Penza, 18 December 2015. PenzaNews. The fine of 300,000 rubles imposed by the Federal Antimonopoly Service on “Penza Bus Terminals Union” for passenger ticket pricing process violations is a “pennyworth expense” for the organization, an anonymous source formerly employed in the Penza region government told PenzaNews agency.

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“As far as my info says, last year’s net revenue of ‘Penza Bus Terminal Union’ that includes 16 bus terminals throughout the region, including in Penza, reached over 70 million rubles,” the source pointed out.

The former official reminded that the company violated the pricing process in regards to calculation of service fee for advance sales of commute, regional and state bus routes, thus violating the rights of regular people who had to bear additional expenses already included in the tariff, the former official reminded.

“The citizens noticed a spike in regional bus ticket prices as early as this summer. The bus terminals began collecting fees for an unknown service, ‘Advance ticket sales.’ Obviously, this caused outrage among the citizens, particularly those who have to go to Penza for work and then back to their town or village, for example. The Federal Antimonopoly Service intervened after a large number of complaints, and the strange service fee was canceled only when an administrative case began. The case was closed, but nobody returned the illegally taken money, and ‘Penza Bus Terminal Union’ bore no punishment,” the source added.

According to the anonymous interviewee, it took less than a month for another incident to occur and for another wave of complaints from Penza region citizens to overwhelm all relevant state bodies.

“The new scandal was, again, caused by ‘Penza Bus Terminal Union,’ and, again, because of fees in addition to set transportation tariffs. This time, they called it simply ‘Service fee.’ The scheme is simple: the bus terminals signed a subcontractor agreement with an individual businessman to delegate ticket sales, which must generate revenue for the businessman earned through additional fees incurred on ticket buyers. The owner and top management of ‘Penza Bus Terminal Union’ practically orchestrated a financial terror regime over the Penza region citizens: it’s simply unacceptable to steal the last ruble from the already-poor population. After all, everyone and their kitchen sink knows those who use buses to commute still leave much to be desired in the earnings department, so to say. Do the company owners not know such schemes – which are blatantly illegal – are totally unacceptable, especially in the current tough situation?” the former regional government employee asked.

The anonymous source also pointed out that the end result is a hit to the image of the authorities overall and the high-ranking officials in particular.

“The public dissent is growing as the people get disappointed over nobody achieving anything in just making the things right,” it added.

Discussing the question of actual ownership of “Penza Bus Terminal Union,” the source said these are “companies affiliated with the former boss.”

“The majority of the shares are in private hands. Based on certain records, the puppet owners hide the real proprietor – the former beneficiary of the policy. The rest of the shares belong to ‘Penza Car Transportation Holding’ fully instituted by the Penza region Property Department. However, shortly before the former Penza region governor Vasily Bochkarev left the office, these shares were put up for sale,” said the former official.

According to the source, “the FAS appears to be acting, but it is unable to complete it” as “they are applying half-measures, and violations continue.”

“From what I know, all law enforcement authorities have received letters with requests to open a criminal case and return control to the regional property. However, there is no real action going on so far. A question to the government: why is one of the most important aspects of normal life in the region omitted by the media? Is it because certain officials are trying to cover up for their former boss? Whatever it is, I believe the tough situation in the social and economic field will make the government put the issue under proper scrutiny, with interests of citizens in the Penza region in mind,” the interviewee concluded.