The Meshchansky District Court of the capital began on Friday to consider in absentia a criminal case against the former vice-president of the VIM-Avia airline, Alevtina Kalashnikova. She is accused of abuse of power, transferring currency to non-residents of the Russian Federation using false documents and illegally obtaining a loan. Ms. Kalashnikova herself, as well as two other main defendants in this case – the former co-owners of VIM-Avia, the spouses Rashid and Svetlana Mursekaev, who are on the wanted list, have been living in the UK for several years.