MOSCOW -- A high-profile corruption case shook Russia's establishment and appeared to shed light on rifts within President Vladimir Putin's inner circle on Tuesday, after authorities detained the country's economic development minister on suspicion he took a $2 million bribe over a controversial privatization deal. The Investigative Committee said in a statement that Ulyukayev had been detained as part of a probe into large-scale bribe taking, for which he could face a jail term of between 8 and 15 years. Russia's Investigative Committee, the state agency that probes major crimes, said Ulyukayev was caught "in the act" of receiving the $2 million bribe in exchange for signing off on the $5 billion acquisition last month by the state-run oil giant Rosneft of a 50 percent stake in a smaller state-owned company, Bashneft. Russian state-owned television early on Tuesday ran Ulyukayev’s detention as the top story headlined “Fight on corruption.”

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, told the RIA Novosti news agency that the president had been informed of the FSB operation in its planning stage. RIA Novosti cited a law enforcement source as saying that Ulyukayev was detained as part of “sting operation” after investigators received “serious evidence” from “tapping his conversations and the conversations of his associates”. Rosneft’s acquisition of Bashneft last month was the focus of a major turf war between rival Kremlin camps, sources close to the deal and in the government have told Reuters. Medvedev and Putin spoke about the detention, Medvedev’s office said, adding: “The prime minister believes that the most painstaking investigation of this case is required.”

A Rosneft spokesman, Mikhail Leontyev, was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency that the company saw no risk to the Bashneft deal. MOSCOW (AP) — A long-serving Russian minister has been detained over an alleged $2 million bribe in an investigation of the most senior government official to face charges in years, investigators said Tuesday.
Russia arrests Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukaev for allegedly seeking a bribe to approve the sale of 50 per cent of Bashneft to state-run oil producer Rosneft last month.