Ex-Minister of Economic Development of Russia Alexei Ulyukaev, convicted in the case of a bribe on an especially large scale, was released from the colony. At the end of April, it became known that the court decided on his parole.

Ulyukaev left IK-1 in Tver, the journalists at the scene report.

Several cars came to meet the former minister at once, including a Maybach with Moscow numbers, but in the end he sat in the back seat of a Land Rover. Ulyukaev did not make any statements to journalists.

Ulyukaev was sentenced to eight years in a strict regime colony in December 2017. The court found him guilty of accepting a $2 million bribe from Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin.

The ex-minister himself called himself a victim of a provocation. He served five of his eight years in prison.

On April 27, the Moscow District Court of Tver, having decided on parole, ruled that “the goals of punishment have been achieved.”

None of the participants in the process, when considering the petition, objected to parole and did not appeal the court decision until May 11. “There were no appeals to the court. Thus, on May 12, the court decision comes into force and Ulyukaev should be released immediately,” a court representative said the day before.

The prosecutor’s office and the administration of the colony “noted the good behavior” of the ex-minister, they said earlier in court.

Ulyukaev became the first acting federal minister in modern Russia to be arrested and put on trial. He served his sentence in colony No. 1 in Tver.

On December 15, 2017, the Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow sentenced Ulyukaev to eight years in a strict regime colony, accusing him of taking a $2 million bribe from the head of Rosneft.

According to investigators, this was a reward for the conclusion of the Ministry of Economic Development, which allowed the largest Russian oil company to claim the purchase of the state-owned stake in Bashneft.

Ulyukaev was arrested on November 14, 2016. Soon he was dismissed due to the loss of confidence.

The former minister pleaded not guilty and stated that Sechin and the head of the Rosneft security service, FSB General Oleg Feoktistov, staged a provocation by making a false denunciation of him.

“The FSB prepared for several weeks, waited for me to arrive, but I did not come,” Ulyukaev described in court the events preceding the episode with the transfer of $ 2 million at the Rosneft office. “Without waiting for me to arrive to receive the money, Sechin He personally called me and persuaded me to come.”

“A provocation of a bribe was committed due to Sechin’s deliberately false denunciation, on the basis of which the charge was fabricated, only on his testimony,” he said.

Speaking with the last word in court, the former minister of economic development of Russia asked for forgiveness for making compromises too often – “spinning in a bureaucratic round dance, accepting gifts, giving them himself.” Then he repeated again that a “monstrous provocation” had been committed against him.

The position of Sechin and the head of the security service of Rosneft was known only in retelling – the court sessions with their participation were held behind closed doors.

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