Main Military Investigations Directorate of the Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation against unknown officials of the Department for Property Relationships of the Russian Ministry of Defense and Office of State Contracts of the Russian Ministry of Defense. They are suspected of a crime under paragraph “c” of part 1 of article 286 of the RF Criminal Code (exceeding official powers entailing grave consequences). The criminal case was also launched against the officials of the said Department suspected of a crime under part 3 of article 285 (abuse of office entailing grave consequences).
According to investigators in 2011 Department of Property Relationships of the Russian Defense Ministry prepared document in accordance with which a land plot owned by the state and meant for building residential houses was put on sale not at the auction, but as a public offering. Selling the land the Office of State Contracts of the Russian Ministry of Defense let to bid only 2 commercial organizations from one group of companies. As a result 1 ha of land in the town of Balashikha, Moscow Region, was sold for 42.8 million rubles, which is much lower than the asking price. At present there is a shopping mall there. This caused the state damage of more than 50 million rubles.
During the investigation of the second criminal case it has been preliminarily found that in spring 2010 the Russian Defense Ministry asked the territorial office of Federal Agency for Managing State Property in Saint-Petersburg to pass for the use in the interests of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation “The house of a gardener with two outhouses” built in XVIII century, which was a part of “Tavrichesky Palace”, the memorial of cultural heritage of federal importance. After the said complex of over 0.5 ha of land and three separate buildings on it of more than 1.2 thousand square meters was passed under the charge of the Defense Ministry, the Department of Property Relationships started taking steps to alienate it. As a result in autumn 2011 the property was sold for 376.5 million rubles to a commercial organization set up several months before and registered on Cyprus. The experts the market cost of the property at the moment of the deal exceeded the price it was sold for by 75.8 million rubles.
The criminal cases were filed in a single law suit with the one launched before against the officials of the Department for Property Relationships of the Defense Ministry and the persons fulfilling managerial functions in affiliated organizations of OAO Oboronservis (OJSC) and outside commercial enterprises. At present the military investigators are seizing documents connected with the said deals. Investigation of the criminal case is ongoing.
Head of Media Relations V.I. Markin
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