Officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Sverdlovsk Region Main Investigative Department instituted criminal proceedings against the management of Uraltransmash (based in Yekaterinburg and a member of Uralvagonzavod Corporation). The charges are based on Article 201 of Russia’s Criminal Code (abuse of office). The files for the investigation were supplied by the staff of the region’s Federal Security Service division, Kommersant refers to its own sources as saying.

The Main Investigative Department’s inquiry team are now looking into the legitimacy of the plant’s deals with suppliers.

‘We are now checking whether the raw stuffs supply agreements had been overpriced and whether the suppliers had any affiliation with the top management,’ the newspaper’s informant from the law-enforcement agency said.

The authorities refused to say anything for the record. Uraltransmash management followed suit: the plant’s Director-General Yuri Komratov was unavailable for comment.