Prosecutor General Ousts Official Overseeing Wartime Corporate Asset Seizures

Russia's Prosecutor General Alexander Gutsan has removed the senior official who led the government's wave of private asset seizures since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kommersant newspaper reported Wednesday, citing sources.

Sergei Bochkarev headed the Civil and Judicial Department of the Prosecutor General's Office. Under his direction, the government nationalized 6.5 trillion rubles ($81.45 billion) in private assets since 2022. His most high-profile targets included Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, food manufacturer Makfa, and gold miner YUGK.

Sources told Kommersant that Bochkarev's "streamlined" approach to the seizure process inflated asset valuations in court filings, leaving federal authorities struggling to resell the properties at those prices. That reportedly raised questions among leadership about his handling of the cases.

Bochkarev's removal follows public criticism from Gutsan in May over the mismanagement of confiscated properties, which he warned was undermining efforts to return them to the market. "Situations where seized property effectively continues to generate income for the original owners, is illegally exploited by third parties or falls into disrepair due to improper maintenance completely discredit our work," Gutsan said at the time.

Bochkarev joined the Prosecutor General's Office in 2010 and built a reputation leading high-profile investigations, including against disgraced anti-corruption police officer Dmitry Zakharchenko, which led to the largest cash seizure in Russian law enforcement history. Once tipped for a seat on Russia's Supreme Court, he was ultimately passed over by the judiciary. He is likely to go into academia, Kommersant added.

Nelli Solnyshkina, a veteran prosecutor from northwestern Russia and a close ally of Gutsan, is now expected to succeed Bochkarev.