The court ordered that Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev, accused of accepting two million dollars in bribes, be placed under house arrest for two months, reports Reuters.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that what happened was a blow to both the government and the authorities and emphasized that no one from the ministers to the governor has immunity when it comes to corruption.
Medvedev said that it is necessary to carry out a very detailed investigation, but he also emphasized that it is completely incomprehensible to him what happened.
Uljukaev appeared before the court earlier in the day, where he denied the accusations that he had accepted bribes, Tas s agency reports.
The agency also states that the prosecutor's office supports the request to put him under house arrest, reports Tas s.
"I intend to fully cooperate with the investigators," Ulyukaev said in front of the court.
His lawyer said that there is no evidence that Ulyukaev received bribes, while the media report, referring to materials from the court, that two witnesses testified against him.
Ulyukaev was arrested today after he was caught in the act of accepting a bribe in the amount of two million dollars, and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, in a conversation with President Vladimir Putin, requested an extensive investigation.
"We are talking about extortion of bribes, along with threats to representatives of (the Russian majority state-owned oil company) 'Rosneft'. Ulyukayev was caught in the act while receiving money," spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko told TAS S.
She previously told this agency that the Investigative Committee detained Minister Ulyukayev on the suspicion that he received two million dollars so that his ministry would give a positive opinion on "Rosneft's" purchase of 50 percent of the shares held by the Russian state in the oil company "Bashneft".
Ulyukaev has been under surveillance by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) for the past year, reports RIA Novosti.
Petrenkova added that the investigators plan to officially charge Ulyukaev soon and request his detention.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that the charges against Ulyukayev are "very serious" and "require very serious evidence."
"It's night, I don't know if this was reported to the president (Putin)," said Peskov.
In the meantime, the office of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced that he was aware of Ulyukayev's detention and stated that Medvedev had discussed this with Putin, advocating for an extensive investigation.
Reuters reports that Ulyukayev is the most senior Russian government official to be arrested since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
If it is proven that he is guilty, Ulajkajev faces a fine (from 80 to 100 percent of the sum with which he was bribed), but also the possibility of imprisonment for a period of 8 to 15 years.
Medvedev appointed Acting Minister of Economy
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev today appointed Deputy Economy Minister Yevgeny Yelin as Acting Economy Minister after his boss, Alexei Ulyukayev, was detained on charges of accepting bribes, the spokeswoman for the Russian government said.
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