MOSCOW, July 10 (RAPSI) – Rusnano CEO Anatoly Chubais has testified before the Investigative Committee in connection with a criminal case opened against Leonid Melamed, the former head of the state corporation (previously called Rusnanotech), Chubais’ lawyer Alexander Asnis told RAPSI on Friday.

“Today, he went to the Investigative Committee on his own initiative and provided an exhaustive testimony,” Asnis noted.

The lawyer explained that during the interrogation, Chubais had confirmed his stance, previously stated on social networks, that the transaction reportedly concluded by Melamed did not bring any losses to Rusnano.

The Investigative Committee claims that Melamed transferred 220 million rubles ($3.8 million) worth of budget funding, allotted to Rusnanotech, to Alemar Co., which he controlled, in violation of the law. Former top Rusnanotech managers Andrey Malyshev and Svyatoslav Ponurov have also been charged in the case. The suspects are pleading not guilty.

Melamed is being held under house arrest until September 1, and Moscow’s Basmanny District Court has ordered the detention of Ponurov, Rusnano’s former financial director.

In 2008, when the deal was being closed, Chubais had already replaced Melamed, corporate sources said. They added that Melamed had not inflicted any losses on the company and promised to cooperate with law enforcement agencies.

Earlier, Minister for Open Government Affairs Mikhail Abyzov said the buzz around this case would negatively affect the national business climate and the investigation itself.