of breaking the law

According to Fontanka.ru, on August 15, 2004, in St. Petersburg, Bastrykin, who held the post of head of the Federal Directorate of the Ministry of Justice of Russia for the Northwestern Federal District, while with two young children in the courtyard of his own house, on the playground, threatened a man walking there with a dog. Deputy Prosecutor of the Admiralteysky District of St. Petersburg Gladkov did not see any signs of an offense in Bastrykin’s actions.

In December 2009, State Duma deputy Boris Reznik, in an article in the Izvestia newspaper, accused the head of the investigative department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khabarovsk Territory, State Counselor of Justice 3rd class Gennady Fateev, who, according to Reznik, had long been in the service and maintenance of thieves in law. After an internal audit carried out on Bastrykin’s orders, Fateev was fired in October 2010 by Bastrykin’s order with the wording “for violating the oath.” Bastrykin’s name is also mentioned in a number of media publications, authored by journalists Khinshtein, Albats and Baranov, about the connections of employees of the RF IC with the criminal world.

On June 13, 2012, Dmitry Muratov claimed that Bastrykin threatened Novaya Gazeta journalist Sergei Sokolov in connection with the publication of an article about the verdict of Sergei Tsepovyaz, who was sentenced to a fine for destroying evidence of the murder of 12 people in Kushchevskaya. Sokolov wrote that the heads of law enforcement agencies, including Bastrykin personally, protected the Tsapkov gang. Muratov and Sokolov claimed that Bastrykin, outraged by such an accusation, threatened the life of the journalist. On June 14, 2012, in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper, Bastrykin denied the accusations against him. A few days later, during a meeting with the chief editors of Russian media, Bastrykin again confirmed that he had indeed met with Sokolov at a meeting in Nalchik, but denied threatening the journalist. The conflict ended with the reconciliation of the parties.

On July 5, 2012, at the joint board of the Investigative Committee of Russia in St. Petersburg, Bastrykin, without mincing words, reprimanded the head of the Investigative Committee of the Kirov Region for the unjustified termination of the case of Kirovles against. After this, the investigation, which was terminated on April 10, 2012 for lack of evidence of a crime, was resumed and on March 19, 2013 transferred to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, and then to the court, which sentenced Navalny to five years of imprisonment (suspended) for fraud, and also for 3.5 years (suspended) in the Yves Rocher case.

In the same year, the Investigative Committee opened another case against his brother Oleg. The criminal prosecution was the general director of the Russian branch of Yves Rocher, Bruno Leproux, who accused the brothers of fraud and money laundering in the amount of 55 million rubles. As a result, Oleg Navalny was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, but received a suspended sentence.

In 2012, a protest resulted in the arrests of 400 people and the initiation of 30 criminal cases for incitement to mass unrest and the use of violence against government officials. Most of the accused received actual criminal sentences. Bastrykin, that under the stage for speakers at the rally “there were tents and tires, as was the case on the Maidan.”

In 2014, Sergei Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhaev were sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for organizing mass riots. According to Radio Liberty, the evidence base on the part of the Investigative Committee was formed on the basis of the NTV channel documentary film “Anatomy of a Protest 2”.

In 2017, Alexander Bastrykin was added to the “Magnitsky list” in the United States and to a similar sanctions list in the UK. Bastrykin is also on the Ukrainian “Savchenko” list for his involvement in the arrest of Nadezhda Savchenko in 2013.

07/02/2008, Photo: ITAR-TASS

Bohemian law by Bastrykin

The chairman of the country's Investigative Committee conducts secret business in the Czech Republic

Alexander Khinshtein

Who is Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin?

Chairman of the Investigative Committee at the Prosecutor's Office - some will say.

Putin's classmate - others will answer.

They will all be right. But not completely. Because no one knows the true face of Alexander Bastrykin; including, I'm afraid, even his former classmate.

In addition to all his other advantages and ranks, the chairman of the UPC has one more - the talent of a businessman.

This is not a journalistic allegory at all, but the most literal medical fact, confirmed, in addition, by official documents.

The country's chief investigator, who has been secretly running his own business in Central Europe for many years; I don’t think I could dream of something like this even in a nightmare...

In the official biography of Alexander Bastrykin, there is nothing outwardly that would encourage him to go into business. He never worked in the supply chain. He did not distribute government orders. I was not involved in oil and gas.

All life is like a continuous Criminal Code; police, prosecutor's office, science, justice. But this is only a first, deceptive impression...

...The Troya district in the north of the Czech capital greeted me with green grass and the glow of tiled roofs. The birds were singing.

“One of the most prestigious and green areas of Prague,” says the guidebook about Troy. - Most of it is occupied by parks: Stromovka - the oldest, most beautiful park in Prague; Troya Park, adjacent to Troya Castle; Zoo and Botanical Garden.

Back in the 17th century, Troy was favored by the royal dynasty. From those years, Prague residents were left with a royal castle in the early Baroque style - now it houses an art museum - and dozens of luxurious mansions; Czech nobility once preferred to live in them.

Today, as in ancient times, Troy is again in fashion. Living here is honorable and prestigious; it seems to be both a city and no longer a city: parks, greenery, a river. It is not surprising that Alexander Bastrykin also liked this area.

...This is the street I need. Knezdenska, 767/2с, says the sign on the multi-story multi-colored tower, built already in the era of capitalism. It is here, according to the documents, that the office of the company “LAW Bohemia” is located.

True, there are no identifying marks on the house. At the entrance there are only signs with the names of the residents; “LAW Bohemia” is not among them. None of the neighbors I interviewed had heard of this company either. And yet she is here; It’s just that for some reason its owners are in no hurry to advertise their activities.

Russians? Yes, there are some sort of visitations,” drawls a middle-aged lady coming out of the entrance hesitantly; she takes the child for a walk in the yard (gravel paths, neatly trimmed lawns) and is clearly not in the mood for conversation...

...Alexander Bastrykin has a unique sense of humor. “LAW Bohemia” means “Bohemian Law”. This office, however, has nothing to do with jurisprudence; as follows from the constituent documents, the subject of its activities is real estate transactions; in other words, real estate.

I don’t know whether Czech (and Bohemian as well) law allows its officials to engage in commerce; In Russian legislation there are no two opinions on this matter.

If someone else had been in Bastrykin's place - the director of a theater, for example, or the manager of a boat station - he could have made a reservation about his legal illiteracy. But for the country's chief investigator, a professional lawyer, a doctor of science, who has devoted his entire life to jurisprudence, such truisms seem so obvious that they do not even require explanation.

Anyway, to the point.

The company LAW Bohemia was founded in Prague on March 1, 2000. Form of organization - limited liability company. The type of activity, as already mentioned, is real estate operations. Authorized capital - 100 thousand Czech crowns (4 thousand euros).

All this information can be easily obtained from the trade register of the Prague City Court - an analogue of our registration service; in the Czech Republic, information about commercial companies is open; it is given to anyone who wants it.

This one I took also contains information about the owners of “LAW Bohemia”. There are only two of them:

Alexander Bastrykin, born on August 27, 1953, St. Petersburg, st. Galernaya, 26, apt. No., Russian Federation. Contribution to the authorized capital - 50 thousand crowns. Ownership share - 50%.

