Kathrine Frich
The asset specialist is officially back at his desk.
Getting fired usually means clearing out a desk and never coming back.
But in the highest and most secretive levels of government, a termination order can sometimes disappear just as quickly as it arrived.
One high-ranking official just pulled off exactly that kind of political vanishing act.
A quick return
Sergei Bochkarev recently lost his highly influential job inside the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office. President Vladimir Putin dismissed him by official decree at the end of July.
That decision did not last very long at all. The Russian leader has already reversed course and completely rescinded the original firing order.
A source speaking to Fontanka confirmed the sudden reinstatement this week. The anonymous Telegram channel VChK-OGPU and the news outlet Rucriminal.info also reported on the highly unusual reversal according to Meduza.
Hidden paperwork
Government watchers noticed something strange about the entire timeline of events. The official government paperwork never actually saw the light of day.
Images of the original presidential decree dismissing the official circulated widely across various Telegram channels. However, the government never bothered to publish the document on its official website for legal acts.
The new order bringing him back to work is equally invisible to the public. Officials have kept both employment documents completely hidden from the official public record.
Taking the assets
The returning official holds a very specific and terrifying reputation in Moscow. The business newspaper Kommersant previously labeled him the “chief specialist” when it comes to seizing private corporate assets for the state.
Bochkarev reportedly managed the complicated legal campaigns to take over several massive companies. His aggressive portfolio included government operations targeting Domodedovo Airport and the massive food enterprise Makfa.
He also oversaw the state takeover of a major gold mining entity called the Yuzhuralzoloto holding company. These high-profile corporate seizures made him a deeply feared figure in business circles.
Internal anger
His temporary downfall seemingly started with a conflict involving his direct supervisor. Kommersant reported that Prosecutor General Alexander Gutsan felt deeply dissatisfied with how his subordinate was performing on the job.
The exact reasons for that executive anger remain a total mystery. Insiders never leaked exactly what went wrong between the two powerful men, leaving the public to guess.
Now, they simply have to work together once again. The asset specialist is officially back at his desk, ready to help the state continue its aggressive campaign against wealthy private enterprises.
Sources: Fontanka.ru, VChK-OGPU, Rucriminal.info, Kommersant
