Court finds former Russian minister guilty

Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow has found former Russian economic development minister Alexey Ulyukaev guilty of a large-scale bribe taking.

“Ulykaev is guilty of taking bribe while taking an official post,” Judge Larisa Semyonova announced at the trial. The court found no bribery provocation in actions of Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin. The verdict says that Sechin “agreed with the unlawful claim of Ulyukaev,” but then turned to the law enforcement bodies.

Earlier, the state prosecution said it believes that the former minister’s guilt of receiving the $2mn bribe from Igor Sechin is completely proven. According to the investigation, the reason for the bribe was Ulyukaev’s conclusion that Rosneft was incapable of participating in privatization of Bashneft company. The prosecutor asked for a ten-year sentence for Ulyukaev and a 500-mn rubles fine. The defense insisted upon complete acquittal and taking the witnesses from the prosecution to responsibility for false denunciation.