Serebrennikov director what's going on. Full analysis: why and why Serebrenikov was arrested

Is it too early to panic about the situation around the Gogol Center?

For two days now, information has been actively discussed that searches are being carried out at the Gogol Center and at the home of its artistic director Kirill Serebrennikov. Oleg Tabakov, Fyodor Bondarchuk, Chulpan Khamatova and many others spoke in defense of the theater and its ideologist. What is this - really financial irregularities or a political order? Realnoe Vremya found out the opinion of people who know Serebrennikov well.

The case of 200 million

Kirill Serebrennikov, who was searched on Tuesday and is a witness in the case of the theft of 200 million, was interrogated and released home with the condition that he will appear for interrogations upon request. At the Gogol Center, where searches were carried out throughout the day, the troupe decided not to cancel the performance and not let the audience down.

A spontaneous rally was held near the walls of the theater, and Chulpan Khamatova and Evgeny Mironov came to it. Khamatova, who is currently rehearsing for a performance at the Gogol Center, read out an appeal from cultural figures in defense of Serebrennikov. It says that Kirill is a director who is known outside of Russia, a bright director, a decent and honest person. The appeal was signed by top figures of Russian culture, including Mark Zakharov and Oleg Tabakov.

“It’s hard for me to judge what’s going on there. Serebrennikov was not arrested; he was interrogated as a witness. So far, the ex-director of the center and the chief accountant have been detained. I know Kirill as a normal director, a creative person, he stages performances all over the world, however, we work in a different style. It seems to me that it is too early to panic until no charges have been brought against him. I don’t think politics are involved here; I don’t remember Serebrennikov making any political statements. By the way, he directed both Surkov and Prilepin. Now there are actively shouts in his defense, but it’s too early to fuss, nothing terrible has happened yet. We need to see who is screaming, maybe the one who wants to promote himself on this story? I hope that nothing bad will happen to Kirill Serebrennikov,” says the artistic director and chief director of the Kachalovsky Theater Alexander Slavutsky, who knows Serebrennikov from his work in Rostov-on-Don.

“First of all, Kirill Serebrennikov is one of the leading masters of Russian theater, whose performances always attract attention, often causing diametrically opposed assessments, which once again testifies to their originality.” Photo m24.ru

"The charges raise questions"

“First of all, Kirill Serebrennikov is one of the leading masters of Russian theater, whose performances always attract attention, often causing diametrically opposed assessments, which once again testifies to their originality. He is invited to productions in many European countries, his films participate and win in international festivals. In addition, Serebrennikov is one of the very few drama directors who feels quite confident in the territory of musical theater.

What they are trying to accuse him of today raises a number of puzzling questions. Even more bewildering is the orgy of emergency that has unfolded around the Gogol Center, which does not seem to be involved in any criminal cases, and yet its artists and other workers are treated like bandits or, on the contrary, hostages. But, as can be understood from the statements of the investigative authorities, the fact of the theft itself has not yet been established, it is spoken of as suspected, and Serebrennikov is still involved in the case only as a witness. I can imagine that someone very influential said “fas.” Perhaps they want to punish Serebrennikov for his civic position, for impartial statements about what is happening in the country, and at the same time once again try to intimidate the creative intelligentsia. Or maybe it’s even simpler: someone really needed the Gogol Center,” theater critic Dmitry Morozov outlined his vision of the situation.

“I have known Kirill Serebrennikov for fifteen years. I know very well. Not only as a wonderful theater director, of whom the Russian theater can rightfully be proud, not only as a unique theater teacher who taught one of the brightest courses in recent times at the Moscow Art Theater School. I know him as my close comrade and friend. It’s difficult for me personally to talk about his human qualities without superlatives. As well as about his absolute integrity, of which I am not only confident, but absolutely convinced. He is a true fanatic, one hundred percent devoted to the theater, performance, and artistic idea. Ready to take off the last thing from myself in order for the performance to happen. And I have seen such manifestations of him more than once. Talking about others is someone else's tragic mistake. I want to believe that it was accidental and not conscious,” Evgenia Kuznetsova, head of the literary department of the Sovremennik Theater, commented to the publication on the situation around Kirill Serebrennikov.

This assessment can be completely trusted - Kuznetsova starred in one of the main roles in Serebrennikov’s film “St. George’s Day”, so she has personal impressions of working with the director.

The film “The Apprentice” in Cannes was awarded the Independent French Press Prize and was included in the long list of films nominated for the European Film Academy Award. Photo kuban24.tv

Serebrennikov’s penultimate film, “The Apprentice,” was presented in the “Un Certain Regard” program at the Cannes Film Festival last year. One of the co-producers of the film was the co-founder of the Tatarstan Living City Foundation, Diana Safarova. The film was awarded the Independent French Press Prize in Cannes and was included in the long list of films nominated for the European Film Academy Award.

