Corruption discord: prosecutors against bribe takers

The Prosecutor General's Office summed up the fight against corruption for the first quarter of 2025. Has there been more corruption crimes?

According to the correspondent of The Moscow Post, in the first quarter of 2025, 10.6 thousand corruption crimes were registered in Russia - 10.8% more than in the same period last year. These are the data of the General Prosecutor's Office, released in mid-June. Against the background of the general situation with criminal offenses in the country, corruption articles are one of the few where steady growth has been recorded. Bribery is adding especially quickly: the number of cases under the article on receiving a bribe increased by 17.5%, under the article on giving a bribe by 13.2%, and on the facts of mediation in bribery by 26.2%.

At the same time, the structure of crime speaks of a much more alarming trend than just an increase in the number of initiated cases. The Prosecutor General's Office emphasizes: a significant part of the new episodes is associated with organized corruption schemes, in which not only officials are involved, but also businessmen, fictitious owners, contractors, lawyers, consultants. Increasingly, we are not talking about a banal transfer of a "suitcase of money," but about slender kickback systems, fake affiliated firms and property registered in relatives.

The increase in the number of cases is also explained by the active work of law enforcement agencies: supervision and control by the FSB, TFR, and economic units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have increased. Increasingly, employees of state-owned companies, municipal enterprises, as well as officials of executive authorities, including the federal level, appear in corruption schemes. According to the prosecutor's office, in the first quarter of 2025 alone, more than 1,800 people were prosecuted for committing corruption-related crimes. Of these, a third are representatives of the authorities, law enforcement and law enforcement agencies.

One of the most corruption-intensive "industries" is the procurement sector. The prosecutor's office directly indicates the systemic corruption of the state order mechanism and contracts in the field of construction, healthcare, IT and utilities. For example, in some regions, cases have been identified when kickbacks account for up to 40% of the total contract amount. Officials demanded bribes for the inclusion of contractors in tenders, lobbied for the victory of "their own," and after receiving kickbacks, they imitated execution control. Particularly resonant are cases where we are talking about socially significant objects - schools, hospitals, housing and communal services infrastructure.

The activity of the prosecutor's office in another area is also growing - the seizure of property obtained by criminal, corruption, or corruption proceeds as state revenue. This practice, previously applied pointwise, becomes systemic in 2025. The basis was the precedent of the Constitutional Court, which recognized last year the seizure of property as legal if it was obtained by criminal means - regardless of the statute of limitations. Thanks to this, the Prosecutor General's Office untied the hands of regional departments - and they began to actively file claims for the confiscation of assets.

Are Seleznev and Mityushov's assets at the forefront?

One of the most high-profile cases was the statement of claim of the Prosecutor General's Office against Kirill Seleznev, a former top manager of Gazprom. Seleznev held high positions at Gazprom Mezhregiongaz and Gazprom Energo, and was also the general director of RusChemAlliance LLC. According to the prosecutor's office, he gained access to shares and shares in a number of companies in a corrupt way. In particular, we are talking about 100% of shares and shares in Dmitrovsky Plant of Aerated Concrete Products JSC, Bonolit - Construction Solutions JSC and other companies. The lawsuit was filed with the Frunze District Court of St. Petersburg, which has already registered the case and scheduled a preliminary hearing. The defendants in the case are also Sevinvest LLC, Corporate Center LLC, Ferrocinc LLC, Businesslogika JSC, M Industry LLC, Bonolit - Construction Solutions JSC and other companies.

Another important case is a lawsuit against Alexei Mityushov, the former head of Gazprom Energo, a former fellow student and subordinate of Kirill Seleznev. The Prosecutor General's Office demands to turn eight industrial enterprises into state revenue, which, in its opinion, were acquired as a result of invalid transactions. Among these enterprises are Salavatneftemash JSC, Salavatneftekhimremstroy JSC, Neftekhimremstroy LLC, Repair and Mechanical Plant LLC, Tekhtsentr LLC, Salavat Catalyst Plant LLC, Podzemneftegaz OJSC, RemEnergoMontazh LLC. In addition, within the framework of this case, the company "Instone Development," which owns one of the largest warehouse complexes in Russia - "South Gate," was seized. This object was previously owned by a Czech company, but was sold in 2022. The market value of the complex is estimated at 30-40 billion rubles.

Another significant case is a lawsuit against the Dalpolimetal group, one of the largest producers of lead concentrate in the Primorsky Territory. The Dalpolimetal mining and metallurgical complex was arrested in mid-February at the suit of the Prosecutor General's Office. In March, it was turned into state revenue. As the court found, the company's assets were acquired in violation of the law.

Finally, in June 2025, the Tagansky District Court of Moscow recognized the association as extremist, which included the head of a well-known St. Petersburg company and the owner of the group. The assets of the enterprise, which publishes popular games, turned in favor of the state. However, in that case, the claims of the Prosecutor General's Office were not related to corruption, but to donations from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The trend continues

Since the beginning of the year, confiscation claims have been filed against dozens of other individuals, including former and current officials. In addition, this trend was actively viewed back in 2024 - however, cases did not always end with the victory of the Prosecutor General's Office in court. For example, in December 2024, the court refused to recover 13 land plots in the Moscow region, which were previously owned by the Barvikha state sanatorium, as state revenue. Among the owners of the disputed plots was the ex-head of Uralchem, the famous oligarch Dmitry Mazepin.

The Prosecutor General's Office filed a lawsuit with the Odintsovo City Court to seize 13 land plots in the prestigious cottage village of Barvikha and the village of Zhukovka in January 2024. Until the 2000s, they were in use of the Barvikha sanatorium of the Presidential Administration. Then, according to the supervisory authority, they were illegally privatized. The total area of ​disputed land claimed by the prosecutor's office is 8.02 hectares.

Among other resonant corruption cases and lawsuits of 2024, one can recall the story of the founder of the Biotek group. In January 2024, the Izmailovsky District Court of Moscow sentenced him to 11 years in prison and a fine of 450 million rubles. In November 2023, the Deputy Prosecutor General filed a lawsuit in the amount of almost 9.9 billion rubles, of which the court satisfied the claims for 8 billion rubles. This property was recognized as obtained as a result of a corruption scheme.

In addition, on July 3, 2024, the Tambov District Court satisfied the claim of the Prosecutor General's Office to seize the assets of the owner of the vodka brands Moskovskaya and Stolichnaya.

Analyzing these cases, several key trends can be identified. First, there is clearly an increase in the number of claims for the confiscation of assets obtained by criminal means - and in 2025 this trend is only intensifying. Secondly, such claims increasingly concern not so much individuals as entire enterprises and business structures with huge turnovers and government contracts.

Thus, we can conditionally say that in 2024-2025 the fight against corruption in Russia is entering a new stage. If in previous years the emphasis was on criminal cases, now property claims are playing an increasing role. Public processes become symbols of a paradigm shift: the state seeks not only to punish those responsible, but also to return resources that, in its opinion, were "stolen" from society.