The ex-general director of Aviatika LLC was arrested in the case of theft in the Ministry of Industry and Trade

The Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow arrested for two months the former general director of Aviatika LLC, head of System Dynamics JSC Igor Pyankov. He is a defendant in a case of multimillion-dollar theft during the creation of software for the needs of the shipbuilding industry. According to TASSthe Ministry of Industry and Trade was recognized as the injured party in the case.

A criminal case was opened six months ago “against unidentified persons.” Law enforcement agencies reported that the case involves more than 240 million rubles allocated from the budget to MIREA University for development work (R&D) on the “Adaptation” project. As part of it, software was to be created for the needs of the shipbuilding industry. According to the press release (.pdf) on the website of the state program “Development of shipbuilding and equipment for the development of offshore fields”, based on the results of the research and development work, including the development of a “standard information model of a marine equipment object using the example of an icebreaker vessel”, they also created a “single unified solution for storing design and construction documentation based on a unified format.”

The crimes charged against Mr. Pyankov date back to 2016–2018. “The ‘adaptation’ was carried out by MIREA with the involvement of co-executors, including Pyankov’s companies, and meant the creation of a standard electronic digital model of the vessel, the development of a unified Russian format for storing project documentation,” said the agency’s unnamed interlocutor.

An investigator from the Moscow Investigative Committee insisted at the trial on the arrest of Igor Pyankov due to fears that he might escape or warn “unidentified and undetected accomplices.” The accused himself asked not to choose a preventive measure related to deprivation of liberty, noting that he was cooperating with the investigation. “I have repented, I am cooperating with the investigation and counting on the court’s leniency,” said Mr. Pyankov.

As TASS clarifies, the searches, as well as the detention of the defendant, were carried out together with employees of the “P” department (responsible for counterintelligence support for industrial enterprises) of the FSB and the “K” department of the Main Directorate of Economic Security and Anti-Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “To choose a preventive measure against the accused in the form of detention for a period until January 8, 2024,” said the decision of Judge Larisa Semenova.

Laura Keffer