THE former economics minister of Russia has been handed an eight-year prison sentence after he was convicted of accepting a $2 million (£1.5m) bribe from President Vladimir Putin’s top associate.
The high-profile trial of Alexei Ulyukayev has been widely seen as part of infighting between Kremlin clans.
The 61-year-old was a prominent member of a group of liberal-minded technocrats in the Cabinet, while his nemesis Igor Sechin is the most prominent representative of the hard-line flank of the Russian elite.
Sechin heads Russia’s largest oil producer, Rosneft, and his clout seconds only that of Putin.
The case was viewed by many as Sechin’s personal vendetta against Ulyukayev, who had been critical of a Rosneft privatisation plan he proposed.
Ulyukayev was detained a year ago at Rosneft’s headquarters following a sting operation by the Federal Security Service.
Sechin claimed Ulyukayev was extorting a bribe in exchange for issuing a positive assessment of Rosneft’s bid to take over another oil company, Bashneft.
Ulyukayev denied the charges, claiming to have been set up.
In November 2016, Ulyukayev went to Rosneft’s office on Sechin’s invitation to discuss the company’s operations. He accepted a bag from him while leaving. He was then arrested by the FSB, which said it opened the bag and found it full of cash.
Ulyukayev testified at the trial that he thought that the bag contained several bottles of wine that Sechin had earlier promised as a gift to him.
In wire tapes played at the trial, Sechin was heard telling Ulyukayev to also take a basket of sausage.
Russian media say that Sechin, an avid hunter, has a habit of presenting his high-level connections with baskets of sausages from his butcher’s shop.
A Moscow court also ordered Ulyukayev to pay a $2.2m dollar (£1.6m) fine. The judge also ruled that he should be held in a maximum security prison. Ulyukayev’s lawyers said they would appeal.
Most observers had expected him to get a delayed sentence and be set free, and the former minister appeared shaken by the verdict.
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