"In the Irkutsk region, based on the materials of the inspection of the Bratsk Transport Prosecutor's Office, a criminal case has been initiated on the smuggling of timber worth over 130 million rubles," TASS reports.
It was established that the founder of the company engaged in illegal timber export is a Chinese citizen.
As specified, the company exported 9.7 thousand cubic meters of timber to China in 2019-2020.
The prosecutor's office added that a citizen of the PRC faces punishment up to imprisonment for a term of three to seven years with a fine of up to 1 million rubles.
In March, law enforcement agencies in the Irkutsk region opened two criminal cases on the creation of a criminal community, whose members are suspected of smuggling timber worth over 1 billion rubles.