Stage vacation: the head of the Moscow Art Theater Vladimir Kekhman was charged

Vladimir Kekhman, director of the Moscow Art Theater and artistic director of the Mikhailovsky Theater, was charged with embezzlement, law enforcement sources told Izvestia. They note that information about the overstatement of estimates for three contracts is being checked, and several more people are being investigated. In the near future, the head of the Moscow Art Theater may choose a measure of restraint, which, according to the source, will not be related to detention. The threat to Vladimir Kekhman is in the Izvestia article.

What was Vladimir Kekhman accused of?

The accusation of embezzlement of funds during the reconstruction of the Moscow Art Theater stage. Gorky was presented to his director, Vladimir Kekhman, several law enforcement sources told Izvestia.

"The estimates for three contracts were exceeded," the source said. — He was charged, but the measure of restraint has not yet been chosen. Most likely, we should expect house arrest. There are several other detainees in the case.

Vladimir Kekhman was taken to the Investigative Committee on July 9 and released only the next day. On the day of the interrogation, law enforcement officers conducted searches at the addresses of the head of the theater, as well as at the institution itself and a number of companies that received contracts from the Moscow Art Theater.

Claims against Kekhman may be related to contracts for the restoration of the old Moscow Art Theater stage, sources told Izvestia. Renovation work began in 2022. The total amount of state contracts since the beginning of reconstruction has exceeded 2 billion rubles, Izvestia estimates. The theater paid for the development of project documentation, repair work, purchase and installation of equipment. Most of the contracts are for 2022 and 2023. In 2025, government purchases of the Moscow theater, one way or another related to the renovation, exceeded 130 million rubles.

However, despite the long work time and the sums spent, the facility should be completed only in October 2025.

Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Culture with a request to clarify whether personnel changes are planned in theaters in connection with the criminal case against Kekhman, and who can replace him in leading positions of theaters during the proceedings.

Kekhman's debts amount to 18 billion rubles.

In addition, as Izvestia found out, the head of the Moscow Art Theater has huge debts. According to data on the website of the Federal Bailiff Service, his debt amounts to almost 18 billion rubles. Six enforcement proceedings on loan debts have been opened against Kekhman.

It is possible that this is a consequence of a story that has been going on since 2012. At that time, Vladimir Kekhman was engaged in business, and his company JFC (at that time a major supplier of fruits to Russia, in particular bananas) declared bankruptcy. After that, a number of banks accused the company's managers of embezzling loan money. Sberbank claimed embezzlement of 6 billion rubles, the total amount of claims exceeded 18 billion rubles. In 2017, the criminal case on this episode ended due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

But in the same year, bankruptcy proceedings and the sale of property began in relation to Kekhman himself. The fact is that he bought out some of JFC's debts.

— Kekhman owed about 9.5 billion rubles, this amount goes through the register of creditors' claims and is fixed by court decisions. He had several companies, in some he was a guarantor. He couldn't pay off the entire debt, only 9 million," said Mikhail Bologov, who was appointed financial manager by the court at the time.

To pay off the debt, Kekhman's property was sold at auction — expensive cufflinks, several paintings, including a portrait of Kekhman himself. The debtor had no other property to be sold.

— According to the law, if real estate is the only place to live, it cannot be withdrawn into bankruptcy, — said Mikhail Bologov.

All this did not prevent Kekhman from becoming director of the Novosibirsk State Opera and Ballet Theater in 2015. In 2016, the Central District Court of Novosibirsk decided to fine him 200 thousand rubles for the renovation of the theater, during which violations of the law on the protection of cultural heritage objects were committed. And in 2021, Kekhman also became the director of the Moscow Art Theater.

What threatens Vladimir Kekhman

Kekhman could face a fine or up to ten years in prison for embezzlement of funds on an especially large scale, said lawyer and human rights activist Ekaterina Kutuzova.

"Scandals related to budget embezzlement in the cultural sector, including in theaters, occur regularly, especially during expensive renovations, purchases of equipment, costumes, and decorations," she said.

Kekhman's transition from the status of a witness to the status of an accused may indicate that the investigation has established at least a preliminary scheme of action in which he could play an active role, says Ekaterina Kosareva, managing partner of the analytical agency VMT Consult. For example, he may have authorized the financing of dubious contracts or participated in overstating estimates and signing fictitious acts of completed work.

"The use of this particular part of the article indicates that the amount of damage caused, according to investigators, exceeds 1 million rubles and has signs of a systemic pattern," the expert added.

According to Izvestia's sources, the case file shows an excess of the estimated cost of at least three contracts. According to Ekaterina Kosareva, this is a typical scheme that is well known to investigative authorities in cases involving state funding in the field of culture.

— Its essence lies in overestimating the cost of reconstruction, repair or equipping cultural institutions, — she explained. — The general contractor may transfer the performance of work to subcontractors, while the actual volume and cost of services differ from the acts issued in official reports. Often, the work is either not performed in full, or it is paid at inflated prices, or it includes items that were not actually supplied.

Most likely, the preliminary investigation authorities have managed to gather sufficient evidence to move from the interrogation stage to formal charges.

"Of particular importance is the fact that in the context of cultural institutions such as theaters and museums, we are always talking about spending budget subsidies, often within the framework of targeted programs," the expert added. — The autonomous status of such institutions allows their directors to independently allocate funds, but they are fully responsible for the legality and reasonableness of expenses.

If there is insufficient control by the founder or the Ministry of Culture, prerequisites for abuse are created, especially in the context of a multi—layered system of contracts, informal connections and closed procurement, she said.