Olga Alexandrova, born March 28, 1970. The address, contribution amount and shares are the same.

Both the date of birth and home address - everything matches closely with the personal data of the chairman of the UPC; it wasn't difficult to check. As for the second founder of the company, no questions arise here either: Olga Ivanovna Alexandrova is the legal wife of the chairman of the UPC, the mother of his two children and, in addition, as it now turns out, a partner.

However, when “LAW Bohemia” was first created, there was nothing reprehensible about it; in March 2000, Bastrykin still headed the North-Western branch of the Russian Legal Academy of the Ministry of Justice and was not a civil servant. By law, he could establish any commercial structures; The main thing is to submit your declarations on time.

And therefore, with a light heart, Bastrykin, having organized “LAW Bohemia”, simultaneously became its director; so as not to share with anyone, apparently.

In July 2001, however, he was appointed acting. Head of the Federal Department of the Ministry of Justice for the Northwestern Federal District. From that day on, Bastrykin, subject to the law “On Civil Service,” was obliged to immediately resign as director of “LAW Bohemia” and resign from the founders. This procedure is not at all complicated, thousands of people have gone through it; transfer your share to your wife-companion, and that’s the end of it.

But for some reason he doesn't do this. The necessary changes will be made to the register of the Prague Commercial Court only in March 2003. The chairman of the UPC has not said goodbye to the foundation to this day; despite the fact that he managed to work both as the head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Central Federal District and as the Deputy Prosecutor General, now he is the head of a very powerful department.

The official statement I received (as of May 2008) states that Alexander Bastrykin is still the owner of a 50% stake in LAW Bohemia. According to Czech law, this means that he owns not only half the company, but also half of its entire property. In the event of the liquidation of LAW Bohemia, Bastrykin and his wife will automatically receive all the property of the company.

In particular, housing in house No. 767/2c on Knezdenska Street. In this mysterious house, I counted at least three apartments associated with “LAW Bohemia”. One of them has its legal address registered to it. The second is the full property of the company (read - the Bastrykin family). The third belongs to the son of their business partner, 22-year-old Georgy Shutenko. (His father, Igor Shutenko, is today the director of LAW Bohemia, replacing Bastrykin.)

In a word, there is somewhere to roam. Prague real estate prices are growing by leaps and bounds. In this area they are one of the most expensive: 2.5-3 thousand euros per meter. (One of the residents of the “Bastrykinsky” house admitted to me, for example, that he bought his 80-meter apartment for 5.3 million crowns - in conversion this is about 210 thousand euros.)

But there are also houses where “LAW Bohemia” was registered before. Until 2003, its legal address was located in the fashionable town of Kladno, 15 kilometers from Prague (Jizni Street, 2942). Then two years - in the suburban area of ​​​​Tukhomiritsa. Only in 2005 “LAW Bohemia” finally moved to Troy, to Knezdenska.

It is clear that such management requires an eye and an eye. Probably for this reason, Bastrykin flew to the Czech Republic with enviable frequency until recently. His last visit was noted in December last year, that is, already when he was chairman of the UPC.

The most amazing thing is that at the same time, Alexander Ivanovich also managed to get himself... a two-year entrepreneur visa. It was issued by the Czech police on February 6 last year (No. FA 0436991) and is still valid today. Moreover, it is stamped in... his service passport (62 No. 2739038).

For those who don’t know: an entrepreneur visa is a document that gives the right to engage in commercial activities in the host country. To obtain it, you need a very serious justification.

I bet you will never guess what wording the Deputy Prosecutor General wrote in his visa application (Bastrykin was in this position at the time). “Exercising managerial functions” is written in black and white on his papers. (All of them, by the way, are kept in the Czech police department for work with foreigners.)

The same documents also contain a notarized invitation, which was issued to Bastrykin by the son of the director of LAW Bohemia, Georgy Shutenko; he guaranteed that he would settle him in his apartment at the address we already knew: Prague 8, Troja, Knezdenska, 767/2c.

(I doubt, however, that Alexander Ivanovich would need to take advantage of his hospitality; everything is in order with a roof over his head.)

To be honest, I tried to find Shutenko’s father and son in order to understand what connects them with the main Russian investigator. Alas, my searches were in vain.

As a result, we managed to find out a little about them. Both of them are natives of Ashgabat. In 1993 they received Russian citizenship. Officially, the Shutenko family is registered in the remote village of Seltsovo, Pochinkovsky district, Smolensk region, where, naturally, no one has ever seen them. At the same time, in the mid-1990s, Shutenko Sr. was registered in Ukraine (Kyiv, Garina St., 51). Apparently, they live permanently in the Czech Republic. They are co-founders of a number of local commercial structures.

Where their paths crossed with Bastrykin - only God knows. But, apparently, each of the parties does not regret this acquaintance; they have been together for five long years.

After all, even if you are a professor and a doctor of science at least three times, you still cannot do without efficient and smart cosmopolitan partners; especially if you live in Russia and do business in the Czech Republic...

More recently, the leadership of the UPC announced that employees of this department “became the target of the activities of Western intelligence services and terrorist organizations.” Simply put, foreign spies and saboteurs are trying to recruit honest Russian investigators.

Holy simplicity! Why fuss, look for approaches to ordinary investigators, solder them on, build multi-step combinations, when right under your nose - you just have to stretch out your hand - here it is, the desired goal.
The head of a law enforcement agency, a top-level secret agent, secretly conducting business in a foreign country - yes, no self-respecting intelligence agency will miss such an amazing opportunity for recruitment.

I have no doubt at all that Czech counterintelligence has long been interested in the activities of the modest office “LAW Bohemia”; and how could it be otherwise, if an entrepreneur visa is pasted into the general’s official passport.

The Czech Republic has always been an invisible field of spy wars; its geopolitical position is ideal for this. Only before, the Czech intelligence services worked under the supervision of their older brothers from the KGB, and today the vacated place has been taken by “partners” from the CIA.

This is especially relevant now that construction of an American radar station has begun at the Brdy military training ground - the largest electronic intelligence center in Europe, aimed towards Russia.

However, let the FSB better understand these secret intricacies. Let's turn to the legal side.
Remaining among the co-founders of the Czech company, the chairman of the UPC, like no one else, could not help but understand that he was flagrantly violating several laws at once.

Firstly, the laws on the prosecutor's office and on the civil service, which strictly prohibit officials from being owners of commercial structures.

Secondly, the tax code: after all, Bastrykin prudently does not indicate income from the activities of “LAW Bohemia” in his declarations, thus concealing them from taxes.

Thirdly, the law on state secrets, which prohibits secret carriers from freely traveling abroad. Bastrykin was required to document each voyage to the Czech Republic with an official report addressed to his leader; and not just formalize, but also justify the purpose of the trip. Naturally, he never wrote such documents; and what could he explain? What goes to another country to “perform managerial functions” with a service passport in his pocket?

Each of these violations is quite enough for Bastrykin’s instant dismissal, or even for initiating a criminal case. But…

Who will check it? Attorney General? He has no power over the chairman of the UPC, although he is his first deputy. The president? He is not a procedural person.

Moreover, no one can even initiate a case against Bastrykin except... Bastrykin himself. And this is the key to understanding everything that is happening.

