Highway Robbery: Russia official 'stole 50km road'

[jimmy olsen]

I wonder what drove him to commit such a terrible crime?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35312492

Russia highway robbery: Official 'stole 50km road'
14 January 2016

A senior prison official has been detained in Russia accused of stealing a 50km (31-mile) length of highway.

Police said Alexander Protopopov, acting deputy chief of Russia's prison service, oversaw the dismantling of the road in the far-northern Komi region.

He then sold off its 7,000 reinforced concrete slabs for personal profit, they added.

Officials believe the scheme cost the government more than 6m roubles ($79,000; £54,000).

The road was "dismantled and driven away" over the period of more than a year, between 2014 and 2015, the Investigative Committee said in a statement quoted by the AFP news agency.

The concrete slabs were then used by a commercial company which also sold them on for a profit, it added.
Mr Protopopov was the head of Komi region's prison service from 2010 to 2015, and won awards such as a medal for creating "spiritual unity", AFP reports.

He was arrested on Wednesday and faces charges of misappropriating of state property while using his official position, which could lead to 10 years in jail, the agency adds.

Another prison service official, the head of a penal colony and a businessman are also under investigation.
Komi Republic is a huge region in Russia's far north, much of it forested. It has significant natural resources, including oil, gas and timber.

Road construction is one of the most corrupt sectors in Russia, with costs much higher than on comparable projects in other countries, AFP reports.

The construction of a mountain highway for the Sochi Winter Olympic Games cost about $8bn (£5.6bn), with Russian media claiming it would cost the same to slather the 48km road with black caviar.

[Josquius]

Well that's bizzare.
I've heard of this happening to railways but roads? How was the road built that it could be so easily broken into reusable slabs?

[The Brain]

Well that's bizzare.
I've heard of this happening to railways but roads? How was the road built that it could be so easily broken into reusable slabs?

Reusable slabs.

[Zanza]

Well that's bizzare.
I've heard of this happening to railways but roads? How was the road built that it could be so easily broken into reusable slabs?

Reusable slabs.

Perfect answer to a rather dumb question.

[grumbler]

Well that's bizzare.
I've heard of this happening to railways but roads? How was the road built that it could be so easily broken into reusable slabs?

I have no concrete info to back this up, but I suspect that the way the road was built deliberately paved the way for it to to be broken up and sold like this.

[Richard Hakluyt]

They probably just place the reusable slabs on top of the permafrost for a quick and cheap way making a road. Makes it vulnerable to thievery though 

[Barrister]

Well that's bizzare.
I've heard of this happening to railways but roads? How was the road built that it could be so easily broken into reusable slabs?

I have no concrete info to back this up, but I suspect that the way the road was built deliberately paved the way for it to to be broken up and sold like this.

I see what you did there.

[Josquius]

Well that's bizzare.
I've heard of this happening to railways but roads? How was the road built that it could be so easily broken into reusable slabs?

Reusable slabs.

Perfect answer to a rather dumb question.

Not a dumb question at all. Concrete slabs typically aren't reusable when cemented in place. If they'd just been left in place without any other work being done...that should have been noticed.

[Admiral Yi]

Not a dumb question at all. Concrete slabs typically aren't reusable when cemented in place. If they'd just been left in place without any other work being done...that should have been noticed.

My understanding is they have to leave the slabs unanchored in the Russian far north so that they don't buckle and crack in the winter.

[mongers]

Talking Heads wrote a song about this?