Corruption crackdown in Russia

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 30 Apr 2024 by Alex Teddy
On April 29 the head of Nizhny Novgorod was arrested in Russian-occupied Ukraine on suspicion of stealing public funds. Oleg Lavrichev is head of his city council and a member of United Russia, the party that dominates the country. Lavrichev was supposed to supervise the distribution of food and other supplies to civilians. Then he volunteered for the army. He is accused of stealing USD 235,000 from funds earmarked for medical equipment. Corruption is endemic in Russia. Anti-corruption probes are often biased and selective. They are sometimes part of intra-elite warfare. On April 21 the Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov was arrested on suspicion of major corruption. He is the highest ranking person arrested for corruption since the war began. The media has long suggested that he is corrupt. He had an inexplicably luxurious lifestyle bearing in mind his modest salary. Forbes estimated his fortune as USD 1.5 million in 2018. He is thought to be a friend of the Defense Minister Shoigu. Ivanov has been deputy minister since 2016. It is surprising that someone so close to Shoigu has been arrested. It possibly hints at the demotion of Shoigu. The Foundation Against Corruption hacked into the emails of Ivanov's wife and published them to show how rich the couple are.  Ivanov was in nuclear energy at the start of his career. He was deputy governor of the Moscow Region while Sergei Shoigu was governor. Later he was CEO of the main defense construction company. It is thought that Ivanov paid the media for favorable coverage for Shoigu.  Ivanov was sanctioned by the European Union and the US in 2022. He was in charge of rebuilding towns in occupied Ukraine. This provided enorm...

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