There is no doubt: there are no angels among the current powers that be; only salt is odorless. But everything has its limits, rules of decency in the end.

How can you make beautiful speeches about the supremacy of the law, declare a crusade against crime, personally initiate criminal cases, and at the same time, quietly ride beyond the border, inspecting your own “candle factory”? This is not just a violation of the law, it is a complete discredit of it. After this, who will believe in the honesty and integrity of the Investigative Committee if its chairman trades real estate abroad in his free time?

And nothing stopped Bastrykin from doing the same thing without showing his own ears. I would register “LAW Bohemia” for my wife or for the same cosmopolitan Shutenkos and live in peace, without secret voyages or business visas. No.

Why. What is the reason?

Greed? I doubt it too. What difference does it make whether the business is registered to you or your wife?

A feeling of complete impunity is perhaps the most accurate answer. Absolute permissiveness, when it seems that you have already grabbed God by the beard, any sea is knee-deep and the law is you.

More than one dignitary has stumbled over such orange peels: remember, for example, the high-profile Mabetex case, when Russian officials openly opened accounts in Swiss banks in their own names.

I also had the opportunity to write about another story, almost similar to Bastrykin’s - about the adventures of the general director of the Agency for Management Systems, Vladimir Simonov, who, too, having entered the civil service, “forgot” to leave the ranks of the founders of Czech companies.

The careers of such people, as a rule, ended bleakly: they were quietly sent into retirement or into honorable exile. And not because the government was cleared of those who discredit it; rather, the hardware instinct of self-preservation was triggered: anything can be expected from such subjects.

I don’t know how the facts I have made public will affect the future fate of the chairman of the UPC. Alexander Bastrykin enjoys the open support of many state leaders; again - Law Faculty of Leningrad State University. That is why he behaves so confidently, and the whole series of scandals that constantly rock the Investigative Committee ends painlessly for him.

However, it is unlikely that the president and the prime minister (not to mention the secretary of the Security Council and the director of the FSB) were aware of the second, secret life of their colleague until today; and even more so, it is unlikely to cause them great delight.

In the end, there must be some limits to everything - even old student friendships...

Moscow-Prague-Moscow.

Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation

Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation since January 2011 (in October-December 2010 - acting chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation). Previously - First Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation - Chairman of the Investigative Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (since September 2007), Deputy Prosecutor General (October 2006 - September 2007), Head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Central Federal District (June-October 2006), Head of the Department Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the North-Western Federal District (2001-2006), Director of the North-Western Branch of the Russian Legal Academy (1998-2001), Assistant to the Commander of the North-Western District of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for legal work (1996-1998), rector of the St. Petersburg Law Institute (1992-1996). Doctor of Law, Professor. Colonel General of Justice.

Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin was born on August 27, 1953 in Pskov. In 1975, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of Leningrad State University (LSU). Bastrykin was the head of the group in which Vladimir Putin, who served as President of the Russian Federation from 2000-2008, studied. He was actively involved in social work and joined the CPSU (he remained a member of the party until it was banned in August 1991). After graduating from the university, he was assigned to the internal affairs bodies, where he worked until 1979 (according to other sources, until 1977) as a criminal investigation inspector and investigator.

In 1977-1980, Bastrykin studied at the graduate school of the Faculty of Law of Leningrad State University. In 1980, he defended his dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Legal Sciences on the topic “Problems of investigating criminal cases involving foreign citizens.” From the same year he began to engage in teaching, Komsomol and party work. Bastrykin was a teacher, senior lecturer at the Department of Criminal Procedure and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Leningrad State University. From 1980 to 1985, he was secretary of the Leningrad State University Komsomol committee, secretary of the Leningrad city committee of the Komsomol, ,. The media noted that at the same time, Valentina Matvienko, who was elected governor of St. Petersburg in October 2003, worked in the Leningrad bodies of the Komsomol.

In 1986, Bastrykin became deputy secretary of the Leningrad State University party committee. In 1987, he defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Problems of interaction between the norms of domestic and international law in the field of criminal proceedings”, , , .

Since 1988, Bastrykin headed the Leningrad Institute for the Improvement of Investigative Workers at the USSR Prosecutor's Office. In 1992-1996, he served as rector of the St. Petersburg Law Institute and received the academic title of professor. According to some reports, Bastrykin also headed the department of transport law at the St. Petersburg State University of Water Communications.

In 1996-1998, Bastrykin was an assistant to the commander of the North-Western District of the Internal Troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for legal work. In 1998, he was appointed director of the North-Western branch of the Russian Legal Academy of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. In July 2001, he became the head of the department of the Ministry of Justice for the Northwestern Federal District (NWFD), and in June 2006 - the head of the main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Central Federal District (CFD).

On October 6, 2006, Bastrykin was appointed Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Yuri Chaika, overseeing the investigation of criminal cases. According to media reports, Bastrykin was in a conflicting relationship with another deputy of Chaika, Viktor Grin, who directly supervised the investigation. In May 2007, President Putin signed a law that provided for the creation of an Investigative Committee under the prosecutor's office. The head of this structure should be the First Deputy Prosecutor General, but he should be appointed by the Federation Council on the proposal of the president and, thus, actually became independent from the prosecutor's office. In particular, he had independence in carrying out personnel policies. On June 22, 2007, the Federation Council approved Bastrykin's candidacy for the post of chairman of the Investigative Committee. About three months after this, while the apparatus of the new structure was being formed, organizational and legal issues were being resolved, Bastrykin was the acting head of the committee.

According to some observers, Bastrykin was guided by the assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Igor Sechin, who allegedly intended to take revenge after the resignation of his protégé Vladimir Ustinov from the post of Prosecutor General in the summer of 2006 and his appointment to the less influential position of head of the Ministry of Justice.

The purpose of creating the Investigative Committee was the stated separation of the investigation itself, which Bastrykin’s committee was supposed to deal with, and supervision of the investigation and representation of the prosecution in court, which, like issues of extradition, remained with the prosecutor’s office, , . The media suggested that the actual selection of investigative functions from the prosecutor’s office was supposed to weaken its political influence, which increased sharply after the start of the “YUKOS case” in 2003 and was once again demonstrated in 2006-2007 during the “customs case” and the initiation a number of criminal trials against regional and city leaders.

After his confirmation as acting head of the Investigative Committee, Bastrykin made several statements to the media, talking about the investigation of the most high-profile criminal cases. Thus, regarding the solution to the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya in October 2006, he said that of the six initial versions, a significant part has already disappeared and now the remaining ones are being worked out. Bastrykin also commented on the progress of the investigation into the death of ex-FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who was close to businessman Boris Berezovsky, who died in November 2006 in London as a result of poisoning with the radioactive substance polonium-210. Bastrykin said that Russian investigators work closely with their British colleagues, although they allegedly do not receive the proper return from them. According to him, the British side is working on only one version of what happened, according to which the killer is Russian businessman Andrei Lugovoi. The Russian side would like to work out several other versions, ,. According to media reports, Bastrykin also stated that Litvinenko was most likely poisoned by Berezovsky himself.

