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Kremlin: Putin staying mum on ex-minister Abyzov’s case

Only a court can judge whether Abyzov is guilty of anything, the Kremlin spokesman said

Mikhail Abyzov Donat Sorokin/TASS

Mikhail Abyzov

© Donat Sorokin/TASS

MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not made any statement on the case of former Open Government Affairs Minister Mikhail Abyzov, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

"No, he (Putin) cannot express his attitude as any attitude would actually be an attempt to put pressure on the investigation," he said, adding that the Kremlin does not and cannot have any stance on the case.

"What is important here is the position of the investigative agencies. Only a court can judge whether Abyzov is guilty of anything," Peskov explained.

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The spokesman added that he did not know whether Putin had discussed the detention of the former official with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. "I don’t know. They (Putin and Medvedev) speak a lot, that’s a routine process of work, they speak several times a day, though I don’t know whether they have discussed that issue in particular," he noted.

Peskov also refused to comment on the allegation that the detention of ex-minister Abyzov has become part of an alleged campaign against ‘systemic liberals’, like the criminal case against former Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev. "That is the domain of political analysts, quasi-political analysts, observers and bystanders to make all those assumptions," he stressed.

Mikhail Abyzov who had served as Open Government Affairs Minister in 2012-2018, has been taken into custody on charges of embezzling 4 billion rubles (about $62 mln at the current exchange rate). The Investigative Committee has filed a charge against Abyzov on committing crimes qualified under Part 3 of Article 210 and Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian penal code ["Creation of criminal community using an official position" and "Grand fraud" - TASS].

According to investigators, between April 2011 and November 2014, Abyzov as a beneficiary owner of a number of offshore commercial organizations created and headed a criminal network. Together with others, he siphoned off 4 bln rubles ($62 mln) belonging to the Siberian Energy Company and Regional Power Networks, which produced and supplied electricity in Russia’s Novosibirsk Region. The Investigative Committee believes that the stolen funds were entirely channeled abroad. Investigators suggest that the actions of the criminal participants "jeopardized the sustainable economic development and the energy security of a number of the country’s regions."

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Moscow used its new Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile in response to the West’s decision to authorize strategic-depth strikes on Russia