MOSCOW, December 15. /TASS/. Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky court stated on Friday that the evidence submitted and analyzed during the trial of former Russian Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukayev validates his guilt in the bribery case.
"[His] guilt is confirmed by all the evidence studied by the court," Judge Larisa Semyonova said, reading the verdict.
The trial of Ulyukayev, who was placed under house arrest on November 15, 2016, began on August 8. The court questioned 15 witnesses, while the prosecutors earlier said their number was 30.
The key witness, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, whose evidence was the basis for the charges, failed to appear in court.
The court examined the recordings of Ulyukayev’s phone conversations with Sechin, who had invited the former minister to Rosneft’s office late on November 14 and gave him a bag with money. The two million dollars, which had been provided by an unknown contibutor, was also shown in court. Besides, it was determined in court that the bag with $2 mln weighed almost 22 kg.
The verdict includes the evidence given by former Rosneft head of security, FSB General Oleg Feoktistov, who had suggested that Sechin should go to law enforcement agencies. The verdict also says that Ulyukayev made a remark that he had not known that the bag contained money, and he thought this was a wine gift. The lawyer earlier said Sechin had promised to treat Ulyukayev to "wine that he had never tasted in his whole life."