The former government minister Kristina Rudakov is to be released from prison in the new year having served a full six year term under corruption charges for covering up findings related to the Dubrovka Rail Disaster which happened in 2011. Ms Rudakov had been a leading member of the Centrist government, serving as Transport Minister and later becoming Communications and Media Minister under Ludvig Fedorov in 2012, before being sentenced after an inquest into the rail disaster found that she had conspired with Boris Svikorivo, the Chief Executive of Burov the manufacturer of the defective rail units, to place the blame on the carrier operator.
Ms Rudakov denied all charges – but in a four month court case and after two appeals, was sentenced in late 2013 to serve a six year prison term for her role in the conspiracy. She has been serving her term in Sloboda prison, about 200 kilometers north of Karasicena. Ms Rudakov has also been banned for ten years from serving in any elected or appointed political position and was expelled from the Progressive Centrist Coalition. Under the terms of the corruption charges, she is also illegible to ever hold government office again.
