SOFIA, February 28 /ITAR-TASS/. Bulgaria has agreed to extradite Russian national Alexander Baranov back to Russia to face fraud charges. A district court in the Bulgarian city of Burgas approved his extradition on Friday.

The Russian authorities are accusing Baranov of stealing funds from the state budget on false documents. A court in Chelyabinsk, Russia’s Urals region, has issued an international warrant for Baranov’s arrest on charges of embezzlement in huge amounts.

According to official documents presented by the court, Baranov stole 1 million 150 thousand roubles (1 USD = 36.05 roubles) from the Russian state budget in 2012.

He had stayed in Bulgaria legally and had been engaged in commercial activities since 2012. The Bulgarian authorities detained Baranov on February 20 at the Russian Prosecutor’s Office request.

Baranov told the Bulgarian court on Friday, February 28, that he was giving voluntary consent to his extradition to Russia because he wanted to settle the mess he had left there as soon as possible.

“I want to return to Russia to correct what I have done,” the court’s press office quoted Baranov as saying.

The district court in Burgas agreed there were legal preconditions, including Baranov’s personal consent to extradition, for handing him over to the Russian judicial authorities. The court decision is final and is not subject to appeal.