MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/. Moscow City Court legitimized the decision to extend the house arrest of the former Economic Development Minister of the Russian Federation Aleksei Ulyukayev accused of taking a bribe of $2 mln, until mid-April, TASS correspondent reports from the courtroom.

"To leave the ruling of Moscow’s Basmanny District Court unchanged, to reject the appeal of the protection," the judge announced the decision.

Ulyukayev was detained on November 14, 2016, while allegedly receiving a $2 mln bribe in exchange for the Economic Development Ministry’s consent to give the go-ahead to the oil major Rosneft’s acquisition of a 50.08% stake in another oil company, Bashneft, and was put under house arrest. On November 15, President Vladimir Putin dismissed Ulyukayev from his high-ranking post citing loss of trust.