Russia: New corruption case – Two Defence Ministry officials confessed to being bribed

There are no end to her army, as two more defence ministry officials were added to those who were bribed. The Investigative Commission, a law enforcement agency in Russia dealing with serious offences such as corruption cases, announced that the two men confessed to receiving “misuses” that exceeded 11 million rubles ($120,000) over three years. The announcement states that Ivan Populovski and Grigori Zorin received money from two companies supplying the defence ministry with electrical goods and cables. As of April, more than twelve people including senior military officers and defence ministry officials have been arrested in the largest wave of scandals that have hit the military establishment for years. Interrogators among others investigate issues of corruption related to property services, the supply of military uniforms and the construction of a large military theme park near Moscow. In May soon after the first arrests President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly moved the long-term Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu replacing him with economist Andrei Belausov, which was widely seen as an attempt to ensure a tough management of Russia’s huge defence spending and eliminate waste and bribery. All those surveyed served under the leadership of Soigo, who led the Ministry of Defence from 2012 to this May, whenever he assumed the position of his secretary under the control of the Putin Russian Security Council.