The case of Mikhail Abyzov. For which 27 billion rubles are being recovered from the former minister.

Bailiffs began the compulsory recovery of almost 27 billion rubles from Mikhail Abyzov, who served as Minister of "Open Government" in 2012-2018. In 2023, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison in a high-security penal colony for a number of crimes ranging from fraud and bribery to organizing a criminal community. What is known about this case is in the Izvestia material.

What is the essence of the matter

• Mikhail Abyzov served as the Minister of the Russian Federation for the Coordination of the activities of the Open Government from May 2012 to May 2018. The position was abolished, and soon after he left the civil service, criminal cases were initiated against the ex-minister. They concerned the organization of a criminal community, fraud on an especially large scale, the legalization of illegal income, bribery in the commercial sphere and participation in business incompatible with public service. The damage was estimated at 4 billion rubles, which were withdrawn from the companies Sibeco and Regional Electric Networks. The scheme operated from 2011 to 2014.

• Abyzov, as a minister, organized a criminal community together with the head of <url>, Nikolai Stepanov, and his deputy, Maxim Rusakov. The participants in the case concluded fictitious agreements between Sibeco, RES and Abyzov's Cyprus company Blacksiris Trading Limited, which was headed by Inna Pikalova. Under these agreements, they formally acquired shares in four repair companies that serviced energy facilities, while the share price was artificially inflated. During the transaction with Sibeco shares, the defendants also bribed the company's management, director Ruslan Vlasov and his deputies Yana Balan and Oksana Rozhenkova, handing them 78 million rubles.

• Abyzov participated in commercial activities illegally, since in the period from 2012 to 2018 he worked as the minister for coordinating the activities of the "Open Government" and had no right to engage in business. In 2018, Sibeco shares were sold to SGK, owned by Andrey Melnichenko, for 32.5 billion rubles. Of these, 18.9 billion rubles were "laundered" and transferred abroad in foreign currency.

• In the summer of 2019, the judicial authorities decided to block Abyzov's accounts. But in December, the Moscow City Court overturned the decision, considering that the investigation had committed serious procedural violations during the seizure of property. As a result, restrictions were lifted on some of the funds, certain real estate, securities, as well as money in the account of Abyzov's minor son. But in 2020, the court again ordered the assets to be blocked. The child's bank account was also seized.

• At the end of 2023, the court announced the verdict of the former minister, finding him guilty and imposing a sentence of 12 years in a high-security penal colony, as well as a fine of 80 million rubles. At the same time, the prosecution insisted on 19.5 years in prison. He was deprived of the right to hold public office for three years with the restriction of freedom for the same period. The court also stripped the ex-minister of the Order of Friendship. Additionally, Abyzov was ordered to pay damages in the amount of 864 million rubles. Property worth a total of 23.5 billion rubles is also subject to confiscation. In addition, the former official must pay performance fees and a debt of 2.4 billion rubles. The total debt of the ex-minister amounted to almost 27 billion rubles.

• Along with him, 11 more people were sentenced: some of the convicts were sent to correctional colonies for terms from five to 12 years. The court sentenced Yana Balan and Oksana Rozhenkova to fines of 4 million rubles each. At the moment, three participants in the case have already completed their sentences and been released. In the fall of 2024, Mikhail Abyzov asked to be acquitted, but the court of appeal confirmed the earlier verdict.

What's happening now

• The Second Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction was to hold a hearing on Abyzov's complaint against the earlier verdict. The hearing was originally scheduled for September 12, but the date was later changed, postponing the hearing to a later date.

• In the pre-trial detention center, Abyzov was diagnosed with a neurological disease affecting the functioning of the musculoskeletal system. In this regard, he has been prescribed treatment, which he is undergoing in the medical unit of the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. In the same place, Abyzov was injured when he fell and hit his coccyx hard. Later, he became ill in court, where his appeal against the verdict was scheduled to be considered. Abyzov was taken to the hospital under escort with a suspected spinal fracture. However, the examination showed that there was no fracture — he only had a severe bruise of the lower back.

• In September 2025, Abyzov was transferred from a penal colony to the Kremlin Central detention center in Moscow. New investigative measures are being carried out with him there. At the same time, the charges are in many ways a continuation of the case that has already been considered, although the details have not been disclosed at the moment. At the same time, bailiffs began the process of recovering almost 27 billion rubles from his assets in favor of the state.

What property will the ex-minister lose

• Back in 2016, Mikhail Abyzov, while working in the civil service, was included in the Forbes ranking of the "200 richest businessmen in Russia." In addition to imprisonment, his punishment includes the seizure of property both in Russia and outside the country — in particular, in Italy, where journalists discovered his villa in Tuscany. The former minister was also stripped of the Order of Friendship and banned from holding public office for three years after his release.

• Various assets were seized: land plots, apartments, rooms and parking spaces registered to Abyzov, as well as accounts of himself, relatives and related companies. Some of the property was put up for auction: for example, a Moscow apartment with an area of 135.4 square meters. m on the avenue of the 60th anniversary of October was estimated at 32.7 million rubles. Abyzov's apartment in the capital with an area of 312 square meters, located in the central district of Khamovniki, is also on display. The starting price of this property at auction was almost 412 million rubles.

How the ex-minister got married behind bars

• In March 2020, Abyzov married flight attendant Valentina Grigorieva. The spouses have an 18-year age difference. In 2018, the couple had a son. To register the marriage, the former official had to obtain special permission from the investigator, which is considered a rather complicated procedure.

• The ceremony was held without journalists, photographers, or videotaping: the couple signed the documents in the presence of a registry office employee and employees of the detention center. The newlyweds could not exchange rings, and the ex-minister was not granted the right to long-term visits.