On August 13, 2007, in the Novgorod region, the Nevsky Express fast train, traveling along the Moscow-St. Petersburg route, derailed. As a result, 60 people were injured, more than two dozen of them were hospitalized. Bastrykin led a group of investigators and criminologists who went to the scene. According to preliminary data, the cause of the accident was an explosion on the tracks of a homemade bomb. Based on the incident, the prosecutor's office opened a criminal case under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("terrorism"). Bastrykin announced the completion of the investigation into the Nevsky Express bombing case at the end of February 2009. Natives of Ingushetia Salanbek Dzakhkiev and Maksharip Khidriev were brought forward as defendants in this case. However, they were involved in the case “only as accomplices of the organizer and perpetrator of the terrorist attack, who, according to the investigation, was a certain Pavel Kosolapov, who was wanted for organizing a series of terrorist attacks in 2003-2005. At the same time, the details of the investigation, as noted by the publication Vremya Novostey” , remained unknown.

On September 7, 2007, Bastrykin officially assumed the position of Chairman of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation. On the same day, he signed an order to transfer more than 18 thousand employees from the prosecutor's office to the committee. There was also a transfer of 60 thousand criminal cases across the country to the investigative units of the new department. Bastrykin told journalists that the Investigative Committee will not compete with the prosecutor's office, since they have different areas of activity, , , . On September 19, Bastrykin was relieved of his post as Deputy Prosecutor General and became First Deputy Prosecutor General, which, according to the law, corresponded to the position of head of the Investigative Committee.

At the same time, the staff of Bastrykin’s department did not include a number of investigators who were involved in high-profile criminal cases in the recent past. Thus, the following were not included in the Investigative Committee: senior investigator for especially important cases of the Prosecutor General's Office Salavat Karimov, who led the investigation of two criminal cases against businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky; Head of the Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Prosecutor General's Office Sergei Ivanov, who led the investigation team into the Politkovskaya murder case; the deputy head of this department, Andrei Mayorov, who oversaw the investigation into Litvinenko’s poisoning. In addition, the committee did not include investigators who were involved in the cases of defrauded investors of the Social Initiative partnership, the case of smuggling of mobile phones by the Euroset company and the case of the raider seizure of several enterprises in St. Petersburg in 2006-2007. All suspended investigators were given work in the central office of the Prosecutor General's Office. An anonymous source in Chaika’s department told reporters that “such a decision does not cause anything but bewilderment,” and added that the prosecutor’s office’s own security service, which has been in place for a year, officially does not have any complaints against these employees.

Subsequently, the media noted that contradictions arose between the UPC and the Prosecutor General’s Office in connection with the division of functions, property and funds allocated for their maintenance, since “the interpretation of the legislation made it possible to consider the UPC a practically independent body, both in procedural and administrative terms ". They also wrote in the press about the existence of a personal conflict between Bastrykin and Chaika, which was accompanied by “not only polemics in absentia and throwing incriminating evidence into the media, but also a scandal” surrounding the ex-chief of the Main Investigation Department (GSU) of the SKP Dmitry Dovgiy, who actually accused Bastrykin “of fabrication of a number of criminal cases" (in April 2008, Bastrykin signed an order to relieve Dovgy from office and dismissal, and in August 2008, Dovgy was arrested on suspicion of attempting to receive a bribe on an especially large scale and exceeding official authority,). It was noted that the reason to perceive “the political situation and to doubt the objectivity of the investigation” was also given by the criminal cases that emerged against the background of the conflict between the SKP and the State Prosecutor’s Office against the Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Sergei Storchak and the head of the operational support department of the State Drug Control Service Alexander Bulbov, , , , , .

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation confirmed the supremacy of the Prosecutor General's Office over the SKP only in early March 2009. Having analyzed the norms regulating the activities of the UPC and the Prosecutor General’s Office, the court recognized that the orders of the Prosecutor General “are binding on representatives of the UPC, including the head of this department himself.” The Supreme Court also determined that the Prosecutor General has the right to overturn the decision of his first deputy. Thus, as the media noted, the court resolved “the dilemma of which of the... leaders (Bastrykin or Chaika - editor’s note) is more important.”

At the beginning of August 2008, the situation in the area of ​​the South Ossetian city of Tskhinvali, the zone of presence of Russian and Georgian peacekeepers, worsened. On August 8, 2008, Georgian troops entered the territory of South Ossetia, and the capital of the unrecognized republic, the city of Tskhinvali, was subjected to heavy artillery shelling. On August 9, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced the start of an operation “to force peace in the zone of the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict” , , , . After a trip to Vladikavkaz, Prime Minister Putin called what was happening in South Ossetia a genocide of the Ossetian people and proposed documenting the crimes committed against the civilian population. Then Medvedev decided to entrust Bastrykin with coordinating the work of collecting documentary evidence of crimes by the Georgian side in South Ossetia, which “will become the basis for future criminal prosecution of persons who committed crimes.”

After this, the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee under the Russian Federation Prosecutor's Office for North Ossetia, the subject of the federation closest to the scene of the incident, opened a criminal case in connection with Georgia's attack on South Ossetia on charges of premeditated murder of two or more persons in a generally dangerous manner (Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) . Kommersant also reported that the military prosecutor's office had previously opened a criminal case in connection with the murder of Russian peacekeepers on the territory of South Ossetia. The publication wrote that investigators began work in refugee camps: they interviewed victims, witnesses, relatives of the victims (according to unofficial data, their number as of August 12, 2008 was more than 2 thousand people). A few days later, the Investigative Committee recognized what happened in South Ossetia as genocide, on the basis of which it opened a single criminal case. At the same time, Bastrykin stated that evidence on the fact of genocide was being collected “both for domestic Russian investigation and for possible transfer to international authorities.”

At the end of August, after the end of the conflict, which was called the “five-day war” in the press, Bastrykin gave an interview to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, in which he stated that “the facts of genocide against the Ossetian people are fully confirmed.” He compared the crimes of the Georgian army, which, according to him, invaded South Ossetia, “pursuing the goal of complete destruction of the Ossetian national group,” with “the atrocities of the fascists during the war.” In February 2009, at the final board meeting at the Prosecutor General's Office, Bastrykin announced the completion of the investigation. He noted that the fact of Georgia's genocide against the Ossetian people was "fully confirmed." On July 3, 2009, Bastrykin reported that in the case of the events in South Ossetia, the deaths of 162 civilians were officially confirmed, and a total of 5,315 people were recognized as victims. On August 7, the UPC announced the extension of the investigation into the case until February 2010; in the same month, representatives of the committee announced the involvement of the top leadership of Georgia in attempts to destroy the South Ossetian population, and the data on the losses of the Russian army, which amounted to 67 people, were also clarified. At the end of August 2009, Bastrykin also stated that at least 200 members of the Ukrainian nationalist organization UNA-UNSO and Ukrainian military personnel participated in the fighting in South Ossetia on the Georgian side.

