MOSCOW, September 29 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) – The Blagoveshchensk City Court in the Amur Region has sentenced Oleg Rodionov, CEO of the company Dobrostroy, a contractor in the Vostochny Cosmodrome project, to 3.5 years in prison for large scale embezzlement, the court’s press service announces on Thursday.

Additionally, the court ordered Rodionov to pay 1.7 million rubles ($27,000) to Dalspetsstroy, the company in charge of the space center construction.

The court and investigation found that in July 2013, Director General of Dobrostroy Rodionov and Dalspetsstroy signed a construction contract for conducting a range of building and installation works at the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

According to court papers, between October and November 2013, Dalspetsstroy Construction Department’s branch transferred 2.7 million rubles ($42,300) to Dobrostroy. However, the contractor has accounted for less than 1 million rubles.

The court held that Rodionov has embezzled the entrusted money and caused damage to Dalspetsstroy amounting to1.7 million rubles.

The construction of the space center, due to become Russia's main launch site, began in 2012. The facility is planned to be completed in 2016.