While Vladimir Putin remains firmly in control at the top, signs of power struggle under his watch have surfaced. His Economic Minister has been charged with extortion after an investigation showed that a $2-million bribe was paid to him by state-controlled oil company Rosneft.
An outspoken supporter of a free enterprise economic reform, Alexei Ulyukaev becomes the first active senior Russian official to be arrested since 1991 when the former Soviet Union crumbled. A former Deputy Chairman for the Russian Central Bank in 2004, the disgraced public servant has been installed on his current position since 2013.
According to the Investigative Committee, a federal group that scrutinizes major crimes, the suspect has been caught receiving the money. The bribe has been intended as payment for the ministry's favorable evaluation which should give Rosneft the opportunity to acquire a 50-percent stake in the smaller oil firm Basneft.
As ordered by a court in Moscow, Ulyukaev will be put under house arrest for a couple of months. It remains unclear how long the Economic Minister had been involved in such a scrupulous affair although the Ria Novosti news agency reported that the Russian official was under surveillance for a year.
After Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev relayed the development to President Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader promptly relieves Ulyukaev from his post. Yevgeny Yelin has been designated as acting minister.
According to Timofei Gridnev, counsel for the accused, Ulyukaev thinks that what happened at the Rosneft office was a provocative act. The sacked Minister has denied the charges against him.
The Basneft group has been on the radar after the Russian government seized it from former owner Vladimir Yevtushenkov a couple of years ago due to unlawful takeover. From the beginning, Rosneft's supposed acquisition of the smaller firm has already been tainted considering that selling a state-managed entity does not justify the privatization of Basneft.
In fact, the Russian Prime Minister is against the move. The deal has only made headway when Putin gives the go-signal for the transaction to proceed. Discrete political manipulations between rival officials have long been occurring in Putin's government. The internal discourse has pitted former spies and economists against each other due to ideological differences.
In an interesting commentary, former Energy Minister Vladimir Milov thinks that the Economic official's apprehension will caution other members in the cabinet not to oppose the plans of Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin who happens to be Putin's former personal secretary.
If convicted, Alexei Ulyukaev will be facing a 15-year prison sentence.
