[8] “As a result of those transactions, the state forfeited the right to participate in the management of a business entity operating in a strategic industry, the energy sector,” as it was set out in a statement signed by Valentin Simuchenkov, Deputy Prosecutor-General of the Russian Federation.

[13][14] Abyzov was personally involved in negotiating the sale of the shares notwithstanding a ban on entrepreneurial activity that he was required to observe due to his position as Minister for Open Government Affairs of the Russian Federation.

[15] In 1998, Abyzov was appointed as the head of the Department of Investment Policy and Business Projects of RAO UES (Russian Joint-Stock Company “Unified Energy Systems”).

As deputy chairman of the management board, Abyzov was responsible for changing the structure of payments for electricity from barter schemes to cash settlements, and, in addition, for fuel supply to the energy companies that were part of RAO UES.

German Gref, the then Minister for Economic Development of the Russian Federation, was adamantly opposed to the appointment of Abyzov to the management board of RAO UES.

[17] Viktor Kudryavyi, a member of the RAO UES board of directors and former Deputy Minister of Energy, believed that Abyzov was pursuing his own commercial interests.

[2][22] Abyzov also participated in paper trading for Gazprom in the gray market purchasing shares on a Russian platform and selling them in the form of ADRs on a foreign one.

[30] In 2015, Maria Butina, an activist for the right to carry weapons accused in the U.S. of espionage in favor of the Russian Federation, presented ORSIS to a delegation from the National Rifle Association of America visiting the Promtekhnologhii plant.

[2] To conceal his intention to participate in KES (Integrated Energy Systems) Holding, Abyzov arranged for his contributions to the authorized capital to be made in the form of loans.

[34] One of the conditions for selling KES Holding to Gazprom Energoholding was granting Abyzov a put option for his shareholding at a price of $451 million exercisable till 1 July 2013.

[36][37][34][38] Renova petitioned the British Virgin Islands court for declaring the put option invalid because the deal with Gazprom Energoholding had come off.

Six months later, Abyzov, despite his status as a federal minister, filed a personal lawsuit against Vekselberg demanding $488 million in damages for his failure to fulfill the 2006 verbal arrangement regarding his participation in the capital of KES Holding.

Vekselberg denies that any verbal arrangements were made, insisting that Abyzov should first fulfill the terms of the 2011 agreement and take possession of an equity stake in the company.

The obligations to buy the shares were imposed on Eforg, E4's owner, to improve the balance sheet structure and technically increase the assets of E4, which by then was experiencing significant difficulties.

The investigation revealed that in 2012, Chuchkevich entered into a collision with Yan Ryazantsev who at the time was the director of the Investment Department and a member of RVC's management board.

In October 2018, the fund was a late-stage co-financier of the Genomatica project, which is working toward creating environmentally friendly materials from renewable feed stocks.

[53] In January 2021, Bright Capital invested in Transphorm, a startup working on the creation of gallium nitride transistors for high-voltage energy converters.

[4][56] As a minister, Abyzov headed the commission on public-private partnerships in the military industrial complex, while remaining a co-owner of Promtekhnologii, a rifle manufacturing factory, and continuing to receive income from it.

Among the initiatives supported by the Open Government was the proposal to expand the right of citizens to self-defense in their own homes, put forward by Maria Butina’s Right to Gun movement.

[58] In 2017, Alexei Navalny, an opposition activist, published a video showing that Abyzov owned a villa, Il Tesoro, in Tuscany, in the province of Grosseto.

[60] In 2019, the Baza publication found out that in October 2012, while he was in ministerial position, Abyzov gave his son Daniel a villa at the Italian resort of Castiglione della Pescaia as an adulthood gift.

[71] Experts pointed out that the events that Abyzov was charged with took place in 2011 to 2014, when he was already working as the “open government” minister, but was earning super profits by combining state and entrepreneurial activities.

Matviyenko, drew attention to Minister Abyzov's control of offshore companies, which, in addition to basic embezzlement, is all by itself a violation of the laws.

[76] The lawyers suggested a house arrest in Barvikha and a bail of one billion rubles as an alternative to custodial detention, but the court refused to change the level of restriction.

As reported by the Russian Investigative Committee, it was ascertained that Mikhail Abyzov and his accomplices had been involved in the legalization of money received as a result of committing a crime as well as in commercial bribery.

[79] Also, his accomplices were identified, in particular, the former top managers of JSC Siberian Energy Company (Sibeko) — Ruslan Vlasov, Yana Balan, and Oksana Rozhenkova, as well as the director of Ru-Kom LLC, Oleg Serebrennikov.

[80] According to the investigation, from April 2011 to November 2014, Abyzov as the beneficial owner of offshore companies, together with Nikolai Stepanov and Maksim Rusakov, set up and took on leadership in a criminal association.

[citation needed] In considering the case, the court ascertained the facts that Abyzov had continued his business activities while serving as a minister of the Government of the Russian Federation and also used his official position to do so.

[84] In March 2021, the General Prosecutor's Office requested assistance from the Italian law-enforcement agencies with the seizure of the villas owned by Abyzov and his son Daniel.

[87] Alta developed solar panels to mount on drones, aircraft, etc., in order to allow the vehicle to stay aloft for long periods of time.