MOSCOW, January 22 (RAPSI) – A court has ordered a former head of the Ulyanovsk Region’s legislative assembly Igor Tikhonov to 5 years in prison for large-scale embezzlement, the press service of the Investigative Committee’s Main Investigations Directorate has told RAPSI.

Two ex-Healthcare Ministers of the region, Rashid Abdullov and Pavel Degtyar, have received 4 years behind bars each.

According to the investigation, not later than May 2017, the accomplices conspired to steal budget money allocated for the state programs. To embezzle the funds they concluded oxygen supply contracts worth nearly 10.4 million rubles ($140,000) at the close of trading.