Director of the Park “Patriot” suspected of receiving a bribe ри18 million

Director of the Park “Patriot” Igor Vasiliev is suspected of one episode of receiving a bribe in the amount of 18 million rubles. from the General Director and founder of the company “Hermes” Evgeny Mariev, told RBC two sources familiar with the investigation of the criminal case.

Charge of receiving a bribe in an especially large amount (part 6 of article 290 of the criminal code) he has not yet been presented, he is in the status of a suspect, said the interlocutor of RBC.

According to investigators, Vasiliev received from Mariev 18 million rubles. in the form of interest from the actual payment for the work performed under contracts. In December 2025, Patriot Park signed contracts with Hermes LLC for comprehensive engineering, technical and sanitary maintenance of buildings, structures, premises and adjacent territories of the park and its branch in Kronstadt worth more than 1.4 billion rubles. In exchange, according to the Main Military Investigation Directorate of the TFR, the management of the park provided the company with general patronage, facilitated the conclusion of new contracts and did not interfere with the implementation of the agreements already concluded.

Mariev is also a bribe-giver in the criminal case of Deputy Director of the Patriot Park Vitaly Melimuk, whom Odintsovo court of the Moscow region arrested on April 22, 2026. According to the investigation, Melimuk demanded that the entrepreneur quarterly transfer 10% of the actual payment for work under contracts.

As part of the operational experiment, Mariev transferred 18 million rubles to Melimuk. After that, the entrepreneur was released from criminal liability for giving a bribe under the note to the article. 291 of the Criminal Code (as a person who voluntarily reported the crime and contributed to its disclosure).

In the evening of October 7, the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow will elect Vasiliev a measure of restraint.

A few days before the arrest of the director of the Patriot Park, law enforcement authorities detained his first deputy Sergey Fedosov and Deputy Operations Director Alexei Pavlyukov.

According to two sources familiar with the investigation, Fedosov was charged under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code (fraud on an especially large scale), and Pavlyukov and Vasiliev were charged under Part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code (receiving a bribe on an especially large scale).

In response to the request of RBC, the Ministry of Defense reported on the close cooperation of the department with military investigative bodies and on providing maximum assistance to the investigation of the criminal case against Vasiliev, detained on suspicion of receiving a bribe.

“Intolerance to any corruption manifestations of officials of governing bodies and organizations of the military department is an unconditional priority of the Ministry of Defense,” the ministry said.

Igor Vasiliev has been the head of the Patriot Park since March 2026. In 2017-2022, Vasiliev served as Governor of the Kirov region (acting from the end of July 2016). In 2004-2010 he was a senator from the executive branch of the Republic of Komi, from 2014 to 2016 he headed Rosreestr.

Last summer, the Odintsovo City Court sentenced the former director of the Patriot Park Vyacheslav Akhmedov to five years in a general regime colony. He was accused under Part 4 of Art. 159 and Part 2 of Art. 292 of the Criminal Code (fraud on an especially large scale and official forgery).

Akhmedov and former deputy head of the Main Department of Innovative Development Vladimir Shesterov were detained in July 2024. General Pavel Popov was later arrested. According to the investigation, Popov, Akhmedov and Shesterov from 2022 to 2024 made false data in the documentation of the construction work performed. Damage in an especially large amount amounted to more than 25 million rubles. Deputy Defense Minister Popov, according to the investigation, asked the Ministry to build on the site of his son “the same log houses as in the Patriot Park.” With the help of Shesterov and Akhmedov, at the expense of the park budget, a residential house, a bathhouse and a two-storey garage were built on a turnkey basis at the dacha of Popov’s son in one of the Moscow SNT. In April, the general was sentenced to 19 years in prison. Shesterov received six years in prison in the case of embezzlement in the Patriot Park.