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Former Russian military construction chief Belkov admits tender violations
Andrey Belkov admitted irregularities in the purchase of a CT scanner for Russia’s Defense Ministry during his closing statement at the Zamoskvoretsky Court in Moscow on August 25. According to the investigation file, the tender involved a price discrepancy of 48 million rubles, while Belkov asked the court not to seize his disputed assets.
Andrey Belkov said he admitted the charges in the case concerning the purchase of a CT scanner for Russia’s Defense Ministry. Belkov, the former head of the Main Directorate for Special-Purpose Military Construction, made the statement during the closing-argument hearing at Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky Court on August 25.
Belkov said he had engaged in unlawful acts and regretted them. He argued that neither he nor his close relatives had gained any benefit from the transactions in question.
He asked the court not to seize the assets
The defendant asked the court not to impose the seizure sought by the prosecution on the assets in question. Belkov said the assets had been acquired legally, either through lawful means or with the use of mortgages, well before the events underlying the charges.
Belkov also said that Elena Lyakhovich, the former director general of Stroihimproyekt who had already been convicted, had told him she did not plan to transfer money to him.
He asked the court to consider his family circumstances
Belkov asked the court to consider his family’s situation as a mitigating circumstance when determining his sentence. The defendant said he was his family’s sole source of income, that his wife had suffered serious illnesses and that his elderly, disabled parents needed constant assistance.
Investigators alleged that a sham tender was arranged
According to investigators, while Belkov was head of the Main Directorate for Special-Purpose Military Construction, he arranged for a sham tender to be held for the purchase of a CT scanner under the Defense Ministry’s defense procurement program.
According to the investigation, a contract worth 121.7 million rubles was signed with Stroihimproyekt for delivery of the equipment to the Defense Ministry’s 9th Treatment and Diagnostic Center. Officials alleged that the scanner’s actual price was understated and that the 48 million ruble difference was embezzled by the company’s director general, Lyakhovich, and chief accountant Viktor Bilko.
Lyakhovich and Bilko previously received suspended sentences
In December 2024, the Zamoskvoretsky Court sentenced Lyakhovich to four years in prison, suspended, and fined her 360,000 rubles. The case was heard under a special procedure because Lyakhovich had admitted her guilt and reached a pretrial cooperation agreement with the prosecution.
Viktor Bilko, Stroihimproyekt’s chief accountant, was also given a suspended prison sentence.
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