Updated

A Moscow court sentenced former Russian Open Government Minister Mikhail Abyzov to a combined 14 years in prison for fraud, The Moscow Times reported on November 11, 2026. Abyzov was already serving a 12-year sentence handed down in 2023 for defrauding two Siberian energy companies, founding an organized crime group, running a business illegally and bribery. The Tagansky District Court found Abyzov guilty of defrauding an unidentified entity, which reports identified as the state-owned Russian Venture Company, over investments in the U.S.-based solar firm Alion Energy. Prosecutors said he conspired with two business associates to mislead the company into continuing to invest, embezzling $5 million. Abyzov denied the charges, saying he lost money in the failed venture and kept investing his own funds in Alion Energy afterwards. The court also fined him 80.1 million rubles ($968,200), banned him from public office for three years and stripped him of state awards. The sentence is subject to appeal, and it was not immediately clear how many years applied to the latest case alone. His defence attorney did not say whether he would appeal.