Lovely meter maid: Moscow awards multimillion-dollar maintenance contract to business run by deputy mayor’s brother

Across the city of Moscow, there are 954 electronic parking meters where motorists can purchase temporary permit slips to display on their dashboards. These meters are not popular; officials in the city's Transportation Department told Meduza that just 1.3 percent of drivers bother with the electronic meters, while 89 percent prefer to use the dedicated mobile app "Parking in Moscow." Unloved as they may be, the physical network of meters still needs maintenance, which means the city must spend money to keep these devices working. Meduza has learned that the latest multimillion-dollar contract went to a company run by Alexey Rakov, the younger brother of Moscow's deputy mayor. Original Article: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2021/09/07/lovely-meter-maid