MOSCOW, May 20 (RAPSI) – The Skolkovo Foundation is suin lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov for 9 million rubles ($286,715), RAPSI reports from the Gagarinsky Court of Moscow, which held the pre-hearing on Monday.

Ponomaryov has rejected the claim, saying, “We have provided all the material today to prove that I am not guilty.”

The next hearing has been set for June 21.

Investigative Committee spokesperson Vladimir Markin earlier said they planned to launch criminal proceedings against Ponomaryov as part of the Skolkovo Foundation’s lawsuit and would be requesting that he be stripped of parliamentary immunity.

According to the investigators, former Skolkovo Vice President Alexei Beltyukov paid Ponomaryov $750,000 of the foundation's money without sanction between February 2011 and February 2012 for lectures and research projects. An investigation was launched into Beltyukov's actions so as to analyze the subject, the content and the academic value of the lectures which Ponomaryov was contracted to provide for $300,000.

Until recently, Ponomaryov was named a witness in this case. He told reporters after he was questioned on May 16 that his status in the case had not changed.

The Skolkovo Foundation, set up in 2010 by then President Dmitry Medvedev, is the primary agency for the Skolkovo high-tech development hub, which includes a business center, a science and technology institute and a management school. The project is intended to showcase the drive to diversify and modernize the Russian economy.

Renova Group President Viktor Vekselberg is one of the foundation's prime investors.