MOSCOW, January 18 (AVN) - The Moscow city arbitration court has allowed the claim of Russia's chief military prosecutor, Lieutenant-General Mikhail Kislitsyn, and ordered the financial and industrial corporation Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine to pay USD130.4m to the Russian Defence Ministry, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office said on Thursday.
The claim was filed on behalf of the Defence Ministry's central department for material resources and foreign economic relations, the spokesman told the Military News Agency. According to the department, the ministry paid the Ukrainian corporation in advance for supplies of building materials, but the corporation only provided some 30 percent of the specified amount. It used the money paid by the ministry to pay back the debt for Russian gas supplies.
The claimant estimated the cost of building materials that had never been supplied at USD130.5m. Besides, it demanded that the Ukrainian corporation paid the penalty of USD10.4m for violation of contract obligations.
Courts will soon consider other claims related to the deal, the spokesman said.
The military prosecutor's office declined to comment on the progress of investigation into the affairs of Colonel-General Georgy Oleinik, former head of the Defence Ministry's main department for military budget and financing. Oleinik is suspected of playing a key role in the criminal deal with the Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine. He was charged with power abuse in December and was freed under recognisance not to leave.