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Rosneft CEO to testify in court in ex-economy minister case

The interrogation of Sechin will be held in private

Igor Sechin Vladimir Smirnov/TASS

Igor Sechin

© Vladimir Smirnov/TASS

MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. Chief Executive Officer of Rosneft Igor Sechin appeared in the Moscow City Court on Thursday for testimony during the session on the complaint against the sentence to Russia’s ex-minister of economic development Alexei Ulyukayev, TASS reports from the courtroom.

The interrogation of Sechin will be held in private.

"The issue regarding acquisition of Bashneft company’s shares should be examined, which constitutes a commercial secret," the judge said, adding that the hearing will continue in public after the interrogation of Sechin.

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Alexei Ulyukayev requested interrogation of Sechin in open court.

Ulyukayev’s defense requested an acquittal or probation for the ex-minister.

On December 15, 2017, Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky Court sentenced Ulyukayev to eight years in a maximum security correctional facility and a 130-mln ruble ($2.2 mln) fine for taking a bribe. He was also banned from serving as a state official for eight years after he will have served out his sentence, but he was not stripped of state awards.

Ulyukayev, who remained under house arrest during the investigation, was taken into custody in the courtroom and is being held in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center.

The defense attorney earlier filed an appeal against the sentence.

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