A search was held in the Hermitage

On March 29, the FSB officers searched the premises of the construction services of the State Hermitage.

According to the Hermitage website , the search was carried out "in connection with a criminal case against a number of persons related to theft during the construction of new buildings and structures."

“The museum management is in contact with law enforcement agencies, all the necessary information was provided, including the requested documents under two construction contracts. Contracts were adopted, buildings are operated, deficiencies are eliminated in the warranty order. The Hermitage does not have any other information about the essence of suspicions or charges against the defendants in the criminal case, ”the report said.

At the end of January, employees of the FSB Office for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region made in the Hermitage a seizure of documents related to the state contract for the construction of the second stage of the new museum stock.

On March 28, the Lefortovo court of Moscowplaced under house arrest for two months the deputy director of the State Hermitage for the construction of Mikhail Novikov. He is suspected of committing a crime provided for in paragraph 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Fraud committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale”).

“Everything that happens is primarily related to the issue of Hermitage construction projects. And where are such large construction sites, there are a lot of money, many different problems, a lot of unscrupulous contractors, ”Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the Hermitage, commented on the arrest of his deputy director.