The ministry’s economic security unit accused Yevgeny Yevstratov of funneling 110 million rubles ($3.9 million) of state money into his bank account. Yevsatov was the highest level official responsible for overseeing the nuclear and radiation safety of nuclear plants between December 2007 and April 2011.
According to Major General Denis Sygrobov, Head of Economic Security and Anti-Corruption, Yevstratov was responsible for leading a ring of organized criminals in defrauding Rosatom.
Rosatom fired 35 high-level employees last year, and another 12 in the first half of 2011. Investigations against others who allegedly assisted are ongoing, Sygrobov said on Wednesday.
The official statement accuses Yevstratov and his colleagues of stealing 60 million rubles that had been earmarked for the construction of two nuclear waste storage sites, and siphoning off another 50 million rubles intended for research into “the modernization of Rosatom.”
Russia is perceived as the world’s most corrupt major economy according to Transparency International’s 2010 Corruptions Perception Index, coming in 154th out of 178 countries.
