Former Russian governor sentenced to 9 ½ years in jail over bribery July 22, 2013 - 18:49 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A court in Russia's Tula Region sentenced the former governor to 9 ½ years in prison Monday, July 22, after finding him guilty of taking a 40 million ruble ($1.2 million) bribe, RIA Novosti reported. The court also ordered former governor Vyacheslav Dudka to pay a fine of 900,000 rubles ($27,800). Dudka's co-defendant, Viktor Volkov, was sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison after the court found him guilty on the same counts. According to investigators, in November 2010, then governor Dudka and Volkov, who headed the regional property and land management department, took a 40 million ruble kickback from the GRINN corporation, in return for leasing it a plot of land in Tula for three years for the corporation to build a supermarket there. The prosecution had previously called for Dudka, who served as Tula Region governor between 2005 and 2011, to be sentenced to 9 ½ years in prison and Volkov to four years. The Russian government has been campaigning for years to stamp out corruption among officials, but with little apparent success. The number of corruption-related crimes recorded in Russia rose by almost 25 percent in 2012, according to a report by the Prosecutor General’s Office submitted to parliament in April.   Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads.   Partner news |  Latest news Cyprus parliament honors Armenian genocide victims  Acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide.Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed.Azerbaijan razes historic Armenian church to ground Azerbaijan has demolished the historic Armenian Church of St. John the Baptist (known as Kanach Zham).Russia to begin assessing migrant workers' speaking skills Rosobrnadzor is planning to change the Russian language exam for migrant workers and include an assessment of speaking skills |
