MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/. Russia’s Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev has been taken to Moscow’s Basmanny Court, which will examine the investigators’ request to choose house arrest as a measure of restraint for the minister in the bribery case, the court’s press office told TASS on Tuesday.
The court has already received the investigator’s request for choosing house arrest for Ulyukayev as a measure of restraint, court spokeswoman Yunona Tsaryova told TASS.
"The court has received the materials on choosing house arrest as a measure of restraint for Ulyukayev. Their examination will soon begin," she said.
This is the first case that a federal minister has been detained in contemporary Russia.
Spokeswoman for Russia’s Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko earlier said that Ulyukayev had been detained the other day while receiving a bribe for the Economy Ministry’s positive conclusion that allowed oil giant Rosneft to purchase 50.08% of the shares of mid-sized oil producer Bashneft from the government.
The economy minister is accused of bribe extortion linked with threats against Rosneft officials, the spokeswoman said.
At the same time, the investigation does not question the deal, in which Rosneft bought a controlling stake in Bashneft, and the share acquisition is not the subject matter of the investigation, the Investigative Committee spokeswoman said.