MOSCOW, May 5 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) – One of the defendants in a criminal case over large-scale embezzlement of public funds allocated for restoration of cultural heritage objects, Nikita Kolesnikov, admitted guilt and made a deal with the investigation, RAPSI learnt in the Moscow City Court on Friday.

A criminal case against Kolesnikov was separated from the main one and will be reviewed under separate procedure.

In November 2016, Komersant newspaper reported that some of the defendants, including Deputy Culture Minister Grigory Pirumov, pleaded guilty.

In March 2016, Pirumov, director of the Ministry’s department of property management and investment policy Boris Mazo, head of the Center of restoration Oleg Ivanov, head of BaltStroy Dmitry Sergeyev and the company’s manager Alexander Kochenov, businessman Nikita Kolesnikov, head of a state-owned “Directorate for construction, reconstruction and restoration” Boris Tsagarayev and project manager of companies “Stroykomplekt” and “Baltstroy” Vladimir Svanbek were arrested and put in detention in the so-called “case of restorers”.

Investigation has presumably started basing on a report by the Auditing Chamber on restoration of the Izborsk Fortress in the Pskov region presented yet in 2013; however, it may also involve such cultural heritage sites as the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg and the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow, as well as works carried out at the Ivanovsky Convent in Moscow, and a theater in Pskov, as reported earlier.

In December, Dmitry Medvedev, the Chairman of the Russian Government, relieved Pirumov of his post.