NIZHNY NOVGOROD, December 4 The state prosecution requests the ex-governor of the Kirov region Nikita Belykh, previously sentenced to 8 years for bribes, 12 years in prison in the case of abuse of power, the prosecutor's office of the Kirov region reports.
«The state prosecutor of the prosecutor's office of the Kirov region, speaking in the debate between the parties in the criminal case of the former governor of the region, directed the court to impose a sentence of 12 years in prison with a fine of more than 48 million rubles (taking into account the previously passed verdict of the Presnensky District Court of Moscow on February 1, 2018 ) with credit for the sentence already served in isolation in a correctional colony,” the message says.
The criminal case against Belykh, initiated under Articles 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse and abuse of power), has been considered in the Oktyabrsky District Court of the city of Kirov since July 5, 2022.
According to the indictment, Belykh, as governor of the Kirov region, “in order to create for the population of the region and the leadership of the state the appearance that he, as head of the region, had achieved good results in the shortest possible time in providing employees of public sector organizations with official housing,” ensured the allocation of commercial organization of OJSC «Kirov Regional Mortgage Corporation» (OJSC «KRIK») of budget funds of the Kirov region in the amount of 448 million rubles, allegedly for the acquisition and construction of specialized housing stock. In fact, the purchased and built housing did not receive the status of official housing and became the subject of collateral for financial obligations.
In addition, according to the prosecutor's office, Belykh, exceeding his official authority, ensured the conclusion of a loan agreement for a mortgage corporation with one of the companies in the Kirov region in the amount of more than 300 million rubles, and then organized the distribution of these funds for the financial obligations of various organizations, as well as in pursuance of an unfavorable settlement agreements not related to the statutory goals of the joint-stock company. As a result, the criminal actions entailed grave consequences for KRIK OJSC in the form of significant material damage.
In February 2018, the Presnensky Court of Moscow sentenced Belykh to eight years in a maximum security colony and a fine of 48.2 million rubles on charges of bribes from entrepreneurs. He did not admit guilt.
In June 2016, Belykh was detained in one of the Moscow restaurants while handing over part of a bribe. The media published photographs of the confused governor and wads of money in front of him. He was unable to clarify the situation on the spot. Shortly after the arrest, Russian President Vladimir Putin removed Belykh from his post with the wording “due to loss of trust.”