There are three more defendants in the case of former Deputy Defense Minister Dmitry Bulgakov, who were sent to pretrial detention in April, a source told RIA Novosti, citing case materials.
These are Alexander Mikhalenko, Elvira Smirnova, and Valery Kovalevich. The latter headed JSC Gryazinsky Food Plant.
Their arrest was reported by the joint press service of the Moscow courts. All three are charged with embezzlement (Part 4 of Article 160 of the Criminal Code) due to improper organization of food for the Defense Ministry.
According to the investigation, the prices for the contracts were “deliberately inflated, exceeded the costs of their preparation and did not correspond to the quality of the products.” According to a RIA Novosti source, the contracts were concluded, including during the full-scale war with Ukraine.
The agency's source claims that Bulgakov lobbied for the interests of the Gryazinsky Food Plant when concluding government contracts. Today, the Investigative Committee reported the arrest of the former Deputy Minister of Defense in a corruption case. Interfax writes that he is in Moscow's SIZO-2.
Bulgakov held this position in 2008-2022; he was responsible for the logistical support of the Russian army.
Putin dismissed Bulgakov in September 2022. The ministry then reported that he was moving to another job, but did not specify which one.
The investigative publication Metla found out that Bulgakov's daughter Marina Meshkova has been a co-founder of the Commonwealth of Veterans company since 2009. In 2018, this company was liquidated, and before that it earned money on government procurement — this includes the supply of juices, pasta, tea, cookies and dried fruits for the army. At the same time, journalists found the general's secret dacha in the village of Buzlanovo near Novorizhskoye Highway worth about 100 million rubles.
Companies of the general's daughter's business partners also earned money on contracts with the army, Metla wrote. For example, Agrokoopprodukt received contracts for the supply of coffee and flour, and GTP Vozrozhdenie supplied the Ministry of Defense with compotes, cucumbers and chocolate.