On August 14, 2009, Bastrykin announced that the UPC intends to control the expenditure of budget funds aimed at preparing the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

In September 2010, President Medvedev announced the upcoming liquidation of the UPC of the Russian Federation. The head of state announced that the Investigative Committee of Russia (IC RF) would be created on the basis of the Investigative Committee of Russia. In the same month, all employees of the department headed by Bastrykin signed notices of dismissal from December 1, 2010. On September 27, the head of state signed a decree on the creation of an Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation on the basis of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, subordinate to the president of the country, and submitted a draft law on the Investigative Committee to the State Duma. On October 4, Medvedev appointed Bastrykin as acting chairman of the new department. In December of the same year, after the bill was agreed upon in both chambers of the Federal Assembly, the president signed the law creating the Investigative Committee of Russia. As an independent structure, the Investigative Committee began to work on January 15, 2011, on the same day the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation ceased to exist. In the same month, the head of state signed a decree appointing Bastrykin as head of the Investigative Committee.

In April 2012, Bastrykin, by his decree, created a department in the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee for the investigation of crimes committed by police officers and other law enforcement agencies. Similar departments should have appeared in the investigative departments of the ICR in the federal districts, as well as in the main investigative departments in Moscow, the Moscow region and St. Petersburg. In the press, the creation of these special departments was associated with the scandalous incidents of recent months involving police officers, in particular, with the case of torture in Tatarstan, which received public resonance.

In June 2012, a conflict between Bastrykin and Novaya Gazeta journalist Sergei Sokolov caused a wide resonance in the media. On June 4, Sokolov published an article about the verdict of one of the defendants in the Tsapkov gang case, deputy of the Kushchevsky District Council of the Krasnodar Territory from United Russia Sergei Tsepovyaz, who was sentenced to a fine of 150 thousand rubles for harboring participants in the massacre in the village of Kushchevskaya and avoided conviction in as an accomplice to the crime. Sokolov harshly criticized the actions of the authorities, investigative authorities and Bastrykin personally, characterizing them as “the support of Tsapkov’s business.” On June 13, an open letter to the head of the Investigative Committee appeared from the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov, in which he stated that on the evening of June 4, Bastrykin’s guards took Sokolov to a forest near Moscow, where the head of the Investigative Committee allegedly “grossly threatened the life” of the journalist. In his letter, Muratov demanded security guarantees for Sokolov and other journalists of the publication. The next day, Bastrykin apologized to Sokolov for the “emotional breakdown,” after which Novaya Gazeta employees declared the incident settled.

In July 2012, famous blogger and oppositionist Alexei Navalny accused Bastrykin of being a “foreign agent.” Back in 2008, State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein published an article in Moskovsky Komsomolets, in which he claimed that Bastrykin and his wife had owned the Czech real estate company LAW Bohemia since 2000. Bastrykin then called this information a “blatant lie,” and, according to Navalny’s assumptions, “covering his tracks,” he sold his stake in the company. In 2012, a blogger published information according to which Bastrykin conducted transactions with LAW Bohemia allegedly using forged powers of attorney and may have sold it without paying taxes. It also became known that in 2007-2009 Bastrykin had a residence permit in the Czech Republic, which was confirmed by the Czech authorities, but Bastrykin continued to insist that he only had a long-term visa.

According to published data on Bastrykin’s property and income, his income for 2009 amounted to almost 6.3 million rubles.

Bastrykin has the rank of Colonel General of Justice, he is an honorary worker of justice, the Russian Academy of Social Sciences and the Baltic Pedagogical Academy, and was a full member of the Academy of Security, Defense and Law Enforcement, which was liquidated at the end of 2008. He is the author of a number of scientific works on criminal law topics and the theory of state and law, as well as a series of journalistic articles. Bastrykin has state and public awards, including medals of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation "For Diligence" I and II degrees. On September 1, 2008, President Medvedev awarded Bastrykin the Order of Merit for the Fatherland “for great services in strengthening law and order, many years of fruitful activity.”

According to information as of 2012, Bastrykin is married. His first wife was classmate Natalya Kuznetsova, who took her husband’s surname. His second wife was called in the press Olga Alexandrova, director of the North-Western branch of the Russian Legal Academy of the Ministry of Justice (she already left this post in 2012). According to income information for 2011, Bastrykin had a daughter and a son (perhaps only minor children were taken into account - editor's note). In 2012, Bastrykin himself stated that he has four children.

Used materials

Maria Zheleznova, Anastasia Kornya, Polina Khimshiashvili. For which Navalny demands Bastrykin be fired. - Vedomosti.ru, 27.07.2012

Olga Tropkina. Alexander Bastrykin: “If they find even €1 of profit from me, I will resign.” - News, 27.07.2012

About real foreign agents. - Blog of Alexei Navalny (navalny.livejournal.com), 26.07.2012

Ruska opozice vini sefa vysetrovatelu Bastrykina, ze je cizi agent. Kvuli jeho dlouhodobemu pobytu v CR. - Cesky rozhlas, 26.07.2012

The staff of Novaya Gazeta is satisfied with the apology of the head of the Investigative Committee. - RIA News, 14.06.2012

Bastrykin apologized to Novaya Gazeta and Sergei Sokolov. The conflict is over. - New Newspaper, 14.06.2012

Dmitry Muratov. To the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Colonel General of Justice A.I. Bastrykin - about unfinished business. - New Newspaper, 13.06.2012. - № 64

Sergey Sokolov. 10 thousand and a little rubles for one life is the state price list. - New Newspaper, 04.06.2012. - № 61

Alexey Usov. The Kushchevskaya court assessed the cover-up of murders at 150 thousand rubles. - New region, 01.06.2012

The Investigative Committee has created a unit that will specialize in the investigation of crimes committed by law enforcement officers. - Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, 18.04.2012

Nikolay Sergeev, Grigory Tumanov, Natalya Romashkova. The security forces will be checked separately. - Kommersant-Online, 18.04.2012

Roldugin Oleg. Family business of detective Bastrykin. - Companion, 24.05.2011. - № 19

Medvedev signed a decree appointing Bastrykin as head of the Investigative Committee. - RIA News, 21.01.2011

An independent Investigative Committee begins work in Russia. - NEWSru.com, 15.01.2011

Decree of the President of the Russian Federation. Issues of the activities of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, 01/14/2011. - No. 38

Medvedev signed the law creating the Investigative Committee. - Kommersant-Online, 29.12.2010

Maria Mikhailova. Chief investigator. - Volzhskaya commune, 11.11.2010

Medvedev assigned the duties of chairman of the Investigative Committee to Alexander Bastrykin. - ITAR-TASS, 04.10.2010

Oleg Rubnikovich. The Devil's Dozen by Alexander Bastrykin. - Kommersant, 28.09.2010. - №179 (4479)

Dmitry Medvedev fulfilled the long-time dream of Alexander Bastrykin. - Newspaper (GZT.Ru), 28.09.2010

All employees of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation were announced to be fired. - IA Rosbalt, 27.09.2010

Victor Paukov. Bastrykin flew away from Chaika. - News time, 24.09.2010

Information on the property status and income of the management staff of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation. - Official website of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, 06.05.2010

Anatoly Karavaev. Full accounting. - News time, 25.08.2009. - №153

The UPC will control the expenditure of Olympic funds. - Kommersant-online, 14.08.2009

The Investigative Committee has extended the investigation into the events of August 2008 in South Ossetia. - Caucasian Knot, 07.08.2009

The case materials on the events in South Ossetia indicate that the invasion was planned by the top leadership of Georgia. - ITAR-TASS, 07.08.2009

Bastrykin Alexander Ivanovich

Bastrykin Alexander Ivanovich, born on August 27, 1953, native of Pskov. Russian statesman. Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, State Counselor of Justice 1st class, Colonel General of Justice.

