A court has recognized the evidence gathered by the Bashkortostan Office of the Investigative Committee as sufficient to convict former first deputy head of Ufa city administration Vladislav Nikitin. He was found guilty of abuse of authority under Part 3 of Article 285 of the RF Criminal Code.

The court and investigators have revealed that in 2011, Nikitin was heading Ufa land management and construction commission and arranged that a plot of land used by the training and sports airfield of DOSAAF (the Voluntary Society for Assisting the Army, Air Force and Navy) to be transferred to municipal property. To make it look like it was a legal deal, he invited bidding and passed on the federal property to his sister’s company so that residential buildings could be built on that land. According to experts the market cost of the property is almost 897 million rubles, which equals to considerable damage to the budget of the Russian Federation, let alone the fact that the airfield stopped operating. The land is still on lease of OOO Board of Ufa Development Programs, a limited liability company owned by the accused who denies the charges.

The court has sentenced Nikitin to 3.5 years in a minimum-security correctional facility and banned him from taking positions in state service or local governments connected with management, administrative or representative functions for 2 years. Nikitin was placed in custody in the court room. The court also rescinded arrest of the plot of land in the settlement of Nekrasovo, Ufa.