Prosecutor General Alexander Gutsan has dismissed the senior official who spearheaded the Russian government’s wave of private asset seizures since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the newspaper Kommersant reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The official, 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.

Bochkarev’s 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 also 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, following in the footsteps of his old boss, former Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, Bochkarev was ultimately passed over by the judiciary, Kommersant said. He is likely to go into academia, the newspaper added.

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

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