The executive director of Ingushetian oil firm Ingushneft has been placed in detention on charges of illegally extracting oil.
Umar Balaev was given pre-trial detention until 28 June.
According to the investigation, while serving as general director in 2023, Balaev instructed his subordinates to extract oil from the Malgobek-Voznesenskoye oil and gas field without state permits or licensing. The amount of crude oil extracted allegedly totalled almost 1,750 tonnes, causing financial losses to Russia’s Federal Subsoil Resources Management Agency (Rosnedra) of nearly ₽50 million ($635,000).
Balaev also faces charges of large-scale fraud committed by a group and abuse of official powers.
Investigators report that in September 2023, Ingushneft signed a contract with the company Khedos for geophysical surveys at the oil field. However, the services were never rendered, despite a payment of ₽5 million ($64,000). The funds were allegedly redirected to third-party organisations. Balaev reportedly authorised the payment, knowing there were no completed works or verification documents.
The court’s press service stated that the unlicensed operations took place for over nine months — from January to September 2023 — and were confirmed through ‘operational and investigative activities’, as well as documents seized during searches of Balaev’s residence and office.
If found guilty, Balaev faces up to five years in prison for conducting illegal business resulting in significant damage. He could also face an additional 10 years if convicted of fraud and abuse of power.
Ingushneft’s management has so far declined to comment on the arrest.
The criminal case against Balaev is one of many corruption cases initiated in Ingushetia over the past two years. In 2024 alone, the region saw 33 corruption cases opened — a 50% increase compared to 2023. According to the local prosecutor’s office, over 1,400 violations of anti-corruption and public service laws were recorded, with more than 300 government officials disciplined.
Earlier in June, authorities detained the brother of Magomed Kushtov, head of the regional Federal Tax Service, over a separate case involving alleged budgetary damages of ₽130 million ($1.7 million).
Also in June, the Prosecutor’s Office of Ingushetia has submitted a criminal case against the former mayor of Magas, Usman Aushev, on charges of abuse of power resulting in financial damage estimated at ₽3.3 million ($42,000).
In April, the Supreme Court of Ingushetia ordered that Madina Khutieva, the chief physician of the Republican Clinical Perinatal Centre in Nazran, remain in custody until the end of May. Alongside existing charges of large-scale fraud, she now faces accusations of abuse of power. The criminal prosecution has been fuelled in part by a wave of complaints about the standard of medical care and a series of deaths of mothers and newborns at the facility she headed.
Elizaveta Chukharova
