Ex-designer Mitvol challenges conviction with new theft law

Oleg Mitvol, convicted for stealing nearly 1 billion rubles (about $10 million at current rates) during the design of the Krasnoyarsk metro, is not giving up on attempts to reduce his sentence. On February 5, the Moscow Regional Court will consider his lawyer«s complaint — who found a loophole in the legislation.

The gist is as follows. In November 2023 — after Mitvol«s conviction — a law was passed that prohibits including taxes paid to the budget in the amount of theft. Lawyer Mikhail Sholokhov seized on this provision: allegedly, out of 954 million rubles (about $9.5 million at current rates) that went to the account of »Krasnoyarsk TISIZ«, Mitvol physically could not take it all for himself. Part went to VAT (at least 158 million rubles, about $1.6 million at current rates), part — to employee salaries, part — to subcontractors.

In December, the Kolomna Court rejected these arguments. The logic is simple: Mitvol himself admitted guilt, himself agreed to the amount of damage, himself made a deal with the investigation. It«s too late to recalculate now. The defense did not agree with this and went to appeal.

For Mitvol, this is not the first attempt to get out of prison early. In September 2025, he was denied parole. He even asked Putin for a pardon — also unsuccessfully. Moreover, he doesn«t have much time left to serve: according to his lawyer, his term ends in March 2026.

Recall that Oleg Mitvol was detained in June 2022 right at Vnukovo Airport — he was trying to fly to Dubai. Three years earlier, his company received a state contract for survey work for the Krasnoyarsk metro. According to the investigation, the work was only partially completed, but the money was received in full.

During the investigation, Mitvol turned in his former clients — former regional premier Yuri Lapshin, former transport minister Konstantin Dimitrov, and the head of the regional transport department Konstantin Mandrov. All three were also convicted.