Moscow: Russia’s Investigative Committee on Monday said it had detained economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev on suspicion of taking a $2 million bribe over a massive deal involving state-controlled oil giant Rosneft. The Investigative Committee said in a statement the detention was carried out as a result of an operation by the FSB security service, the successor to the KGB. It claimed the minister received the money on Monday for giving the go-ahead for Rosneft to acquire a majority stake from the state in Russian oil company Bashneft in a $5.2 billion deal last month.
The statement does not say who gave the bribe to Mr Ulyukayev. The Investigative Committee said in a statement that Mr Ulyukayev had been detained as part of a probe into large-scale bribe taking, for which he could face a jail term of between eight and 15 years. Spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko told RIA Novosti news agency: “Ulyukayev was caught red-handed as he received a bribe.”
