KIROV, July 5 (RAPSI) - The Leninsky District Court in Kirov will announce its verdict on opposition leader Alexei Navalny and businessman Pyotr Ofitserov, who were tried for major embezzlement at the Kirovles timber company, on July 18, RAPSI reports from the court.

According to the investigators, Navalny organized the theft of over 10,000 cubic meters of timber while serving as a voluntary adviser to the Kirov Region governor.

The timber was allegedly stolen from Kirovles between May and September 2009 in collusion with director of the Vyatka Timber Company Ofitserov and Kirovles CEO Vyacheslav Opalyov. The regional budget shortfall resulting from the transaction has been estimated at 16 million rubles ($510,906).

If convicted, Navalny faces up to 10 years in prison. He will also be ineligible for any kind of civil service, even if he only receives probation.

Opalyov, who made an agreement with the prosecution, has received a four-year suspended sentence.

On July 5, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence Navalny and Ofitserov to six years and five years in a general regime penal colony, respectively, and a fine of 1 million rubles ($30,160).