The defense appealed against the extension of the arrest of ex-Minister Abyzov in a new case.

The defense filed a complaint against the extension of the preventive measure in the new case to Mikhail Abyzov, the former Minister for the Open Government of Russia, who is serving a sentence for creating a criminal community and other crimes. This was reported to Izvestia on March 31 in the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow.

Earlier, Abyzov's arrest was extended until June 15.

The ex-minister was detained in the spring of 2019. Besides him, several other people were involved in the case. The criminal case on the facts of money laundering on an especially large scale (Part 4 of Article 174 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and illegal business activities (Article 289 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is based on the theft of 4 billion rubles from Siberian Energy Company JSC (Sibeco) and RES, which are leading energy suppliers in the Novosibirsk region.

In September 2025, bailiffs began to forcibly recover almost 27 billion rubles from the ex-minister. According to Izvestia, the main amount of the penalty amounts to almost 26 billion rubles in state revenue. Plus, there is a fine and a performance fee of more than 85 million rubles, as well as 864 million rubles in damages.

In October 2025, the court placed him under arrest in a new case. The ex-minister was charged under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Fraud on an especially large scale"). According to this article, Abyzov faces up to ten years in prison.

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