Yet the story is strange and disturbing. A search of the house of a person who is a witness in the case, employees of the Gogol Center, who during the search in the building were deprived of means of communication and were held in the theater for some time.

“In the current situation, it is difficult to maintain a neutral position, it is difficult not to succumb to emotions and not draw any conclusions. All the information we have is from the media, and in this case we can only express words of support to Kirill Semenovich and Sofya Apfelbaum, great professionals, these are some of those who live in the theater, and they cannot have any other life. I sincerely believe that the situation will be resolved in a fair manner,” Inna Yarkova, director of the Living City Foundation, so balancedly commented on the story to Realnoe Vremya. Inna talked with Serebrennikov, discussing various projects.

Perhaps yesterday’s situation around the Gogol Center was perceived by the public as overly emotional; perhaps everything will become clearer in the coming days. But the country has a strong genetic memory. And the stories of Meyerhold, Tairov and others like him are well known not only to theater scholars. God willing they will never happen again.

Tatyana Mamaeva

Investigative proceedings regarding the financial activities of director Kirill Serebrennikov are causing a strong reaction in society

As we remember, it all started with the fact that on May 23, searches were carried out in the capital’s Gogol Center theater, as well as at the home of its artistic director Kirill Serebrennikov, as part of a criminal case about the theft of public funds. Then, according to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, persons from the leadership of the non-profit organization “Seventh Studio”, the founder of which was Serebrennikov, stole about 200 million rubles from 2011 to 2014, which were allocated by the state for the development and popularization of art.

For the time being, Serebrennikov appeared as a witness. But the ex-general director of the Seventh Studio, Yuri Itin, and the former chief accountant of the company, Nina Maslyaeva, were detained. A search was also carried out in the apartment of RAMT director Sofia Apfelbaum, who from 2012 to 2014 headed the department of state support of art and folk art of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

On August 22, news appeared that Serebrennikov himself had been detained. The information from the Investigative Committee on this matter was extremely sparse: “The Main Directorate for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of Russia, on suspicion of organizing the theft of at least 68 million rubles allocated in 2011-2014 for the implementation of the Platform project, detained the artistic director of the Moscow theater "Gogol Center" Kirill Serebrennikov.

As it turned out, the chief accountant of the Seventh Studio, Nina Maslyaeva, stated that director Kirill Serebrennikov gave her instructions to enter false data into the financial statements. According to her testimony, it was Kirill Serebrennikov and ex-producer of ANO Alexey Malobrodsky who allegedly developed a plan to steal 68 million and forced Maslyaeva to falsify accounting records. The director was charged under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the maximum penalty is 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 1 million rubles.

Sources report that the testimony against Serebrennikov was by no means key. However, back in May, he also testified against his employees, Interfax reports. It was after this that the chief accountant Nina Maslyaeva, who admitted guilt, as well as accounting employee Tatyana Zhirikova and other persons whose details were not disclosed, testified against the director.

Serebrennikov's detention raised many questions. Rumors immediately spread in society about the demonstrative nature of this process. Otherwise, why was it necessary to detain a person who did not try, for example, to travel abroad - and even at night, during a business trip to St. Petersburg.

They immediately started talking about Serebrennikov’s experimental productions, which were objectionable to the authorities, as well as about his last year’s film “The Apprentice,” which in an exaggerated form criticized religious dogmatists who manipulate others through rote quotations from the Bible.

In addition, Kirill Serebrennikov is known as a consistent oppositionist. The liberal front is by no means alien to him. After the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in August 2008, he expressed a desire to walk around Moscow with a sign “I am Georgian!” He supported the group Pussy Riot. In a 2014 interview, the director called Russia “a country of unabolished slavery.”, and stated that our country “is now behaving like a beggar who has gone crazy with grief.”

It is impossible not to notice that the campaign against Serebrennikov is taking place against the backdrop of the arrests of several governors and one of the ministers coming under investigation. The way our imperfect legislation is structured is that almost everyone in our country can be arrested, and especially those who are forced to engage in commercial activities due to their duties. In order to keep their business afloat in our unstable times, many, willy-nilly, have to resort to “gray” salary schemes or hire guest workers. On occasion, they will definitely remember all this to you in order to pin you to the wall. Especially if you happen to take money from the state at least once.

Regardless of the fact and degree of Serebrennikov’s guilt, many now fear that the campaign launched against him could serve as a prelude to a whole wave of repressive measures against other Russian cultural figures.

