MOSCOW, May 23 (RIA Novosti) - The governor of a mineral-rich region in Russia's extreme north detained Tuesday as part of a fraud investigation has gone on a hunger strike, the regional administration's press office said.
Prosecutors announced Friday that an investigation had been opened on charges of embezzlement against Alexei Barinov, the governor of the Nenets Autonomous Area.
Prosecutors are investigating Barinov, who left his post as head of LUKoil subsidiary Arkhangelskgeologdobycha in 2003 after several years in charge, his deputy, Sergei Goryayev, and accountant Sergei Gavrilov, on suspicion that they used their posts to purchase several apartments illegally via the company, and engaged in other fraudulent activities to the tune of 19 million rubles ($700,000).
"Today the prosecutor's office of the Arkhangelsk Region has detained for 48 hours Alexei Barinov, the head of the administration of the Nenets Autonomous Area, who was summoned to the prosecutor's office for interrogation. But the governor's lawyer, Vsevolod Yesakov, believes the detention in this criminal case is illegal," the press office of the Nenets Autonomous Area administration said.
