MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Large-scale bribery charges have been officially pressed against former Russian minister of economic development Alexei Ulyukayev, Russia's Investigative Committee said Tuesday.
"The former minister of economic development, Alexei Ulyukayev, has been ultimately charged with 'taking an especially large bribe by a person holding public office in the Russian Federation'," the committee's spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said.
The Investigative Committee said in November 2016 that Ulyukayev was caught in the act of taking a $2-million bribe for a positive appraisal that allowed Russian energy company Rosneft to buy the state's shares of the Bashneft oil company.
Ulyukayev, who refuses to admit his guilt, has been placed under house arrest for the duration of the investigation. Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed Ulyukayev from the post of economy minister citing lack of confidence.
