MOSCOW, March 9 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court has extended detention of ex-Deputy Minister of Culture Grigory Pirumov, who stands charged with embezzling 100 million rubles ($1.5 million) of public funds allocated for restoration of cultural heritage objects, until June 15, RAPSI learnt from the court’s press-service.

The court has also extended detention of head of the Center of restoration Oleg Ivanov and director of the Ministry’s department of property management and investment policy Boris Mazo for the same amount of time.

According to court papers, Pirumov pleaded guilty and began paying for damage.

In March 2016, Pirumov, Ivanov and Mazo as well as 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 have been arrested and put in detention in the so-called “case of restorers”.

Kolesnikov was later put under house arrest while Kochenov was released on ten million rubles ($172,400) bail.

Moreover, the court ordered seizure of assets belonging to Mazo and Pirumov.

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.