MOSCOW, December 9 (RAPSI) – The Russian Investigative Committee opened 4,000 more corruption related cases in 2013 than in the previous year, according to official spokesman Vladimir Markin.

“Over the past nine months, the investigators have opened almost 30,000 criminal cases on corruption, which is 4,000 more than in 2012. Some 9,200 cases have been solved,” Markin said.

Earlier, Investigative Committee Head Alexander Bastrykin announced that the total damage caused by corruption in the past two years exceeds 9 billion rubles ($273 million). The figure is comparable to a budget line of the Moscow Region.

“Charges have been brought against the mayors of Yaroslavl, Astrakhan and Vidnoye (the Moscow Region). Investigations have been completed into a number of regional ministers, including ministers from the Orenburg, Sverdlovsk and Nizhny Novgorod regions, the republics of Sakha (Yakutia) and North Ossetia (Alania), as well as other regions,” Markin said.

Also complete is the investigation regarding former Kamchatka Territory minister of transport and road construction Vladimir Silyukov, currently charged with illegal entrepreneurship and abuse of power that earned him 109 million rubles ($3.3 million) in illegal funds.