Officials arrested over hogweed contract bribes
Officials in Sergiyev Posad received over 4 million rubles ($42,100 at current rates) in bribes for a hogweed removal contract. Five administration officials and three businessmen were detained.
Apr 24, 2026 0
Officials in Sergiyev Posad were caught receiving kickbacks for failing to fulfill a hogweed removal contract.
Source:
In Sergiyev Posad, Moscow region, five administration representatives were detained. Three businessmen were also detained. Depending on the violation, all have been charged under three articles: bribery, mediation in bribery, and fraud.
Officials described the methods used to combat hogweed in Sergiyev Posad.
Source:
«The investigation established that the first deputy head of the urban district embezzled funds allocated for travel expenses and inflated bonuses for administration employees, and also received a bribe of 855,000 rubles ($9,000 at current rates) from an entrepreneur for general patronage,» the press service of the Investigative Committee reported.
According to the investigation, from 2023 to 2025, officials conspired to steal money allocated under a contract to combat Sosnovsky«s hogweed. The officials received bribes from the entrepreneur who executed the municipal contract. The total amount of bribes was about 4 million rubles ($42,100 at current rates).
All defendants have now been given a preventive measure. As the department noted, the investigation continues. The work is being carried out jointly with the FSB of Moscow and the Moscow region.
Recall that earlier in Sergiyev Posad, the deputy head of the Sergiyev Posad district, Sergey Tostanovsky, was arrested. Along with him, the head of the agriculture department, Ivan Konchakov, was also taken into custody.
On his social media page, MSK1.RU found only a few mentions of hogweed control in 2024 and 2025. According to Tostanovsky, hogweed treatment was carried out twice per season in the municipality. But with one caveat.
«The poison does not take effect immediately. At first, the weed slows its growth, then begins to turn yellow and die. But most importantly, it is to prevent it from flowering,» Tostanovsky explained how hogweed control works.
They were accused of bribery and fraud. Now the number of participants in the criminal case has increased to eight people. Earlier, MSK1.RU wrote that testimony against Tostanovsky and Konchakov was given by their former boss, Dmitry Akulov. He was detained back in August 2024, when investigators claimed he had received 15 million rubles ($157,900 at current rates) as a bribe for «patronage» of the MFC.
The names of the other participants in the criminal case have not been disclosed yet.
Read more
