Former Vladivostok mayor Igor Pushkarev, convicted of corruption and abuse of power, left for the Special Military Operations Zone (SMO) after signing a military service contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“Yes, my client is currently in the combat zone“, confirmed his lawyer Ruslan Omelchenko.
In March 2020, the Soviet District Court of Vladivostok upheld the Prosecutor General's Office's claim against the brothers Sergei and Andrei Pushkarev, Andrei Lushnikov and six enterprises of the Vostokcement group. to collect from them over 1.4 billion rubles. This money was illegally obtained through municipal orders. In October 2020 the entire amount was transferred to the accounts of the Ministry of Finance of Primorsky Krai.
On April 9, 2019, the Tver Court of Moscow found the former mayor guilty of corruption and sentenced him to 15 years in a maximum security colony, as well as a fine of 500 million rubles. The former mayor's brother, Andrei Pushkarev, was given a suspended sentence of 8 years and a fine of 500 million rubles; businessman Lushnikov received 10 years in a strict regime colony and a fine of 500 million rubles.
The court found that in 2009-2015, the mayor of Vladivostok, for bribes totaling 75 million rubles, prevented the participation of commercial organizations in municipal road construction tenders. Then he ensured the victory in the tender of the municipal enterprise "Roads of Vladivostok" and concluded contracts with him for 1.2 billion rubles for the supply of materials manufactured by companies controlled by the Vostokcement group. As a result, close relatives of the mayor received money from the group's companies in the amount of 471.7 million rubles.
In July 2022, the Leninsky District Court of Vladivostok sentenced Pushkarev to five years in prison, finding him guilty of abuse of power.