Roman Starovoit was dismissed from the post of head of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation not because of loss of trust, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a briefing.
"The loss of trust is mentioned [in the decree] if it is a loss of trust. As you can see, no such wording was used," the Kremlin spokesman said, answering a question from TASS.
When Peskov was asked whether Starovoit's dismissal could have been connected with the mass detention of flights at Russian airports or with his previous tenure as governor of the Kursk region, the press secretary of the head of state said:
"I have nothing to add to what I have already said."
As reported by EADaily, earlier today Putin issued decrees on the dismissal of Starovoit and the appointment of Deputy head of the Ministry of Transport Andrei Nikitin instead.
Starovoit served as governor of the Kursk Region from October 2018 to May 2024. After the start of SMO of Russia on Ukraine's border region was shaken by corruption scandals. The theft of budgetary funds was detected at all levels, including the construction of defense facilities. More than 20 defendants have already been arrested in the case of the construction of protective structures.
The strengthening of the borders of the Kursk region began in the year of the beginning of SMO. 3.2 billion rubles were allocated for this, the issue was supervised by the Kursk Region Development Corporation, which in turn concluded contracts with subcontractors.