MOSCOW, October 9 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court has refused to release the former CEO of Volga-Vyatka construction company (VVCC) Yevgeniya Degtyareva sentenced to 4.5 years in a penal colony for embezzling 1.3 billion rubles ($19.8 million) during the Vostochny Cosmodrome construction, RAPSI correspondent reports from the courtroom.

The court refused to recalculate duration of Degtyareva’s sentence in accordance with recent amendments to Russian legislation fixing certain changes in the rules governing the set-off of time spent in detention with respect to the calculation of prison terms. The court also denied recalculation of sentences for other defendants in the case.

On February 21, the Simonovsky District Court of Moscow sentenced Degtyareva to 4.5 years in prison; her father Sergey Degtyarev, who is believed to be the real owner of the company, received an 8-year prison term; ex-VVCC managers Alexander Bazankov and Murat Matuyev were given 6 and 5.5 years in prison respectively.

Additionally, Degtyareva, Bazankov and Matuyev were fined 1 million rubles (about $15,200) each, and Sergey Degtyarev was fined 1.5 million rubles (about $22,900).

Investigators claimed that in 2014, managers of Volga-Vyatka construction company (VVCC), a subcontractor for construction of roads to Vostochny Cosmodrome, received 300 million rubles ($4.5 million) as a down payment and expended the money for other purposes. Moreover, they channeled the public money to affiliated firms and individuals at a charge. According to the indictment, the total damage caused by the defendants was estimated at over 1.3 billion rubles.

The construction of the space center, due to become Russia's main launch site, began in 2012. The first launch vehicle operation was carried out on April 28, 2016.

Dozens of cases over embezzlement during the construction of Vostochny Cosmodrome have been launched in several Russian regions.