Penza, 17 July 2012. PenzaNews. Former Deputy Prime Minister of the Penza region – Minister of Agriculture Marat Faizov is accused of committing two episodes of criminal activity. First Deputy Head of Department of Investigation Committee of Russia and Interior Ministry of Russia for the Penza region Rustam Tugushev stated this at a press conference on Tuesday, July 17.

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

“Using his authority, Marat Faizov carried out a general support of an entrepreneur and lobbied his interests for a bribe in the form of money. Under the influence of the official, the businessman was granted a loan of 28 million rubles in the framework of the federal special-purpose program for support of agriculture,” he added.

According to Rustam Tugushev, the aforementioned businessman did not even present the necessary documents, and, consequently, he could not even make a claim for the loan without the support of the former Minister of Agriculture.

“Moreover, the loan previously provided to the businessman has not been paid off,” he emphasized.

Rustam Tugushev added that during the investigation Marat Faizov would remain in custody.

“The investigating authorities are ready to present a detainee the indictment in the final version,” he said and explained that the entrepreneur is connected to the investigation as a witness and assists the investigation.

As news agency PenzaNews reported earlier, Marat Faizov was arrested red-handed by officials of the regional offices of Federal Security Service of Russia and Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation on March 20, 2012. According to the investigators, Marat Faizov received 200 thousand rubles bribe from the head of the company being in a car on a road “Saratov — Nizhny Novgorod” near Kolyshley of the Penza region.