Yevgeny Adamov, 67, is charged with embezzlement and abuse of office. Prosecutors said the former minister, who served from 1998 to 2001, was the leader of an organized criminal group that inflicted damage worth over 3 billion rubles (about $110 million) on the Russian budget, enterprises and organizations.
Viktor Antipov, the state prosecutor in the case, said the appeal has been filed with the Moscow City Court.
Following the announcement of the verdict at the Zamoskvoretsky Court Tuesday, Adamov's lawyer, Genri Reznik, said that prosecutors failed to specify the charges in the indictment.
"The point is that a lack of concrete charges infringes on the rights of the defense," he said. "The charges are so generalized that they make mounting a defense impossible."
But Antipov said the ruling was illegal.
"The defense team read the indictment as far back as the preliminary examination," Antipov said. "It never applied for any clarification."
Reznik said prosecutors will not likely be able to change the indictment in five days, but that the case would not be dismissed if the deadline was not met.
Adamov was originally arrested in Switzerland in May 2005 at the request of the United States, where authorities accuse him of misappropriating $9 million given to Russia for nuclear safety projects. He was extradited to Russia in early 2006 to face charges, and would have faced 60 years in prison if convicted in the U.S.
He was in custody for 15 months, and was released by the Russian Supreme Court July 21 to await trial.
