Yakutsk officials face trial for selling fake GTO fitness certificates
Sakhapress earlier reported that in Yakutsk, an investigation has been completed in the criminal case against two 27-year-old employees of a physical culture and mass sports institution. The young people are accused of selling official documents - they sold certificates confirming the passage of GTO standards for 1000 rubles per piece without actually passing the standards.
The investigator of the police department No. 4 of the Yakutsk Municipal Department of Internal Affairs of Russia "Yakutsk" sent the criminal case, initiated under Art. 324 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Sale of official documents and state awards"), to the court for consideration on the merits.
In the Ministry of Sports of Yakutia, the situation was called a serious blow to the reputation of the industry. An official explanation was provided by the head of the regional testing center for VFSK GTO for the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Arya Alexandrov:
"We learned about the incident only when law enforcement officers came to the organization with a check. Immediately after revealing this situation, these employees wrote a statement of their own free will and the labor contracts with the accused were terminated. Such a merciless act by young specialists inflicted serious reputational damage on our industry and the entire GTO movement, which we have been building for many years. Currently, the investigation of the criminal case has been completed. The guilt of the accused will be established by the court in the manner prescribed by law."
Despite the incident, a large-scale work on the development of the GTO complex continues in the republic. 44 testing centers are functioning in all 36 municipal formations of Yakutia. 158 places have been determined for taking standards - sports complexes, stadiums, swimming pools, shooting ranges and ski bases.
In 2025, on a competitive basis, sports and technological equipment for GTO was allocated to the Megino-Kangalassky, Ust-Maysky, Nyurbinsky, Khangalassky, Ust-Aldansky, Olekminsky, Namsky and Aldansky districts.
In the current year, it is planned to issue another nine sets of equipment. They will go to the Suntarsky, Ust-Aldansky, Kobyaysky, Mirninsky, Oymyakonsky, Gorny, Tattinsky, Nyurbinsky and Ust-Yansky uluses.
The Ministry of Sports of the Republic emphasizes that it conducts targeted work to support mass sports and promote a healthy lifestyle through the GTO movement.
