The Zvezda project has lost more than RUB 4bn ($80m), presidential envoy Yury Trutnev said.

“Criminal cases have been launched … over the embezzlement of more than RUB 4bn during the construction of the Zvezda shipyards,” Trutnev was quoted as saying in a statement on the website of the government of Primorye region, the Moscow Times reported.

He told news agency Interfax that a suspect in the investigation had fled Russia along with several of his associates, and had been placed on an international wanted list.