Early in the morning, representatives of a security agency stormed the Odessa State Circus (OSC) and attempted to forcibly replace the current director with a newly appointed one. Only when law enforcement arrived on the scene were they able to steer the conversation toward a more civilized direction.
The circus's commercial director, Olga Vajarova, told OTKAT about this. Early in the morning, a group of young men, introducing themselves as employees of the security agency "Zakhist Yug," entered the premises of the OGC. The group was led by Yevgeny Gaidamaka, who had recently been appointed director of the company. Meanwhile, the current director of the circus, Gennady Vetroumov, was unwilling to give up his position, especially since the staff was opposed to such a personnel change.
Serious office battles at the OGC began back in the winter. On February 9, the company's office received a fax order dismissing Vetroumov from his position (the Ministry of Culture refused to renew his contract), dated the 7th. However, a couple of days earlier, the circus director had gone on sick leave due to a severe case of bronchitis. Thus, Vetroumov legally ruled out his own dismissal. Despite this, the Ministry of Culture appointed Gaidamaka in his place on February 11.
Our interviewee explained that the latter has virtually no connection to the circus, unlike Vetroumov, who has worked in the industry for 10 years, three of which were as head of the OGC. At the same time, Gaidamaki's supporters are confident in his competence, as he has long been involved in organizing various tours and performances, primarily in theatrical circles.
Vajarova notes that Vetroumov performed his duties so poorly that he received a bonus last year for exceeding his plan. The state-owned enterprise's workforce shares this opinion. Therefore, after learning of the director's dismissal, they sent a letter to the Minister of Culture requesting an extension of the current manager's contract. Veterans of the Odessa Circus, including the renowned director of the state enterprise and artist Alexei Kupin, also signed the letter. They cited statistics as evidence: during his tenure, Vetroumov managed to bring the circus back from the red and resume normal salary payments.
However, the city's leadership did not consider these facts to be valid arguments and upheld their decision. To put pressure on the circus workers, the media circulated information that the head of the Ministry of Culture, Vyacheslav Kirilenko, had "with great difficulty defended budget funding for state circuses for 2015," implying the inadvisability of such "collective rebellions" given such a precarious financial situation.
Given the traditional blood ties in circuses (the Odessa one is no exception), such pressure failed to produce the desired effect. Then, the newly appointed director, Gaidamaka, decided to resort to force. According to the administrators of the official OGC group on VKontakte, during the intrusion onto the premises, security guards physically assaulted Vetroumov, attempting to prevent him from entering his office. The conflict was only de-escalated by law enforcement officers arriving on the scene, who explained to Gaidamaka and his entourage that such disputes should not be escalated beyond the legal realm.
In addition to police officers, prosecutors also arrived at the scene, trying to determine the extent of each participant's guilt in the conflict. As Vajarova told our correspondent, the violence has died down, but the security agency that arrived is still "strutting around the circus."
Cooldown
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