Russia’s federal budget lost over 7 billion rubles ($220 mln) in 2011 due to crimes related to government purchase contracts, a senior state investigator said.
“As of November 2011, the courts reviewed more than 200 criminal cases of this nature,” Deputy Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee Vasily Piskarev said in an interview with the Moscow News daily published on Tuesday.
“The damages to the state caused by these crimes amount to over seven billion rubles,” Piskarev said.
More that 130 criminal cases were opened last year as a result of the probes into price fixing during the purchases of tomographic scanners under several federal medical care programs.
“At present, 96 officials, including 36 former and current regional health ministers are facing charges related to these cases,” the official said.
Russia ranks 143rd out of 182 countries in Transparency International's 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index, described as the world’s most corrupt major economy.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has declared a fight against corruption one of the cornerstones of his domestic policies.
