02 November 2020

In the early 1990s, when RSFSR became Russia, the name of the state had to be changed in very many official documents. And often it was done without thinking and regardless of special procedures. Because of that, some existing legal acts received wrong identifications. Can it be proof of falsification? Some experts believe it is not the point.

The case of Marina Dunyushina is presently being reviewed by the Dorogomilovsky District Court of Moscow. The former head of the Khimki Land Committee is accused of high-value fraud. Investigators believe that the former official illegally transferred a 20-hectare land lot in Khimki to IKEA. One piece of evidence is the fact that the relevant ruling of Khimki city administration in 1993 makes mention of the Land Code of the Russian Federation. This Code was only adopted in 2001, while in 1993 the Land Code of RSFSR was still in force. According to the investigation, the ruling was issued retroactively or simply falsified. The experts however don’t take these findings for granted; searching in databases demonstrates similar confusions with naming in both government rulings and High Court documents.

The text of the document contested by investigators proves that it has not been falsified, Roman Belanov, a lawyer with Khrenov&Partners, believes. Here is an extract from the ruling of Khimki city administration: “In accordance of the Article 39 of the RF Land Code and with the consent of Khimki collective agricultural enterprise to terminate the ownership by of Khimki collective agricultural enterprise to the land lot with an area of 20.88 hectares located near the 23rd-kilometer mark of Moscow - St Petersburg highway”. The text does not indicate whether it mentions the Land Code of 1991 or the 2001 document, but it refers to the exact article No 39.

The full text of the material including the comments by lawyers from other firms can be viewed here (in Russian).