Russian economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev detained over $2 million bribe

Russia's economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev has been detained over a $2-million bribe allegedly received for a "positive" assessment, which led to oil producer Rosneft acquiring a 50 percent stake in Bashneft , the country's Investigative Committee said on Tuesday.

Ulyukayev, who was appointed economy minister in 2013, is the highest-ranked Russian statesman arrested since the failed coup in 1991."This is about extortion of a bribe from Rosneft representatives accompanied by threats," Svetlana Petrenko, a spokesperson for the Investigative Committee, told Ria Novosti news agency.

"Ulyukayev was caught red-handed as he received a bribe," she said.The Investigative Committee, which directly reports to president Vladimir Putin, said the investigation would put forward charges soon.

"Ulyukayev was detained at night, immediately after interrogation," an Investigative Committee official told Reuters.It was not immediately clear what exactly Ulyukayev, who has overseen massive government privatisation, has been accused of.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Tass news agency that "this is a serious accusation"."In any case, only a court is able to decide anything," he was quoted as saying.Kremlin-controlled Rosneft bought 50 percent of Bashneft for 330 billion roubles (£4 billion) in October.

A Rosneft spokesperson told the Tass news agency that the Bashneft stake was acquired "in accordance with Russian law on the basis of the best commercial offer made to the operating bank".