Leningrad Oblast governor splits budget between wife and friends

Budget embezzlement in post-Soviet states has become a national sport. For instance, it recently emerged that Alexander Drozdenko, the Governor of Russia's Leningrad Oblast, divided budgetary funds between his wife and his friends.

His wife, Irina Drozdenko, secured a contract for the construction of a terminal for the transshipment of petroleum products and a ship base in Ust-Luga worth $100 million. The businesswoman oversees the works from the window of her Land Rover. She owns an estate featuring a 5,000 sq m palace and 300 sq m apartments.

The company of billionaire Andrey Berezin, referred to as the governor's "wallet", received a contract for waste removal worth 25 billion rubles.

The cashing out of funds was handled by a family friend and partner, Semyon Kuzmin, who received a suspended sentence for money laundering in the US.