Biography

Relatives. Wife (former): Bastrykina (maiden name Kuznetsova) Natalya Nikolaevna, born 10/12/1952, entrepreneur. Previously, she held the post of Deputy Head of the Economic Crime Department of the Admiralteysky District of St. Petersburg.

Wife: Olga Ivanovna Alexandrova, born March 28, 1970, Vice-Rector of the Russian Legal Academy of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for legal work. Previously, she headed the Northwestern branch of the same academy.

Son: Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Bastrykin, born April 21, 1986, chief specialist of the office of the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Northwestern Federal District.

Awards. Bastrykin A.I. has the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II and IV degrees, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Anatoly Koni medal, anniversary medals “In memory of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg” and “In memory of the 200th anniversary of the Ministry of Justice of Russia”, and also departmental awards. He has the honorary title “Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation.” The rank in the civil service is State Counselor of Justice 1st class and the special rank of Colonel General of Justice. Author of a number of textbooks and monographs.

On March 1, 2000, together with his second wife Olga Alexandrova, he founded the company LAW Bohemia s.r.o. in the Czech Republic, in the city of Kladno. On July 22, 2008, he transferred his share to Oksana Prokopova.

From February 2007 to February 2009, according to confirmation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Czech Republic, he had a residence permit in the Czech Republic. The reason for granting a residence permit was that Bastrykin was the manager of the Czech company Law Bohemia.

Education

• In 1975 he graduated from the Faculty of Law of Leningrad State University (LSU). Bastrykin studied in the same group with V.V. Putin and served as the head of this group.

Labor activity

• In 1975-1978 he worked in the internal affairs bodies of Leningrad as a criminal investigation inspector and investigator.

• 1979-1980 studied at the graduate school of law at the Leningrad State University in the department of criminal procedure and criminology.

While studying in graduate school, he began teaching at the faculty in the academic discipline “criminology.”

• In 1980-1987, lecturer at the Faculty of Law of Leningrad State University in the department of criminal procedure and criminology. 1980-1982 - Secretary of the Komsomol Committee of Leningrad State University.

• 1982-1983 - Secretary of the Leningrad City Committee of the Komsomol of Leningrad. According to Rimma Akhmirova, Bastrykin, as secretary of the city committee of the Komsomol, personally expelled Boris Grebenshchikov from the Komsomol for a “politically illiterate” performance at the Tbilisi rock festival, after which he was demonstrably dismissed from his position as a researcher and deprived of his Komsomol badge.

• On October 6, 2006, at the 183rd meeting of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Yu. Ya. Chaika presented Bastrykin’s candidacy for appointment to the post of Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation for consideration. The Federation Council of the Russian Federation, at the same meeting, approved the candidate for the position by secret ballot.

• On June 22, 2007, at the 206th meeting of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, a resolution was adopted on the procedure for appointing the Chairman of the UPC of the Russian Federation. At the same meeting, Bastrykin's candidacy, submitted for approval by the President of the Russian Federation in accordance with federal law, was approved as First Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation - Chairman of the Investigative Committee at the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation.

• On September 7, 2007, Bastrykin took up his duties in his new position.

• From October 4, 2010, he acted as Chairman, and from January 15, 2011, he was appointed Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. At the same time, no decision was made by the Federation Council to relieve Bastrykin from the post of First Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation - Chairman of the Investigative Committee at the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, and therefore formally he is still the First Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation.

• In 2013, according to Slon.ru, Bastrykin became Vladimir Putin’s daily interlocutor, and the department he heads, along with other law enforcement agencies, became a political entity autonomous from the presidential administration.

Connections/Partners

Grin Viktor Yakovlevich, born 01/01/1951, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. When the Investigative Committee was created under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, he was planned for the position of its deputy head, but was “rejected” by Bastrykin. After this, their relationship completely deteriorated. Grin “until the last” advocated maintaining the subordination of the SKP to the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Matvienko Valentina Ivanovna, born 04/07/1949, Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. Bastrykin worked under her leadership in the Leningrad Regional Committee of the Komsomol. They maintain friendly relations to this day.

Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich, born 10/07/1952, President of the Russian Federation. We studied together at Leningrad State University. Putin initially planned to make Bastrykin the prosecutor general, and then initiated the creation of a new structure (the Investigative Committee), headed by Bastrykin.

Sechin Igor Ivanovich, born 09/07/1960, President of OJSC NK Rosneft. Bastrykin's hardware ally. He supported the appointment of Bastrykin to the post of head of the SKP, thereby wanting to strengthen his position, somewhat weakened after the resignation of Vladimir Ustinov from the post of Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation.

Chaika Yuri Yakovlevich, born May 21, 1951, Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. Bastrykin's hardware opponent. They are in extremely strained relations. Their departments are actually open rivals.

To information

In 2001, when Vladimir Putin was already the President of the Russian Federation, Bastrykin was appointed head of the Department of the Ministry of Justice for the Northwestern Federal District, and five years later, having become the head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Central Federal District, he moved to Moscow. Putin gradually took a closer look at his former classmate and, realizing that he could be dealt with, decided to use him in a higher position.

By that time, Putin’s power vertical had already been built, which, however, required some refinement. For example, Putin never had “his own” prosecutor general. Yes, Vladimir Ustinov distinguished himself in the matter of “equidistance” of the oligarchs, largely thanks to him Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Gusinsky ended up abroad, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky- behind bars, but still he was not completely his own. Besides, he was a relative Igor Sechin, but Putin still didn’t trust him completely. The next Attorney General, Yuri Chaika, also served the President faithfully, however, he too was from the old cadres who went over to the winning side. And Putin needed his own person at the head of prosecutorial supervision like air.

Bastrykin seemed to Vladimir Vladimirovich the most acceptable candidate for the post of Prosecutor General. He is a St. Petersburg resident, a lawyer, and not just a lawyer, but a classmate of Putin. In addition, Sechin was behind Alexander Ivanovich with both hands, whose influence weakened somewhat after the departure of his matchmaker Ustinov to the Ministry of Justice. In October 2006, Alexander Ivanovich was appointed Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, supervising the supervision of the investigation. There was only one thing left to do: remove Chaika from his position.

But this was not so easy to do. The appointment of Chaika had just been passed through the Federation Council, and there was no reason to remove Yuri Yakovlevich yet. The Prosecutor General was known as not just a cautious person, but an extremely cautious one, he did not abuse alcohol, he was not interested in saunas with girls, so wait for Chaika to follow the example Yuri Skuratov, it would take a very long time to “stumble.” Therefore, it was decided to take a different path. An Investigative Committee was created within the General Prosecutor's Office, headed by a chairman with the rank of First Deputy Prosecutor General, appointed by the Federation Council on the proposal of the President. Thus, the UPC was actually an independent structure. Thus, the investigation was taken away from the prosecutor's office, and only supervisory functions and representation of the prosecution in court were left. Bastrykin stood at the head of the new structure.

