Overview

• He told reporters he will refuse any plea arrangements that require admitting theft or abuse even if investigators open a criminal case.
• He said he will sue a media outlet over a critical article and seek $1 million in damages.
• On October 10, the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region suspended him while backing the prosecutor’s bid to reclaim FNPR real estate, including a 46,400-square-meter dormitory and teaching building, and named Yevgeny Lubashev acting head.
• Case filings and press reports attribute to prosecutors allegations of more than 74 million rubles spent on foreign travel and restaurants for the rector and his family and about 20 million rubles on guarded housing, which he disputes.
• The court cited a risk he could organize unsanctioned public actions using students and staff to resist the property transfer, and the university’s academic council and student union have petitioned President Vladimir Putin to reinstate him.