“The trouble is that Russian legislation has not been worked out in detail,” lawyer Igor Trunov said in an interview with Free Press. - Therefore, if you wish, you can find incriminating evidence on almost anyone who works with state money in the cultural sector. Laws specifically leave many aspects to the discretion of law enforcement agencies and the judicial community. This creates a situation in which it is possible to selectively imprison undesirables and turn a blind eye to the actions of those who are loyal to the authorities. From this point of view, the “Serebrennikov case” may indeed turn out to be a trigger for a campaign to “cleanse the ranks” of cultural figures.”

Feeling this, many representatives of the creative intelligentsia stood up for Kirill Serebrennikov. At the end of May, Yevgeny Mironov sent a letter to Putin asking him to look into this situation thoroughly and impartially. Among others, the appeal was signed by Igor Kostolevsky, Vladimir Pozner and Konstantin Raikin.

Before the premiere of the film “Gogol. Beginning”, members of the film crew admitted that they went to the Bassmanny court for a hearing in order to testify their solidarity with the accused. The performer of the role of Gogol, Alexander Petrov, admitted that he recently visited the filming of the film “Summer” about Viktor Tsoi in St. Petersburg and was amazed at the professionalism and high level of the team’s work. And producer Alexander Tsekalo quipped that since Western investment is pouring in our country, the economy is booming, the people are prospering, and the generals are not stealing billions, then it’s time to take up culture.

In fairness, we note that in the West similar processes against movie stars also take place, but no one calls them “demonstrative”. In the “shaggy” year of 1977, director Roman Polanski was accused in the United States of raping a minor. According to prosecutors, he gave a 13-year-old American girl champagne and drugs, after which he persuaded her to have sex. The director was forced to admit guilt and, as part of his cooperation with the court, agreed to undergo a psychiatric examination, but then fled to Europe, where he is still hiding from American justice. Recently, a Los Angeles court rejected the request of the victim who decided to forgive Polanski.

The court sentenced the Italian actress Ornella Muti to eight months in prison because she did not show up without warning to a performance at the Pordenone Theater, where she was supposed to play the main role, and then, in order to avoid paying a fine, presented a fake medical certificate. As a result, she, despite her star status, was forced to answer according to the law.

At the moment, it is known that the Basmanny Court of Moscow placed the artistic director of the Gogol Center, Kirill Serebrennikov, under house arrest until October 19. The defendant was prohibited from correspondence, telephone conversations, meetings and going outside without the permission of the investigator. Serebrennikov's lawyers asked to be allowed to go to work. We will monitor this situation as it develops and keep you updated.

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Investigators have completed a preliminary investigation into the criminal case against the artistic director of the Gogol Center theater Kirill Serebrennikov and other defendants accused of embezzling budget funds allocated for a cultural project.

Information about this was confirmed to Rossiyskaya Gazeta by the press service of the Investigative Committee of Russia, specifying that the investigative measures ended on January 12. The materials have been sent to the prosecutor's office for approval of the indictment, after which they will be forwarded to the court for consideration on the merits.

As the lawyer of one of the defendants in the case, Irina Poverinova, told TASS, the criminal case against the former accountant of the Seventh Studio, Nina Maslyaeva, has been separated into separate proceedings. Let us note that Maslyaeva is the only one of those under investigation in this case who admitted guilt and cooperated with the investigation.

Let us remind you that Kirill Serebrennikov and other defendants were previously charged under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “fraud on an especially large scale.” According to investigators, in 2011 Serebrennikov came up with and developed a project for the development and popularization of contemporary art “Platform”. More than 214 million rubles were allocated from the federal budget for its implementation and financing in 2011-2014. To implement the project, Serebrennikov created an autonomous non-profit organization “Seventh Studio”, in which he recruited his friends Yuri Itin, Alexei Malobrodsky, Ekaterina Voronova (who is wanted), and Nina Maslyaeva. Also involved in the case is the director of the Russian Academic Youth Theater, Sofya Apfelbaum, who worked at the Ministry of Culture at the time of the crime.

According to investigators, Apfelbaum entered into a conspiracy with the artistic director of the ANO "Seventh Studio" Serebrennikov and in 2011-2014, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, signed agreements with this organization on the provision of state subsidies. Apfelbaum also ensured the approval of reporting documentation that contained inflated information about the number and cost of the activities carried out. By this, investigators believe, the woman contributed to the theft of 68 million rubles from the budget.

As Svetlana Petrenko, the official representative of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, previously reported, the guilt of director Serebrennikov is confirmed by the testimony of witnesses, the results of operational investigative activities and financial documents seized during the investigation.

