In the capital, Maxim Pavlyuk, deputy head of the department for the integrated development of areas of the FGPU Automobile Roads, was detained following a report from Moscow 24 dated October 11. Prosecutors allege that the senior official accepted unusually large bribes, and the Dorogomilovsky court ordered custody. It soon emerged that two more defendants were connected to the case: Andrey Chernikov, a civil aviation pilot, and Natalia Mitina, a shoe company employee who acted as an intermediary in the scheme.
A few days later, additional information came to light. It became clear that Pavlyuk had previously taken a bribe in his former role as head of a division within the Federal Air Transport Agency’s highest qualification committee. With the help of intermediaries, Aeroprom pilot Chernikov and sales associate Mitina, a group described by sources as extortionists allegedly organized the involvement of other pilots, according to reporting cited by Kommersant.
The intermediaries allegedly reached out to pilots and warned that their flying privileges could be jeopardized due to errors in flight certificates. To obtain new and allegedly corrected documents, pilots were told a substantial payment was required. For NordStar pilots the amount was reported as 1.5 million rubles. Chernikov, who also worked at NordStar, was said to participate in the operation against colleagues.
The pilots made the payments and arranged them in installments, a tactic investigators describe as a way to reduce suspicion. At the same time, the pilots submitted statements to the Federal Security Service to ensure that each transfer could be traced and reviewed. After the full amount was paid, authorities conducted a search at Pavlyuk’s residence and issued an arrest warrant.
While the initial bribe of 1.5 million rubles is the first disclosed episode, prosecutors indicate there could be additional elements to this criminal case. It is noted that in 2018 the Moscow city budget institution Automotive Roads, now led by Pavlyuk, earned recognition that appeared in the European Book of Records as the largest road maintenance organization.
- In Ugra, reports indicate the head of the oil depot siphoned off about 15 million rubles worth of gasoline within a year.
- Details about the case are featured on RuTube under the program Behind the Wheel.