Mikhail Stolyarov, suspected of extorting a bribe, will spend two months in a pre-trial detention center

Today, the Basmanny Court, at the request of the investigation, chose a preventive measure for the mayor of Astrakhan, a member of United Russia, Mikhail Stolyarov, suspected of extorting a bribe in the amount of 10 million rubles. He will remain in pre-trial detention until January 13, 2014.

Mayor of Astrakhan Mikhail Stolyarov
Photo: Gennady Gulyaev, Kommersant / buy photo

In court, Mikhail Stolyarov stated that he was ready to cooperate with the investigation. “I’m not such a criminal as to run somewhere or apply pressure; I will work with the investigation on the suspicions,” he said.

“The day before, during interrogation, Stolyarov, suspected of committing a crime under Part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (receiving a bribe on an especially large scale), refused to testify, taking advantage of Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation,” stated the Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR).

According to investigators, in October 2013, one of the Astrakhan entrepreneurs approached Mr. Stolyarov with a request to allocate a plot of land in the Sovetsky district of Astrakhan with an area of 3 thousand square meters for the construction of an administrative building. m. Mikhail Stolyarov agreed, demanding 10 million rubles for this, as well as registration of a 25% share in the authorized capital of the enterprise in his authorized person's name.

How the mayor of Astrakhan was detained

On November 14, employees of the Main Directorate of Economic Security and Anti-Corruption (GUEBiPK) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained the mayor after an intermediary - one of his consultants, Ivan Myakshin - brought him a bag with 20 packs of 5,000-dollar bills to a restaurant. Law enforcement officers informed the governor of the Astrakhan region, Alexander Zhilkin, who had publicly distanced himself from Mr. Stolyarov in recent months, about the upcoming detention of the official. “It’s a shame that some people don’t heed the warnings. Follow the information, it’s unpleasant, but it will be fair,” Mr. Zhilkin wrote on his official Twitter microblog. Read more

Dmitry Kozlov

The court arrested the mayor of Astrakhan