A second criminal case was opened against the ex-deputy governor of the Rostov region

Investigators opened another criminal case against the former deputy governor of the Rostov region - Minister of Transport Vladimir Okunev, now on the legalization of illegally obtained funds, the total damage from his actions exceeded 1.9 billion rubles, law enforcement agencies told RIA Novosti.

According to the agency's interlocutor, part of the money in the amount of 38.7 million rubles, obtained by Okunev through criminal means, was legalized as a result of the purchase of trucks registered to his relatives.

“A criminal case has been initiated against Okunev under Part 4 of Article 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Legalization of funds or other property acquired by a person as a result of committing a crime”),” the agency’s interlocutor said.

He clarified that in December 2025, a criminal case was also opened against Okunev under the article “Exceeding official powers.”

The investigation believes that Okunev, being the director of the RostovAvtoDor company from 2016 to 2020, through trusted and controlled persons, actually managed Stroitel LLC. Moreover, both of these organizations were competitors in the market for construction, repair and maintenance of roads in the Rostov region.

As noted in law enforcement agencies, acting in excess of official authority and managing commercial organizations, Okunev created conditions for imaginary competition in 53 competitive procedures for the performance of road works, which led to maintaining contract prices totaling 1.947 billion rubles. As a result of his actions, Okunev extracted criminal income in excess of 1.9 billion rubles, he specified.

At the end of December 2025, the court arrested Okunev in absentia on charges of exceeding official powers and limiting competition, reported a representative of the joint press service of the regional courts. Then the damage amounted to 200 million rubles.