Kirill Serebrennikov and Nina Maslyaeva are under house arrest, Alexey Malobrodsky is in a pre-trial detention center. Last week, the court received a petition from the investigation to extend Serebrennikov’s house arrest until April 19.

We explain why the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation pays close attention to the artistic director of the Gogol Center, Kirill Serebrennikov, and the private company associated with him.

On the morning of May 23, employees of the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia in Moscow came with searches to the apartment of the artistic director of the Gogol Center, Kirill Serebrennikov, as well as to the theater and center of contemporary art “Winzavod”. According to investigators, in 2014 Serebrennikov took part in the theft of money from the Ministry of Culture allocated for the “Platform” festival of contemporary art. But this is not the only episode.

As the investigation notes, on February 1, 2014, the director of the Department for Support of Professional Art and Folk Art of the Ministry of Culture, Sofya Apfelbaum (now the director of RAMT), entered into an agreement with the ANO “Seventh Studio”, co-owned and artistic director of which is Kirill Serebrennikov. The company pledged to carry out the “Platform” project on the territory of Winzavod as part of the popularization of contemporary art. For this purpose, the Ministry of Culture allocated 66.5 million rubles.

In turn, “Seventh Studio” on February 10 signed two contracts for the provision of paid services with LLC “Infostyle” for a total amount of 1.28 million rubles. The company had to sew costumes and provide technical support for events, as well as prepare a report on the use of government subsidies during their holding.

As the investigation was able to establish, in fact, the activities specified in the agreement were not carried out, although the money was transferred to Infostyle accounts. A few months later, in October 2014, the company ceased to exist. In October, Sofia Apfelbaum, who had worked in the Ministry of Culture for eight years, suddenly left her post.

The searches within the framework of the criminal case are just beginning - in total there are 17 addresses on the list, including the address of the former head of the department of the Ministry of Culture Sofia Apfelbaum, the current director of the Volkov Russian Drama Theater (Yaroslavl) Yuri Itin, who was previously the director of the Seventh Studio, as well as Anna Shalashova, who now heads the company, and others.

Neither Serebrennikov nor Apfelbaum returned calls. The Moscow Department of Culture stated that they were not ready to comment on the searches in the Gogol Center under their jurisdiction. The Volkov Theater stated that they are not conducting searches at the moment.

"Martyr" pays twice

ANO "Seventh Studio" could be of interest to investigators for another reason. The co-owner of the company, according to the Kartoteka database, is Kirill Serebrennikov, and the director is Anna Shalashova, who works at the Gogol Center as an assistant to the artistic director, that is, Serebrennikov.

As SPARK shows, since 2013, Gogol Center has regularly entered into small government contracts with Seventh Studio. Moreover, in 2014–2016, this company received government contracts only from the theater.

According to the chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Committee, Kirill Kabanov, in this case we can at least talk about a conflict of interest, because in fact it turns out that Serebrennikov gave money from the state theater to his company.

It makes no difference whether the artistic director or any managerial person does this. This is a cultural institution, not a private shop that can buy from anyone. Often, a conflict of interest is a sign not just of wrongdoing, but of abuse in the use of budget funds. And here there may be criminal consequences,” the expert noted.

In 2015, the Gogol Center held an auction in the form of a purchase from a single supplier, as a result of which the contract for the joint production of the play “Martyr” worth 3.1 million rubles was awarded to the “Seventh Studio”.

According to investigators, from 2011 to 2014, unidentified persons from the leadership of the autonomous non-profit organization “Seventh Studio” stole budget funds in the amount of about 200 million rubles, allocated by the state for the development and popularization of art, says a message on the ICR website.

Debt guarantee

Problems have plagued the Gogol Center for several years. In April 2015, the head of the Moscow Department of Culture, Alexander Kibovsky, said that the Gogol Center was mired in debt. The theater’s debt to various organizations at that time amounted to about 80 million rubles, and only the status of a Moscow cultural institution saved it from liquidation.

Shortly before this, Anastasia Golub was appointed the new director of the theater, who spent five months conducting an anti-crisis campaign. According to Serebrennikov, by August 2015, accounts payable were paid off, theater expenses were reduced and ticket sales increased. But the theater was still unprofitable.

In October 2015, after Golub left, Serebrennikov became not only artistic director, but also director of the Gogol Center. After this, the head of the department of culture, Alexander Kibovsky, stated that responsibility for all decisions related to finance lies with Kirill Serebrennikov. At the same time, the artistic director of the theater himself stated that the Moscow Department of Culture approved him as first deputy Alexei Kabeshev, who will be responsible for the economic situation of the theater.

In March 2016, Serebrennikov said that part of the theater’s debt was reimbursed by the Department of Culture in the form of a subsidy. He did not specify exactly what amount was in question.