North Ossetian media, citing informed sources, has reported the detention of former Agriculture Minister Alan Kusraev on suspicion of fraud and abuse of office.
North Ossetian Head Sergei Menyailo had signed a decree releasing Kusraev from his position on 28 January. The official document did not specify the reasons for the dismissal, with the government stating only that Kusraev had left his post at his own request.
On Sunday, then local media outlet KrylyaTV (WingsTV), citing an informed source, reported that Kusraev had been detained by law enforcement agencies. According to the outlet, Khasan Gasiev, the director of the capital construction department of the republic’s Agriculture Ministry, is also involved in the same case. Similar information was circulated, without citing sources, by the Telegram channel Mash Gor.
According to KrylyaTV, a criminal case has been opened against both individuals on charges of fraud and abuse of office. The source cited by KrylyaTV claims that the court has ordered Kusraev and Gasiev to be held in custody as a preventive measure.
The two officials are suspected of embezzling ₽96 million ($1.3 million) of budget funds, the press service of the North Ossetian Interior Ministry has reported, though it did not name either men.
According to the ministry, in May 2022, the suspects arranged the illegal transfer of money for the performance of design and survey work that in fact was not subject to execution.
‘The contract was drawn up under the pretext of creating a breeding and selection centre for fish farming. At the same time, there was no feasibility study, the procurement was carried out from a single supplier under the false pretext of urgency’, the ministry stated.
‘The customer was a subordinate institution that was not authorised to perform such functions. Approvals from federal authorities were not obtained, and the project was not included in state programmes’, they added.
Kusraev had headed North Ossetia’s Agriculture Ministry since August 2022. Before being appointed minister, he worked in various structures of the ministry for more than 10 years, and was considered one of the key managers in the republic’s agricultural sector.
Elizaveta Chukharova
