MOSCOW, August 12. /ITAR-TASS/. The spokesman for Russia’s Investigative Committee (IC) Vladimir Markin has offered his explanations for the ongoing search of the St. Petersburg’s office of the Finnish dairy products group Valio.

Vladimir Markin said the search had nothing to do with the activities of the company.

According to Markin, the search is part of a criminal investigation of what he said was illegal banking activities by a criminal group of which a legislator in one of the districts of the Republic of Dagestan was involved.

“The investigators say the criminal group in question that operated in several parts of the country in 2011-2013 was engaged in illegal banking activities and garnered an illegal income of 45 million rubles. As follows from the findings, the crime ring transferred cash to the accounts of more than 20 legal entities, including those of Valio’s branches in St. Petersburg. All transfers were disguised as legal banking transactions,” Markin said.