Malobrodsky says sought Maslyayeva's dismissal as Studio Seven chief accountant but was ignored
MOSCOW. Nov 13 (Interfax) - Former Studio Seven general producer Alexei Malobrodsky told the court that he sought the replacement of the organization's chief accountant as Nina Maslyayeva worked "unscrupulously," an Interfax correspondent reported.
"She carried out tasks whose implementation I was counting on unscrupulously. [Maslyayeva] and I had a working, but difficult, relationship. First of all, she didn't honor agreements regarding work deadlines. Second, she didn't provide necessary evaluations and explanations. In general, I was convinced that she was not the person we needed for the accomplishment of the tasks that were assigned. It was obvious to me that she was not competent enough and, what's more, she was slow," Malobrodsky said while being questioned at Moscow's Meshchansky District Court, which is hearing the Studio Seven case, on Tuesday.
"Nina Leonidovna knows my complaints well. I also presented my complaints to Yury Konstantinovich [Itin], the director general [of Studio Seven], and raised the issue of replacing the person holding this post. But my suggestion, my request, my complaint, whatever, were not heeded, and Nina Leonidovna was hired," Malobrodsky said.
Despite their disagreements, his relations with the Studio Seven chief accountant "were appropriate, diplomatic, and never evolved into enmity," he said.
The defendants in the case are charged with embezzling 133 million rubles provided by the state to the autonomous non-governmental organization founded by the artistic director of the Gogol Center, filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov, for the implementation of the Platforma project in 2011-2014.
There are now four defendants: Serebrennikov, Malobrodsky, who held the post of the Studio Seven general producer until August 2012 and then became the head of the Gogol Center, Sofya Apfelbaum, the former head of the ministry's department of state support for art and crafts and director of the Russian Academic Youth Theater, and ex-Studio Seven director general Yury Itin.
The case involving Maslyayeva was separated from the others, as she was the only suspect to plead guilty. She made a deal with investigators and testified against her former colleagues.
A separate case has also been opened against Studio Seven producer Yekaterina Voronova, who has left the country. She has been declared wanted and charged in absentia.