Today, Montenegro extradited two Russian citizens wanted in Russia for bribing officials, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) announced.
"Russian citizens Alexey Ushkalov and Andrey Markus have been extradited to Russia from Montenegro. They are charged with multiple counts of conspiracy to pay a large bribe to an official through an intermediary," the Ministry's Press Center said in a statement, Interfax reported.
According to the materials from the case, Markus was the director of the regional center of a pharmaceutical company from September 2021 to April 2023. He conspired with the chief regional manager Uškalov.
Investigators discovered that the accused gave more than two million rubles (20 thousand euros) to the deputy director of the health department of the Bryansk region and some other officials through a third party.
"This was an illegal fee for facilitating the conclusion of state contracts without a tender," said Russian Interior Ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk.
The branch of the Investigative Committee of Russia in the Bryansk region initiated criminal proceedings in April 2023, and Ushkalov and Markus were charged in October 2023.
Ushkalov and Markus took refuge outside Russia, and an international warrant was issued for them in December 2023.
The cross-border movements of the accused were monitored through the Interpol channel, and they were arrested in Montenegro in March 2024. The Russian State Prosecutor's Office ordered the organization of their extradition.
"The perpetrators were handed over today to Russian law enforcement officials at Podgorica airport to be transported to Moscow," Volk said.
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