The Kuntsevo District Court in Moscow has sentenced Renat Batyrov, the former head of the Skolkovo technopark, to eight years in prison for bribery.
Batyrov was also ordered to pay a fine of 25 million rubles, while his co-defendant, 44-year-old businessman Andrey Mamontov, received a seven-year prison sentence and a 15 million ruble fine. Both men will serve their terms in a strict-regime penal colony.
Bribery scheme and courtroom verdict
A correspondent for news outlet Lenta.ru reported the verdict directly from the courtroom on September 28, 2026. The judges found both men guilty under Part 4 of Article 291.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which penalizes mediation in bribery committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy on an especially large scale.
Court findings established that in 2025, Batyrov and Mamontov conspired after learning that an acquaintance operating a business was seeking additional financing to expand his commercial activities. The defendants told the entrepreneur that they could guarantee him a preferential loan from the Industry Development Fund in exchange for five million rubles passed through them.
Law enforcement officers caught both men during a sting operation, detaining them at the exact moment they received the funds from the businessman. News of Batyrov's arrest was first made public on November 18, 2025.
Background on Skolkovo and state funding
The Skolkovo technopark serves as the primary operational heart of the Skolkovo Innovation Center, a major technology development initiative launched by the Russian government on the western outskirts of Moscow. Often described as Russia's flagship innovation hub, the complex provides specialized laboratories, commercial space, acceleration programs and infrastructure support for technology startups and scientific research teams.
The Industry Development Fund is a federal development institution created under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. The fund offers soft loans at reduced interest rates, targeted grant programs and preferential financing packages to industrial companies aiming to modernize production facilities and introduce competitive domestic goods.
Under Russian law, Article 291.1 specifically targets intermediaries who facilitate illegal payments between bribers and public or institutional officials. Strict-regime penal colonies represent one of the most restrictive categories of detention in the Russian correctional system, featuring enhanced perimeter security, restricted inmate movements and limited allowance for family visits and parcel deliveries.
The Kuntsevo District Court, located in Moscow's Western Administrative Okrug, functions as a primary court of general jurisdiction handling major criminal prosecutions and civil litigation within the capital.
