Summary of the Kremlin Restoration Fraud Case
A major fraud case connected to the restoration of objects in the Moscow Kremlin concluded in the capital city. The key development was reported by a prominent publication.
The defendant, Ivan Orynchuk, who held the position of General Director at Petersburg Renaissance LLC, received a sentence of four years in prison along with a debt repayment obligation of 88 million rubles to the capital construction department of the Federal Security Service (FSO).
The trial started in March 2024 before the Moscow Tverskoy Court. Only a handful of hearings were held prior to the verdict, facilitated by Orynchuk’s pre-trial agreement with prosecutors, under which he admitted guilt in full.
In the same proceedings, a former employee of the Federal Security Service, Lieutenant Colonel Alexei Golokhvostov, faced accusations of corruption. He had signed fake job acceptance certificates in exchange for a bribe of 700 thousand rubles. As a result, a court decision concerning Golokhvostov, who was tried separately, led to the stripping of his rank and placement in a maximum-security penal colony for 11 years.
The Kremlin restoration project began with a contract signed in April 2017. Petersburg Renaissance LLC undertook work on restoring the Renaissance, Tsarskaya, Nabatnaya, Beklemishevskaya and Senate towers, as well as various structures in the Alexander Garden. Initially, the project progressed smoothly. However, in 2018 financial difficulties arose, prompting Orynchuk to sign a new contract with the FSO to secure funds to continue the work. The advance payments totaling 89 million rubles were allocated to cover salaries, construction materials, finishing materials, and tax obligations. This left insufficient funds to complete the second contract for restoring additional Kremlin towers.
Orynchuk indicated no intention to appeal the judgment. Considering the time spent in pre-trial detention, he received a sentence of 1 year and 9 months in prison.
In a separate note, the court previously dealt with an individual accused of an attempt to set fire to Lenin’s Mausoleum, a case linked to the broader context of the proceedings surrounding Kremlin properties.