Russian court fines defiant pharmacist for Mariupol rejection
Russian citizen Valeria Guiva refused to work as a pharmacist in a region affected by armed conflict. The Petrograd District Court in Saint Petersburg, Russia, ordered her and her father to pay nearly 300,000 roubles as a penalty for not fulfilling the work contract.
According to the independent Russian portal Meduza, in 2017 Guiva signed a contract for targeted training at a university. This meant that after completing her studies, she was obliged to work for at least three years at facilities belonging to the Southern District Medical Centre of the Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia.
In exchange, she received financial support in the form of a scholarship, which totalled 168,500 roubles (over £1,400). However, after completing her studies, Valeria Guiva did not take up the job at the designated facility. Instead, since July 2023, she has been employed as the manager of the pharmacy "Fialochka" in Petersburg.
Refused work in Mariupol. Was penalised
The defence argued that the university failed to fulfil its obligation to provide her work at the Clinical Hospital in Rostov, which was initially indicated as the place of employment. Instead, she was offered a job in Mariupol—a city devastated by the Russian invasion, where military operations are still ongoing. Guiva refused, believing that working there posed a real threat to her life.
According to the portal "Meduza," the court did not find these arguments sufficient. It ruled that the graduate had no intention and still has no intention of taking up work at the FMBA branch in Mariupol, where there was a demand for pharmacists.
Therefore, it found that she violated the terms of the contract. Hence, the court ordered her and her father to return the financial support received and to pay an additional fine amounting to almost 270,000 roubles, which is over £2,200.
