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Detained Russian minister vows to cooperate, while investigator says he refuses to plead guilty

Xinhua, November 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

The detained Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukaev on Tuesday promised to cooperate with investigation, while an investigator said he had refused to plead guilty in a Moscow district court.

Earlier in the day, Russia's Investigative Committee announced the arrest of Ulyukaev on charges of taking a 2-million-USD bribe extorted from the country's energy giant Rosneft oil company.

According to the committee, Ulyukaev allegedly received the bribe from representatives of Rosneft with the use of threats" for providing positive appraisal given by the Russian Economic Development Ministry, which allowed Rosneft to buy a 50-percent stake of another state oil company, Bashneft.

"I am determined to cooperate with the investigators as much as possible, since my reputation and my good name can be restored only once the truth in the case has been established," Ulyukaev was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying in court.

However, RIA Novosti cited an unnamed investigator as saying that the minister refused to plead guilty in the court.

Ulyukaev's lawyer said that no evidence proving his client's guilt has been found yet and he asked the court to release the minister "in view of domestic economic situation."

The remarks was dismissed by the Investigative Committee, which retorted that it has obtained "convincing evidence, including documents, audio and video records, and testimony by witnesses."

Dmitry Peskov, Russia's presidential spokesman, told reporters earlier on Tuesday that president Vladimir Putin has not yet decided to dismiss the minister.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev asked to "thoroughly investigate" the case, and under his decree, the duties of Ulyukaev have been temporarily assumed by deputy economic development minister, Evgeny Ivanovich Elin.

Ulyukaev has been placed under house arrest for two months. Enditem