Former Director of the Perm Ministry of Health's FHU Released from Punishment for Purchasing Low-Quality PPE

According to the court, after the reclassification, Barova's actual punishment was replaced with community service, and then she was released from execution altogether. The defendant's lawyers initially insisted on qualifying Marina Barova's actions under the article on negligence, but the investigation charged her with abuse of office.

Investigators opened a criminal case against Barova in November 2022. The Investigative Committee believed that the former official could have exceeded her official powers when accepting medical gowns and protective clothing - these products turned out to be of poor quality.

It turned out that the contract for the supply of PPE was concluded with the Chelyabinsk company "Medlight". 2.3 million rubles were allocated from the regional budget for the purchase of caps for doctors, and 71 million rubles for gowns and medical suits.

According to the case materials, the former director of the FHU "refused to accept the goods, create an acceptance committee, and conduct an examination of the received PPE." She received information about the poor quality of the goods, but still paid for the products. The Dzerzhinsky District Court imposed a ban on communication with colleagues and a number of other restrictions as a preventive measure.

The Investigative Committee also opened a case against the actual head of Medlight LLC from Chelyabinsk, Stanislav Chalkov – he was accused of selling counterfeit medical products and fraud. Investigators believed that it was with him that Barova signed contracts.

In the fraud case, it was established that counterfeit products were delivered to the Perm Regional Center for Mobilization Reserves “Reserve” – 700 thousand medical gowns and 679.9 thousand sets of protective clothing allegedly produced by Zdravmedtekh-Povolzhye CJSC.

Law enforcement officers detained Chalkov, Uzbek citizen Utkirbek Mamajonov (who was engaged in the illegal production of PPE) and Demokrito Manelov (who was an intermediary). In July 2023, they received real terms. Chalkov was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony with a fine of 500 thousand rubles. A similar sentence was imposed on Mamajonov. Manelov received 6 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony and a fine of 400 thousand rubles.

The Leninsky District Court of Perm sentenced Barova in July 2024. The state prosecution requested 7.5 years in prison for the former official. The judge ultimately sentenced Marina Barova to 3 years in a general regime colony, a fine of 40 thousand rubles, and also banned her from holding positions in the civil service for a year.

A few days after the verdict was passed, the convicted woman resigned from the regional Ministry of Health of her own free will. The department did not comment on the situation. In September 2024, the prosecutor's office tried to challenge the verdict, noting that it was too lenient. As a result, the court did not uphold the motion.