The universal corruption of the Russian elite suits Vladimir Putin. When everyone has a skeleton in their closet, power rests with whoever decides which closets get searched. The arrest on corruption charges of Timur Ivanov, deputy minister of defence, is noteworthy not because he was infamously corrupt, but because it raises the question: why him, why now?
This could be the start of a ‘ditch Shoigu’ campaign by his enemies
Ivanov was well known for his lavish lifestyle and his reputation as the ‘king of the kickback.’ Since 2016, he had been in charge of the Defence Ministry’s property portfolio, construction projects and medical services. To put it another way, all the many housing projects that were fully budgeted for, three-quarters built on the cheap, and then abandoned, were Ivanov’s. All the modernisation projects for crumbling service personnel and family housing blocks and medical facilities that were again fully funded, then carried out (if carried out at all) unsafely and shoddily – his too.
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