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MOSCOW. – Russia charged Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev yesterday over suspicions he pocketed a $2 million payoff during a deal involving state-controlled oil giant Rosneft.Ulyukayev was the highest ranking official detained over suspected corruption since President Vladimir Putin took power in 2000 and vowed to clamp down on endemic graft.
His detention has sparked a wave of speculation over whether the charges could be linked to an internal power struggle.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said Ulyukayev had “illegally demanded” payment to give his 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.
Investigators accused Ulyukayev of “threatening (and) using his ministerial powers to create obstacles to the company’s activities in the future.”
The committee had said earlier yesterday that the FSB security service, the successor to the KGB, detained Ulyukayev following an operation on Monday as he was receiving the alleged bribe.
Investigators did not say who handed the alleged bribe to Ulyukayev.
Former federal lawmaker Gennady Gudkov, a staunch Kremlin critic who once served in the KGB, said Ulyukayev’s detention was the result of an internal power struggle. – AFP.
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