Georgy Bedzhamov has been told he must resign as President of the Bobsleigh Federation of Russia after fleeing the country ©RBF

Georgy Bedzhamov, President of the Bobsleigh Federation of Russia (RFB), who has fled the country, has been ordered by the country's Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko to "voluntarily" give up his position.

Earlier this month, a court in Moscow ordered the arrest of Bedzhamov, co-owner of Vneshprombank, charged with an illegal withdrawal of bank assets worth 235 billion roubles (£2.4 billion/$3.4 billion/€3 billion).

The 52-year-old millionaire businessman had left Russia in January following the arrest of his sister Larisa Markus the previous month on accusations of fraud. 

It followed the decision of the Central Bank of Russia to put Vneshprombank into temporary administration. 

Both Bedzhamov and his sister face up to 10 years in prison if they are found guilty. 

Bedzhamov is believed to currently be living in Monaco but has so far refused to give up his place as head of the RFB, which he has held since 2010.

The situation has angered Mutko. 

"The Russian Federation of Bobsleigh is a public organisation and the Government has no right of interfering in its activities," Mutko told Russian news agency TASS. 

"However, we see that the Federation is regulated improperly, its President is on the wanted list and is facing criminal proceedings.

"All of these developments have a deep psychological impact on bobsledders.

"I believe that the Federation must have a new president.

"It would be acceptable in this situation for the current [RFB] President to resign voluntarily."

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Georgy Bedzhamov, second left, has been President of the Bobsleigh Federation of Russia since 2010 ©RBF

Besides Vneshprombank, Bedzhamov has several other business interests.

He is the owner of the Russian Glass Company, a group of industrial glass processing plants situated in Moscow, St.Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnodar, Samara, Yaroslavl, Kazan and Sterlitamak regions.

Bedzhamov also reportedly owns a 33 per cent share in the five-star Badrutt's Palace Hotel in St. Moritz.

Bedzhamov became President of the RFB in 2010 and was re-elected after the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, where Russia won three gold medals in bobsleigh and skeleton.

Following the success at Sochi 2014, Bedzhamov was invited to the Kremlin where he received a state decoration from Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

In June 2014 he also became the vice-president of communications at the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation, serving on the world governing body's ruling Executive Committee.