The Minister of the Russian economy arrested for corruption

Alexei Oulioukaiev is suspected of receiving a bribe wine as part of a oil market. He faces a sentence of eight to fifteen years in prison.

The Minister of the Russian economy, Alexei Oulioukaïev, was arrested during an operation conducted by the Federal Security Service (FSB). He is suspected of receiving a bribe wine as part of an oil market, announced Tuesday, November 15 the Committee of Inquiry national.

In a statement, the principal investigative arm of the Federation of Russia explained that this large-scale embezzlement. Mr. Oulioukaïev should be promptly charged. He faces a sentence of eight to fifteen years in prison.

“Caught red-handed”

According to the investigation committee, the minister, in office since 2013, received on Monday, $ 2 million in exchange for his approval of the acquisition by the Russian semi-public oil giant Rosneft oil Bashneft, intervened October. “Mr. Oulioukaïev was caught red-handed” , told the news agency RIA Novosti Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman for the investigative body: “This is extortion, accompanied by threat. ”

A police source detailed the same media as the arrest of Mr. Oulioukaïev was conducted as part of a “sting operation” after investigators had obtained “strong evidence” in “making Listens his conversations and conversations of his associates ” .

“Nothing is clear at the moment”

The arrest sparked astonishment Sergei Chvetsov, first deputy director of the Central Bank of Russia. Mr. Oulioukaïev “was the last person you might suspect something like that” , did he argued : “What is written in the media seems absurd. Nothing is clear yet. ”

“It’s a very serious charge that requires very strong evidence. In all cases, only a court can decide ” , reacted to his side of the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, to the Interfax news agency. To the question of knowing if President Vladimir Putin was informed of the arrest of his economy minister, he replied: “This is the night I do not know. ”

Biggest asset sale

The Russian state was sold on October 12, the giant group Rosneft for $ 5.2 billion, the sixth producer of oil in the country, Bashneft, based in the Bashkortostan region in southern Russia.

Mr. Oulioukaïev had announced in a statement that the sale of 50.07% stake in Bashneft Rosneft had been finalized and that the entire sale proceeds would be paid to the national budget. This was the biggest asset sale conducted this year by Moscow.

Rosneft’s candidacy was initially criticized by the government and the Kremlin, which had not initially considered a ‘privatization’ for the benefit of the group majority owned by the Russian state. The sales process was eventually revived and concluded.

A Rosneft spokesman told the state news agency TASS that the group would not comment on the investigation committee’s activities. He stressed that the repurchase of shares of Bashneft was conducted “in accordance with Russian law, based on the best commercial offer to the bank” charged with the transaction.