On Friday, November 22, Moscow City Court threw out an appeal by Ilya Ponomaryov, a Russian protest leader and a co-organizer of recent anti-Kremlin protests, who was ordered to pay 2.7 million rubles ($82,000) to the Skolkovo business hub.

      In April 2013, Skolkovo sued Ilya Ponomaryov, a former member of the Fair Russia political party and a lawmaker in the lower house of Russian Parliament, over a series of lectures he was contracted to give for the hub. The company accused Ponomaryov of  botching or possibly skipping most of the lectures, for which he was paid a total of 9 million rubles ($273,000).

      The lawmaker denied the allegations, claiming his work for Skolkovo resulted in legislative amendments and analytical studies and attracted 850 residents to the hub. He also claimed the Skolkovo case was retribution for his opposition activity.

      Being a prominent opposition activist, Ilya Ponomaryov played an active role in the street protests of 2011-2012 in Moscow, the biggest opposition protests in Russia in two decades.