Former President of Bashkortostan Murtaza Rakhimov testified as a witness in a criminal case about the theft of Bashneft shares, in which his son Ural Rakhimov is a suspect, ITAR-TASS reports , citing the ex-official's lawyer Sergei Makarenko.

According to the lawyer, the interrogation concerned the events of 2002-2010, when Bashneft enterprises were privatized. The defense lawyer noted that the ex-head of Bashkiria had the right not to testify against himself and his close relatives, but answered the investigator’s questions in detail. The lawyer did not rule out that the investigation would again call Rakhimov for questioning.

Murtaza Rakhimov served as President of Bashkiria from 1993 to 2010.

was invited to testify before the Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR) . In July, billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov , head and main shareholder of AFK Sistema, which controls Bashneft,

In mid-July, the Basmanny Court of Moscow arrested 84.3% of the shares of Bashneft owned by Sistema itself and its subsidiary Sistema Invest. The arrest was imposed as part of a criminal case against Ural Rakhimov, who is suspected of misappropriation and legalization of shares in an oil company. AFK Sistema filed an appeal against the seizure of shares with the Basmanny Court of Moscow.

In 2003, the Bashkir Capital company, whose owner was considered Ural Rakhimov, privatized the state stake in Bashneft. The Accounts Chamber later called this privatization “an unprecedented case of theft of assets from federal property.” In 2005, Murtaza Rakhimov ordered the shares to be returned to the ownership of the state-owned Bashkir Fuel Company (BTK), but in the end a settlement agreement was concluded with the new owner of Bashneft. In 2005, Bashkir Capital sold a blocking stake in Bashneft to Sistema. In 2009, Sistema increased its stake in the oil company to a controlling stake.

Read also the interview with Vladimir Yevtushenkov: “The state will always put you in your place”

The ex-head of Bashkortostan Rakhimov was interrogated in the Bashneft case