ST. PETERSBURG, February 6 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) – The St. Petersburg City Court replaced a 9-year prison term given to ex-head of a district in the Leningrad Region Petr Levin for bribery with a suspended sentence, RAPSI learnt in the court’s press service on Thursday.

Moreover, Levin is ordered to pay a 3-million-ruble fine instead of initially imposed 10.4 million rubles (over $165,000).

The court also mitigated punishment for Levin’s acquaintance Ivan Zuyev, who had been found guilty of mediation in bribery. His fine was reduced from 35 to 3 million rubles ($555,000 – 48,000).

Levin and Zuyev were convicted and sentenced in September 2019.

According to case papers, in 2016, Levin when concluding a total school building renovation contract demanded a 10%-kickback of a deal amount from a construction company representative for signing documents confirming the works execution. In mid-2017, he received 600,000 rubles. Later, then official agreed to decrease the bribe sum to 5.8 million rubles and demanded to give the money through Zuyev.

In late 2017, Zuyev received from a company representative fake 5 million rubles and was arrested. Later, the Federal Security Service officers arrested Levin.

The defendants pleaded not guilty.