Vitaly Kushnarev received 13 years in a maximum-security prison.

Vitaly Kushnarev, former deputy governor and minister of transport of the Rostov region, was sentenced to 13 years in a maximum-security penal colony and a fine of 475 million rubles.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," in late September, a court in Rostov-on-Don extended the arrest of Vitaly Kushnarev, former deputy governor and minister of transport of the Rostov region, until January 3, 2026, in a bribery case. In October, the court ordered Kushnarev and his wife to pay more than 160 million rubles to the state.

The Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Rostov-on-Don today sentenced Vitaly Kushnarev, finding him guilty of bribery and illegal possession of weapons. He was sentenced to 13 years in a maximum-security penal colony, a fine of 475 million rubles, and a 15-year ban from holding senior government positions, 161.ru reports.

The charge of illegal possession of weapons concerns a Colt pistol that security forces discovered during a search of the official's home. Kushnarev admitted to illegal possession of weapons but denied all charges of bribery. The former minister's defense team called the testimony of the main witness in the case "fictitious." Before the verdict, defense attorney Artur Meloyan demanded that the bribery charge be reclassified as abuse of office, the publication notes.

According to the prosecution, the vice-governor of the Rostov region demanded 95 million rubles from the director of T-Trans, a major contractor for the regional Ministry of Transport, as a condition for the company to be able to win future government contracts and for the client to accept the work without objection. If the demand was refused, the official threatened to create conditions under which T-Trans would be unable to continue operating.

Although Kushnarev was caught red-handed accepting the first installment of the bribe—27 million rubles—he insisted that the money given to him "was used exclusively for the development of the region." Immediately after his arrest, the official claimed that the money was intended to support the Rostov football club, but later presented a different version in court: allegedly, T-Trans representatives themselves wanted to transfer the money "for any purpose" but refused to transfer it to the account of the state fund for supporting participants in the military operations in Ukraine. According to Kushnarev's defense, the company's founder, while abroad, feared falling under Western sanctions and insisted on handing over cash, RTVI reports.