The Sverdlov Plant Embezzlement Case (2026) is a criminal case whose proceedings were opened by Dzerzhinsky City Court on September 4, 2026. The defendant is Shumsky Yuri Fyodorovich, former deputy director of the federal state-owned enterprise "Ya. M. Sverdlov Plant" in Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod Region. He is charged with fraud on an especially large scale: according to investigators, between 2013 and 2016 he embezzled 429.3 million rubles in connection with the procurement of raw materials for the enterprise.[1][2]

Nature of the Charges

According to the prosecution, Shumsky, acting together with an unidentified accomplice, persuaded the plant's management to abandon direct procurement of 2-ethylhexanol and benzene from manufacturers and to switch instead to a chain of intermediaries. Direct purchases from major suppliers — entities affiliated with Severstal, SIBUR, NLMK, and Rosneft — were constrained by requirements for advance payment or a short payment term of 21 days. The intermediaries, in turn, purchased the same raw materials from manufacturers for cash and resold them to the plant on deferred payment terms but at inflated prices. The proceeds, the prosecution contends, were siphoned off to organizations under Shumsky's control.[1]

The case materials name as intermediaries LLC Arsenal, Armada, NPP Omikron, Khimvariant, Alyans-Vostok, Energorazvitie, Teknokhim, and a number of other companies. The management of these organizations, according to the prosecution, was unaware of their involvement in the unlawful scheme. The selection of intermediaries was carried out, per the charges, by Shumsky's unidentified accomplice.[1][2]

The total value of the raw-material supply contracts is estimated at approximately three billion rubles. The amount of the alleged embezzlement is 429.3 million rubles. The case has been classified as fraud on an especially large scale.[1]

Defense Position

Shumsky categorically denied guilt on the fraud charges and declined to set out his position in detail before the court. His lawyers are seeking an acquittal, arguing that no criminal offence was committed. In their submission, the prices at which intermediaries supplied raw materials did not exceed the levels set by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the plant received the goods with deferred payment. The defence also contends that no loss to the enterprise has been documented: a forensic examination carried out during the preliminary investigation was unable to determine the amount of any such loss. According to the Nizhny Novgorod outlet "Zhivyom v Nizhnem," the two sides differ in their interpretation of the same regulatory benchmark: the prosecution maintains that raw materials were purchased through firms controlled by Shumsky at prices significantly above those approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, while the defence insists that the intermediaries' prices were below the ministry-set levels.[5][1][2]

Prior conviction

Shumsky was detained in autumn 2022 together with the plant's first deputy director Oleg Petrovich Korpatenkov and the former director-general of Rostec's Spetsokhimiya holding, Yury Viktorovich Zozulya.[3] On 2 December 2024, the Presnensky District Court of Moscow delivered its verdict: Zozulya was sentenced to 9 years in a maximum-security penal colony, Shumsky to 8 years, and Korpatenkov to 5 years; the last of the three was taken into custody in the courtroom immediately after sentencing. Zozulya was convicted on two counts of accepting a bribe by an official in an especially large amount and of abuse of office; Shumsky and Korpatenkov were convicted of acting as intermediaries in bribery.[3] At the time the new trial opened in September 2026, Shumsky is serving this eight-year sentence.[1][2]

About the enterprise

The Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Plant named after Ya. M. Sverdlov" is a defence plant in Dzerzhinsk specialising in the manufacture of ammunition. Defence products account for approximately 30% of total output; the remainder consists of chemical products, industrial explosives, and engineering products.[3]

Sources

  1. Zhivyom v Nizhnem — The Nizhny Novgorod outlet Zhivyom v Nizhnem reports that, according to the prosecution's version, raw materials were purchased through firms controlled by Shumsky at prices significantly exceeding
  1. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Former director of the Sverdlov Plant accused of fraud totaling 429 million rubles (archive)
  2. dzertv.ru — Back in the dock: former deputy director of Dzerzhinsk's defense plant tried for fraud — Dzerzhinsky Television (archive)
  3. Interfax — Former head of the Sverdlov defense plant sentenced to eight years for corruption (archive)
  4. prodzer.ru — Former deputy director of the Sverdlov Plant tried in case involving embezzlement of 430 million rubles (archive)