Russia's economy minister arrested on bribery charge

MOSCOW, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Russian Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukayev was arrested and charged with accepting a $2 million bribe, Russia's Investigative Committee said Tuesday.

Ulyukayev, 60, is Russia's highest-level official and first federal minister arrested since the 1991 change in government. He was detained by police in the middle of the night, a Soviet-era tactic not seen in Russia in years, the New York Times noted Tuesday. Ulyukayev has led an effort to sell off and redirect key government assets to deal with Russia's prolonged economic recession. He allegedly accepted a $2 million bribe for his ministry's approval of the sale of part of Bashneft to Rosneft. Both are government-owned oil production companies.

Rosneft paid $5 billion for a 50 percent stake in Bashneft in October, an agreement that left some Russian liberals wondering why the stake was not sold to the private sector. Even Russian President Vladimir Putin was surprised to learn of the government's recommendation that the sale go forward.

"This is about the extortion of a bribe from Rosneft representatives accompanied by threats," Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said. "Ulyukayev was caught red-handed as he received the bribe."

Putin has not yet dismissed Ulyukayev from his position, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding the arrest "is a very serious accusation which calls for very serious evidence" and that the courts would determine Ulyukayev's guilt or innocence.

At least three regional governors have been arrested on bribery charges since Russia's recession started in 2014. Ulyukayev's arrest is the first time corruption charges have been leveled at anyone in the Kremlin administration.