Avakova Ekaterina Aleksandrovna

In the city of Bataysk, Rostov region, at six in the morning on February 19, 2021, a search was conducted at the home of a journalist, the former editor-in-chief of the local city newspaper "Vpered" Elena Pivovarova. During the search, security forces confiscated not only a laptop and phones of all family members from the journalist, but also documents of ownership of the apartment and jewelry. At the same time, one of the "law enforcement officers" stated that "the items are being confiscated to compensate for the damage to the founder. As a result of the stress she experienced, Pivovarova lost consciousness and was taken to the intensive care unit with suspected stroke. Yelena Pivovarova was accused of fraud using her official position and embezzlement by an organized group using official positions. Ekaterina Avakova, the chief accountant of the newspaper, became the second figure in the case. According to the investigation, Pivovarova, with the participation of Avakova, inflated the print runs of the newspaper to increase subsidies and provided unreliable information about its quantity for newspaper delivery." 5. The delivery of the newspaper was overseen by Pivovarova together with an unidentified individual entrepreneur. Incorrect information was submitted from March 5 to May 30, 2019. Initially, the investigation charged her with embezzlement of 396 thousand. rubles. Subsequently, the amount of damage was increased to 1.8 million rubles. The journalist herself claimed that she distributed a small portion of the print run for free as advertising to potential subscribers. Elena Pivovarova was dismissed from her position as editor-in-chief on November 12, 2020, despite the fact that her contract was signed until 2025. The newspaper belonged to the power structure, while Pivovarova, on its pages, criticized the local authorities. Specifically, the authorities had complaints about the newspaper's investigation into the monopolistic food supplier for the city's children's institutions and a publication stating that Bataysk had entered the top three anti-leaders in COVID-19 morbidity. In addition, the criminal prosecution of Pivovarova is assessed as an attempt to force her to abandon a lawsuit related to illegal dismissal. Elena Pivovarova said on December 8, 2020, that she had filed a lawsuit in court to be reinstated in her position. According to her version, the reason for dismissal lies in the commercial sphere: the founder of the publication, the property management committee, did not replenish the capital of LLC "Bataysk Information Agency "Vpered", and therefore by the end of 2020 the newspaper "would have belonged to itself, and the administration had other plans for it. On July 11, 2024, the Bataysk City Court in the Rostov Region found the defendants in the case guilty and sentenced Elena Pivovarova to 4.5 years in a general regime colony and Ekaterina Avakova to 4 years in a general regime colony. December 19, 2024, the Rostov Regional Court reduced Avakova's sentence by 2 months, leaving Pivovarova's sentence unchanged.