Two Sochi City Hall officials have been arrested.

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The court has remanded Sochi Deputy Mayor Yevgeny Gorobets in custody for two months. Sochi Legal Department Director Roman Ryabtsev, detained on the same day as Gorobets, has been placed under house arrest for the same period.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on March 27, it became known that Sochi Deputy Mayor Yevgeny Gorobets, Legal Department Director Roman Ryabtsev, and Municipal Land Control Department Head Aslan Achmizov had been detained.

The Sochi Central District Court has remanded Deputy Mayor Yevgeny Gorobets in custody for two months, Kommersant reported on March 28, citing the joint press service of the Krasnodar Krai courts.

The official is a defendant in a criminal case for abuse of office (Part 3 of Article 285 of the Russian Criminal Code).

According to investigators, last August, Gorobets agreed with a local businessman to lease a plot of land near the Volna sanatorium for subsequent purchase without a bid. The cadastral value of the plot is reported to exceed 400 million rubles. Investigators believe the official attempted to employ his daughter at a commercial organization, with only nominal duties performed but a regular salary.

On March 28, the Central District Court of Sochi also placed Roman Ryabtsev, director of the city administration's legal department, under house arrest for two months. Ryabtsev is a defendant in a criminal case for bribery brokerage (Part 4, Article 291.1 of the Russian Criminal Code). He was arrested on the same day as Yevgeny Gorobets.

Investigators claim that Ryabtsev was approached by a colleague in the department, who asked for help in allocating a plot of land to a third party free of charge. Ryabtsev demanded that 3.5 million rubles be handed over to him to secure a positive resolution to the issue with city hall officials. He was detained upon receiving the said sum. It also turned out that Ryabtsev confessed and is actively cooperating with the investigation.