The allegations against Veller are brought forward by Sergey Gabrielyan, a member of the Murmansk City Council and fellow member of the United Russia party. Talking in a recent TV report, Gabrielyan said Aleksey Veller is “part of an organized crime group”, and that local Murmansk prosecutors are giving the group the needed protection. He also claims that Veller intends to bankrupt a number of local municipal companies in order to let his own structures take over the business.
Fearing for his life, Gabrielyan has now fled Murmansk. Over the last weeks, two of his cars have been put on fire by unknown perpetrators, Murman.ru reports.
In a statement posted on the website of the Murmansk city administration, Veller denies the allegations and confirms that he suing Gabrielyan for libel.
“I can simply assume that Mr Gabrielyan either has got lost in his own fantacies, or that he has worn himself out in his work for certain commercial structures”, the city mayor says.
Both Sergey Gabrielyan and Aleksey Veller are long-serving representatives of Murmansk government bodies. While Gabrielyan has served in the City Council since year 2000, Veller has been there since 2004. The latter was early 2010 appointed chairman of the council and then later that same year also City Mayor.
