Russian defense contractor detained for excessive spending

The Director of the Military Construction Complex of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Andrey Belkov, has been temporarily detained. He is accused of "exceeding his official powers while carrying out a state defense order." This is another arrest within the defense department, which used to be headed by former Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu.

Andrey Belkov was detained by investigators in Moscow.

He is accused of abusing power in the execution of a state defense order regarding the "delivery, installation, and commissioning of a tomograph during the reconstruction of the 9th Diagnostic and Treatment Center of the Ministry of Defense on Komsomolsky Avenue in Moscow." Belkov is alleged to have ordered the tomograph for 121 million rubles (approximately $1.3 million), whereas the actual cost of the device did not exceed 76 million rubles ($839,000). The contract was supposed to have been concluded in 2019.

Belkov faces up to 10 years in prison. The editor-in-chief of the portal censor.net pointed out that on Belkov's desk, "facing the guests, stood his idols - a framed portrait of a young Sergey Shoigu and a bust of the Soviet tyrant Joseph Stalin."

Importantly, earlier, Belkov's work was supervised by former Deputy Minister of Defense Timur Ivanov.

Ivanov was also arrested and accused of accepting a bribe of 1.185 billion rubles ($13.9 million.) He did not plead guilty to the charges. The maximum penalty he faces is 15 years of imprisonment.

Ivanov was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation by a decree of the President of the Russian Federation in May 2016. He oversaw the work of the Military Construction Complex of the Ministry of Defense of Russia.

In early July, Russian media reported that Russian General Magomed Khandaev "suddenly" died at the age of 62. He, in turn, was responsible for all construction projects in the ministry when the defense department was headed by Sergey Shoigu. Khandaev was also subordinate to the arrested Deputy Minister of Defense Timur Ivanov.

At the end of May, former commander of the 58th Army of the Armed Forces of Russia, General Ivan Popov, was arrested and accused of "large-scale fraud."