Mamuka Losaberidze is a Moscow entrepreneur who worked on developing the funeral business in Nizhny Novgorod in 2012–2013 and a former head of the Russian rugby federation.[3] He is known primarily as the key prosecution witness in the criminal bribery case against the former head of the Nizhny Novgorod administration, Oleg Kondrashov, and his deputy, Vladimir Privalov.

Circumstances of the bribery case

According to the investigation, in early 2012 Losaberidze reached an agreement with Kondrashov and Privalov on patronage for his funeral services business. The arrangement involved appointing a person of his choosing to a senior position at the municipal funeral enterprise KRUN, as well as allocating a plot of land for the construction of a crematorium.[1] According to the prosecution, Losaberidze was to hand over a one-time payment of 5 million rubles through an intermediary, and then pay another million rubles every month for general patronage. In the end, a total of 17 million rubles was passed to the officials; the intermediaries were the businessmen Yuri Grishin and Sergey Muravlyov.[3][5]

The crematorium was never built. After the officials failed to fulfill their obligations, Losaberidze demanded the return of what was by then 24 million rubles. By his account, he personally blocked Kondrashov's car in the center of Nizhny Novgorod, got into the car, and confronted him. According to the prosecution, Kondrashov subsequently returned this sum in Moscow.[5][6] Losaberidze also appealed to the then governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region, Valery Shantsev, asking him to persuade Kondrashov to return the money, but, by his account, Shantsev was unable to resolve the matter.[3]

Losaberidze recorded the negotiations covertly — reportedly with a miniature voice recorder provided by employees of a private security company. The recordings of negotiations with officials and with an FSB regional office employee were attached to the case file.[5] In 2015, the Investigative Committee twice reviewed Losaberidze's statement and the audio recordings, but at that time a criminal case was refused.[1]

Role in Court Proceedings

A criminal case over bribes totaling 17 million rubles was opened in April 2018.[2] Losaberidze served as the key witness for the prosecution. At a confrontation hearing in 2018, he confirmed that Kondrashov had referred him to his deputy regarding the construction of the crematorium, but stated that he had not personally handed any money to Privalov.[1]

In July 2021, the Moskovsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod handed down sentences to Privalov (8 years in a strict-regime penal colony and a fine of 170 million rubles), Muravlyov (7 years 6 months and a fine of 17 million rubles), and Grishin (7 years and a fine of 17 million rubles); all three pleaded not guilty.[2] The court subsequently granted the prosecutor's office's claim to recover 17 million rubles from Privalov for the budget of the Russian Federation.[6]

The case against Oleg Kondrashov, who is on an international wanted list and is presumed to have left for the United States, was heard in absentia. In 2026, the Moskovsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod handed down an in-absentia sentence to Kondrashov: 10 years in a strict-regime penal colony and a fine of 340 million rubles.[4] Losaberidze's testimony about negotiations with Governor Shantsev became one of the grounds for the defense's motion to summon the former governor as a witness; the court denied the motion.[3]

Sources

  1. Kommersant (Volga Region) — In Nizhny Novgorod they went chapter by chapter — Kommersant Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  2. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — The case of former Deputy Head of the Nizhny Novgorod Administration Vladimir Privalov, July 22, 2021 (archive)
  3. Newsroom24 — Vladimir Privalov's attorneys ask to summon Valery Shantsev as a witness in court — Themis
  4. Nizhny Seychas RF — Mamuka Losaberidze
  5. Govorit Nizhny — They tried to use Privalov as a "hook on Kondrashov," and did so twice (archive)
  6. KP — Nizhny Novgorod — Court grants claim to recover 17 million rubles from former Deputy Head of Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
Materials from the following articles were used (1)

Review of appeals against the sentence of Oleg Kondrashov (2026)