As soon as Alexander Ivanovich was confirmed in his new position, he rolled up his sleeves and immediately got to work. With his first order, he transferred more than 18 thousand employees from the Prosecutor General’s Office to the UPC. Also, 60 thousand criminal cases were transferred to the new department. However, not all investigators who previously worked on high-profile cases joined the UPC. In particular, the senior investigator for especially important cases of the Prosecutor General's Office, Salavat Karimov, who was in charge of the Khodorkovsky case, the head of the Directorate for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Prosecutor General's Office, Sergei Ivanov, who led the investigation team in the case of the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and his deputy Andrei Mayorov, were not included there. overseeing the case of poisoning of former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko.

Soon, contradictions escalated between the UPC and the Prosecutor General's Office regarding the division of property and the division of powers. Personal hostility quickly arose between Bastrykin and Chaika. It got to the point that they reduced communication with each other to business correspondence. A real “war of incriminating evidence” unfolded between Alexander Ivanovich and Yuri Yakovlevich. Among its victims were the Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Sergey Storchak and the head of the operational support department of the State Drug Control Service, Alexander Bulbov, as well as the former head of the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee Dmitry Dovgy, who paid with arrest for accusing Bastrykin of “continuous fabrication of criminal cases.” It all ended with the fact that in 2009, the Supreme Court confirmed the supremacy of the Prosecutor General’s Office over the UPC, recognizing the orders of the Prosecutor General “binding for execution by representatives of the UPC, including the head of this department himself.”

As for the criminal cases themselves, Alexander Ivanovich’s department had nothing special to boast about. During the investigation into the 2007 bombing of the Nevsky Express train traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg, the organizer of the terrorist attack, a certain “Russian Wahhabi” Pavel Kosolapov, was never found. Evil tongues even said that this Kosolapov was a completely fictitious person, who was invented in the depths of the UPC in order to have someone to blame for organizing the terrorist attack. But the investigation into the facts of the genocide of the Ossetian population by the Georgian authorities during the six-day war of 2008 went “with a bang,” although the conclusions of the “Bastrykin commission” did not have any consequences for the Georgian side, since the international community reacted to them more than coolly.

In 2011, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev On the basis of the UPC, a completely independent Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation was created. Now Alexander Ivanovich did not submit to Chaika even formally, having become the head of an independent law enforcement agency. Almost immediately, Bastrykin found himself at the center of a series of scandals. So, in 2012, he came into conflict with Novaya Gazeta journalist Sergei Sokolov. It all started with the fact that in one of the June issues of the newspaper, Sokolov published an article about an extremely lenient sentence for one of the defendants in the Tsapkov gang case, a deputy of the Kushchevsky District Council of the Krasnodar Territory from the United Russia party. Sergei Tsepovyaz. In this article, the author harshly criticized the investigative authorities in general and Bastrykin personally, characterizing them as “the support of Tsapkov’s business.” Alexander Ivanovich was offended and organized a meeting with Sokolov in a forest near Moscow, where the latter arrived, to put it mildly, not entirely of his own free will, during which he, rudely cursing, threatened the life of the journalist. And although Bastrykin later publicly apologized for his “emotional breakdown,” an unpleasant aftertaste remained in the shocked public’s mouth. And Sokolov wisely chose to temporarily replace the Russian legal territory, “protected” by all laws and their servants, with the less protected, but safer Western one.

Soon, Alexander Ivanovich was in for a new unpleasant surprise in the form of a portion of revelations from a famous blogger Alexei Navalny, who “expanded and deepened” the old revelations of Bastrykin by a journalist and State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein. If Khinshtein in 2008, in his article in the MK newspaper, claimed that Alexander Ivanovich and his wife had been co-owners of the Czech real estate company LAW Bohemia since 2000, then Navalny went even further. A whistleblower blogger published information that Bastrykin conducted transactions with LAW Bohemia, allegedly using forged powers of attorney, and may have sold his share without paying due taxes. In addition, Navalny made public the fact that Alexander Ivanovich had a residence permit in the Czech Republic and an apartment in Prague.

Of course, Bastrykin angrily rejected all the accusations against him, calling them a “blatant lie.” However, soon the Czech authorities officially and documented confirmed the truth of Navalny’s words about the residence permit. Alexander Ivanovich had to dodge, including involving paid pro-government publicists like Pavel Danilin and Oleg Makarenko (known in LJ circles as “Fritz Morgen”), insisting that he did not have a residence permit, but a long-term visa. Since Bastrykin not only retained his post, but even a formal investigation was not carried out against him, it can be argued that those “at the top” decided to “believe” him.

But still, the majority of sensible people are not inclined to believe a person who publicly stated that neither he nor his family members “have ever engaged in entrepreneurial activity either in Russia or abroad,” and who himself, back in 1990, was the founder of a legal scientific -practical center (PNPC) “Loyer”. This was the same cooperative that rented out premises at the Institute for the Improvement of Investigative Workers at the USSR Prosecutor General's Office, whose director was Alexander Ivanovich. A year and a half later, Loyer and Bastrykin founded their own LLP “Legal Institute”, in which the future investigator owned 40% through the PNPC and personally another 20% (a controlling stake).

By nature, Bastrykin is extremely tough, tough to kill, and his subordinates don’t particularly like him. But with his superiors he is very polite. In a word, he is a typical party apparatchik, and not a scientist, as he likes to position himself. By the way, nowhere except Russia are Alexander Ivanovich’s scientific merits recognized. For example, in 2013 at the Sorbonne he was booed by students, and his speech was continually interrupted by mocking applause and shouts from the seats of “Criminal!” and “Killer!”

Bastrykin was married twice. He married for the first time in 1981 with his former classmate Natalya Kuznetsova. After graduation, this lady went to work in the police. By 2000, she had risen to the rank of deputy head of the OBEP of the Admiralteysky District Department of Internal Affairs of St. Petersburg, but then her police career came to a sudden end. She was arrested on charges of accepting a bribe and exceeding her official position.

And all because she did not calculate her strength. After all, Natalya Nikolaevna “ran into” a businessman who was the husband of a lady who once held the position of deputy prosecutor of the Admiralteysky district. By this time, Bastrykina was already an ex-wife, so the former prosecutor won the fight. Natalya Nikolaevna spent several days in a pre-trial detention center, then almost a year under recognizance not to leave. The prosecutor demanded four years in prison for her, but then Alexander Ivanovich took pity on his former missus and connected his connections, thanks to which Bastrykina was acquitted by the court. But, of course, she had to quit the police.

Then Natalya Nikolaevna went into business. In 2003, she established Oreol LLC, which is engaged in the printing and publishing business, and prints exclusively books written by her ex-husband. In particular, in 2007, this publishing house published Bastrykin’s book “Dactyloscopy. Hand Signs”, which contains borrowings from the famous book “The Century of Forensics” by the German writer Jurgen Thorwald without attribution, which provided rich food for accusing Alexander Ivanovich of plagiarism. In addition, Bastrykina is the founder of the Andromeda security company, which received government contracts from the Department of the Ministry of Justice for the Northwestern Federal District, which was again headed by her ex-husband.

Bastrykin’s second wife, Olga Ivanovna Alexandrova, is not as talented a businesswoman as his first wife, but she has had a good scientific career. In particular, she, being only a candidate of sciences, for a long time headed the North-Western branch of the Russian Legal Academy of the Ministry of Justice, taking the reins from the hands of her husband. By the way, textbooks for the branch were printed by the Oreol publishing house of Natalya Bastrykina.

Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin – Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, General of Justice, legal scholar, Doctor of Law.

Childhood

Alexander Bastrykin was born on August 27, 1953 in Pskov. The ordinary working-class family into which the future head of the Investigative Committee was born had, nevertheless, a heroic history.

Alexander Bastrykin’s father fought on the fronts of the Soviet-Finnish and Great Patriotic Wars, and was awarded the medals “For Military Merit”, “For Defense of the Soviet Arctic”, “For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”.

During the siege of Leningrad, my mother worked at a defense plant, and in 1943 she went to the front, where she became an anti-aircraft gunner, went through the battle route from Leningrad to Konigsberg, participated in difficult battles, for which she was nominated for military awards.

The Bastrykins lived in Pskov until 1958, and then moved to Leningrad. In the Northern capital, Sasha went to school with in-depth study of humanities and not only managed to study very well. His range of interests was very wide: classical dance, volleyball, playing the guitar, visiting a theater studio and a school for young journalists at the youth newspaper “Smena”.

Education

In 1970, Alexander Bastrykin became a student at Leningrad State University. It is worth noting that the competition for the Faculty of Law was 40 people per place, and Alexander entered on a general basis.

At Leningrad State University he became the head of the group. His classmate was Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. The young people became friends.

In 1975, the future head of the Investigative Committee received a diploma and assignment to the police, but two years later he returned to his native university as a graduate student.

In 1980, Bastrykin successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on the investigation of criminal cases involving foreign citizens.

Career

Alexander Bastrykin’s career began in the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he worked as an assigned investigator and criminal investigation inspector. In the police, the future head of the Investigative Committee joined the CPSU and remained a member of the party until it was completely banned, i.e. until 1991.

After defending his Ph.D. thesis, Bastrykin taught at the department of criminal procedure and criminology at his native university. At the same time, he made a successful career in the Komsomol organization, going from secretary of the Komsomol committee of Leningrad University to secretary of the Leningrad regional committee of the Komsomol. Like most successful Komsomol functionaries, Bastrykin’s activities continued in the party: from 1986 to 1988. he was in charge of ideological work in the party committee of Leningrad State University.

It is noteworthy that information about the direct participation of Alexander Bastrykin in the expulsion of Boris Grebenshchikov from the ranks of the Komsomol became public knowledge, although Grebenshchikov himself did not confirm this.

In 1987, Alexander Bastrykin became a Doctor of Science, and in 1988 he received the position of director of the Institute for Advanced Training of Investigative Workers at the USSR Prosecutor's Office in Leningrad, which he held until 1991.

From 1992 to 1995, Bastrykin was the rector and professor of the St. Petersburg Law Institute, and in 1995 he headed the department of transport law at the University of Water Communications.

In 1996 - 1998, the chief investigator of the Russian Federation was deputy commander of the North-Western District for legal work, and then headed the North-Western branch of the Russian Legal Academy.

In 2001, Bastrykin moved to work at the Ministry of Justice, and in 2006 - to the main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where, as a deputy prosecutor general, he oversaw compliance with the legality of the preliminary investigation. The position of Prosecutor General at that moment was held by Yuri Chaika and, thus, was Bastrykin’s immediate superior.

In 2007, an Investigative Committee was created within the prosecutor's office. The order to transfer 18 thousand employees from the prosecutor's office to the Investigative Committee was signed personally by Bastrykin, as the acting head of the committee. A new structure, independent and controlled by the President of the Russian Federation, was entrusted with the direct investigation of crimes.

Bastrykin was appointed Chairman of the Investigative Committee as an independent structure on January 15, 2011. It must be said that the head of the Investigative Committee held personal receptions with citizens every month.

Earlier, in 2008, the Anti-Corruption Council under the President of the Russian Federation was created, which included Alexander Bastrykin.

The most high-profile cases of Alexander Bastrykin

In February 2008, regional prosecutor Evgeny Grigoriev was killed in Saratov. Alexander Bastrykin personally headed the investigation, which was completed within three weeks. The case was solved.

In 2008, the investigative team of the Investigative Committee conducted an investigation into the so-called five-day war - Georgia’s armed aggression against South Ossetia. The work of the group, which resulted in 500 volumes of the criminal case, was headed by Alexander Bastrykin. The case was transferred to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

In 2009, the head of the Investigative Committee sharply criticized Russia’s migration policy, leading to an increase in crime among migrants, and a high level of corruption in the Federal Migration Service. It is worth noting that extradition issues were under the jurisdiction of the prosecutor’s office, and not the Investigative Committee.

In 2010, a mass murder occurred in the village of Kushchevskaya, Krasnodar Territory, which received a huge public outcry. The investigation was headed by Alexander Bastrykin.

In 2014, the head of the Investigative Committee initiated criminal prosecution of Ukrainian officials accused of war crimes and genocide against the civilian population of southeastern Ukraine.

Injured while performing

On November 27, 2009, the Nevsky Express high-speed train was blown up, as a result of which 28 people were killed and 132 passengers were injured. Alexander Bastrykin personally went to the scene of the terrorist attack. While he was at the scene, another explosive device went off. The head of the Investigative Committee received a concussion and a moderate injury.

Books by Bastrykin

Despite his enormous busyness and successful career, Alexander Bastrykin always found time for scientific work and writing books.

In three books by Professor Bastrykin: “Shadows disappear in Smolny. The Murder of Kirov”, “The Ideal Crime of the Century or the Collapse of a Criminal Case”, “The Murder of Kirov. A new version of an old crime,” the author put forward his own version of the events that occurred in Leningrad in 1934.

In one of his interviews, the General of Justice said that he published some books at his own expense.

Scandals related to Alexander Bastrykin

In 2012, Alexey Navalny accused the chairman of the insurance company that Bastrykin owns real estate in the Czech Republic, is a co-owner of the company LAW Bohemia and has a residence permit in the Czech Republic.

Alexey Navalny about Bastrykin

Bastrykin admitted only that he had a visa and an apartment in Prague with an area of ​​46 sq.m. The head of the Investigative Committee said that the property worth $68 thousand was purchased by him in installments before the start of his civil service. Bastrykin sold his share in LAW Bohemia.

Personal life of Alexander Bastrykin

Alexander Bastrykin is married. His wife, Olga Ivanovna Bastrykina, works as vice-rector of the Russian Law Academy. The son of the head of the Investigative Committee, Evgeniy, born in 1986, is the chief specialist of the office of the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for the North-West.

Head of the Investigative Committee now

Bastrykin combines work in the Investigative Committee with writing books, actively uses social networks, maintains a VKontakte account, where he writes about the events of the Investigative Committee, about cultural life and famous people. The professor willingly gives lectures to law students.

There is information that Bastrykin writes poetry and publishes them on the website “Stihi.ru”, posing as the Polish poet Stanislav Strunevsky. The main theme of the poetry of the chief investigator of Russia is the activities of liberal politicians, presented by Bastrykin in an ironic manner.

Again Navalny sat down for a day / And our poor minds / Known bitterness and sadness / After all, he is our symbol! Ours is steel!