Russian minister’s arrest exposes fault lines in Vladimir Putin’s inner circle
Moscow — Russian law enforcement officials detained Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev on corruption charges linked to a $5bn acquisition by state oil giant Rosneft, in a case that could lay bare the fault lines in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. Ulyukayev, a 60-year-old technocrat whose ministry has been overseeing a sell-off of state assets, is the highest-ranking Russian official to be arrested while in office since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Investigative Committee, the state agency that investigates major crimes, said Ulyukayev received a $2m bribe in exchange for signing off on Rosneft’s purchase of a stake in mid-sized oil producer Bashneft. "The minister is detained," the committee said in a statement. "In the near future investigators plan to bring charges against Alexei Ulyukayev." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin had been informed about the case when the investigation was launched. "These are serious allegations," Peskov...
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