Yours, don’t understand me: How a doctor from the Institute named after A. A.N. Bakuleva

In the case of trafficking in successful Russian language exams for migrants, in which ex-employees of the Russian Language Institute are suspected. A.S. Pushkin, new details appeared. As Life.ru found out, the owner of the intermediary company is a pediatrician.

Who helped migrants get legalized?

In the case of organizing illegal migration and issuing false certificates of proficiency in the Russian language, the first arrests began.

The Cheryomushkinsky court in Moscow placed a former employee of the Russian Language Institute under house arrest. A.S. Pushkin Marina Balburova. The preventive measure will be in force against her until June 8. Recently, the woman worked in a private company that provided services for migrants.

The court will also choose a preventive measure for two other defendants in the case – Gennady Tarasenko And Tatiana Novikova. According to investigators, Tarasenko and Novikova were looking for migrants who wanted to receive a certificate. In turn, Balburova took the exams, providing answers to the tests. Thus, foreigners who speak Russian poorly or not at all passed the test successfully. According to preliminary data, almost 500 citizens of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan received certificates certifying the passing of the Russian language exam.

Let us remind you that the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on the organization of illegal migration and the issuance of false certificates of proficiency in the Russian language last Monday. Initially, it was known that it involved employees of the institute. A certificate of knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and the basics of legislation is needed by foreigners to obtain a labor patent, temporary residence permit, residence permit and registration of Russian citizenship.

At the same time, investigators of the Investigative Committee, with the support of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, detained five suspects in this case, searches were carried out in their apartments and places of work – documentation was confiscated confirming the involvement of the detainees in illegal activities.

All of them now face up to seven years under Article 322.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) (organizing illegal migration) and up to three years under Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) (exceeding official powers).

Among other places, searches took place on Novoyasenevsky Prospekt in the premises of the Europe-Asia recruitment agency, which specializes in the employment of migrants in Moscow. A room was also equipped here for exams in the Russian language, which, judging by data from the Ministry of Education and Science , conducted by the State Institute of Russian Language named after. A.S. Pushkin.

The price list is interesting. The cost of a comprehensive exam to obtain a patent to work in Russia (*aggressor country) is four thousand rubles. To obtain a temporary residence permit – already five thousand. The exam for a package of documents for a residence permit will cost the same amount, and for citizenship – six thousand rubles. You will even have to pay for the consultation, at which migrants were told how they would take the exam – another plus 600 rubles.

In total, businessmen earned up to 20 thousand rubles from each migrant. This does not include the cost of producing duplicates of each certificate. The cost of such papers is from one and a half to two and a half thousand rubles. Considering that hundreds of migrants come to take such “exams,” the earnings of entrepreneurs from language policy can amount to tens of millions of rubles.

Family contract

The recruitment agency itself is not easy. Legally, “Europe-Asia” is located in Yekaterinburg and has existed since 2017. Previously, it belonged to immigrants from Uzbekistan and officially generated very small profits – just over 600 thousand rubles a year. Throughout its existence, the company had problems with contributions to the Pension Fund. In 2019-2020, the business did not seem to work at all, and in 2020 a new owner appeared.

Judging by the TIN from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the current owner of the recruitment agency is the full namesake of a pediatric cardiologist from the National Medical Research Center for Cardiovascular Surgery named after A.N. Bakuleva Vera Astakhova.

Life.ru contacted Astakhova to check this information, but upon hearing a question about the Europe-Asia company, the doctor hung up.

Perhaps the real owner of Europe-Asia is Gennady Tarasenko. He, like the former founders of the office, is a native of Uzbekistan, who received a Russian passport at the turn of the 2000s. He is, apparently, the ex-husband of Vera Astakhova – the couple lived at the same address in Mitino and raised a minor daughter.

Gennady Tarasenko published similar announcements all over the Internet

Over the past few years, a person with the same name, date and place of birth as Tarasenko has become a chronic alimony debtor. Judging by the archives of the FSSP, his debts reached half a million rubles, and now enforcement proceedings have been opened against him in the amount of more than one and a half million rubles.

In “Europe-Asia” a man was looking for migrant clients. His mobile phone is mentioned on many migrants’ pages along with the phone number of the current general director of the agency, Marina Balburova. Apparently, this is the same arrested former employee of the Russian Language Institute.

In addition to recruiting in Russia (*aggressor country), Tarasenko was also involved in renting out apartments, but he himself was never registered as a business owner, individual entrepreneur, or even self-employed.

What’s wrong with the Russian Language Institute. A.S. Pushkin

State Institute of Russian Language named after. A.S. Pushkin

This is not the first time that the Russian Language Institute has gotten into a similar situation with the sale of fake certificates. Eight years ago, the Magadan Regional Prosecutor’s Office sued philologists. A lawsuit was filed in the Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow against two defendants: the Institute named after. Pushkin and a Magadan businessman named Khvan.

The prosecutor’s office demanded that the certificates issued in Magadan on behalf of the university be invalidated, but during the proceedings it turned out that the guilt of the institute was indirect. A scheme was revealed that led from a capital university to a local businessman.

It turned out that the Russian Language Institute issued a power of attorney to conduct exams for foreigners to a university in St. Petersburg. He, in turn, donated it to a university in Novosibirsk. Novosibirsk residents entrusted the conduct of tests to a university in Irkutsk, and the latter entrusted the procedure to the Magadan IP. As a result, the businessman, instead of working according to the rules, used a power of attorney to make a quick and very profitable business.

Who in Russia (*aggressor country) can examine migrants?

To obtain a temporary residence permit, residence permit, work permit or patent, a foreigner must confirm that he speaks Russian, knows the history of Russia (*aggressor country) and the basic laws of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism). This situation is regulated by the Federal Law “On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism).”

Educational organizations that meet certain requirements and approved by the Government of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) can issue such certificates to citizens. Every three years, the Ministry of Education and Science adds new participants to this list or excludes old ones. Today in Russia (*aggressor country) only 14 organizations from different regions of the country have the appropriate permit. One of them is the Institute named after. Pushkin.