Russian ex-minister jailed for bribery released on parole

Former Russian economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev, who in 2017 was sentenced to eight years on bribery charges, walked free Thursday after he was granted early release.

He was accused of taking a $2-million bribe from Igor Sechin, the head of state energy giant Rosneft and close ally of President Vladimir Putin.

Ulyukayev, who denied the charges and accused Sechin on entrapping him, was the highest-ranking official to be arrested during Putin’s two decades in power.

In late April, a court in Tver — a city northwest of Moscow where Ulyukayev was serving his sentence — said it granted his request for an early release.

State prosecutors did not appeal the decision.

On Thursday, images from state TV showed Ulyukayev leaving the penal colony in a car. He did not speak to the reporters gathered outside.

Ulyukayev, who became economic development minister in 2013, was arrested at Rosneft’s headquarters in 2016 after being handed a bag containing $2 million by Sechin, who had asked security forces to set up a sting.

Sechin told investigators that Ulyukayev had demanded the bribe in return for backing a controversial deal in which Rosneft acquired a stake in Bashneft, another state-run oil group.

The former minister said he believed the bag contained expensive wines that Sechin had promised him to celebrate the deal.

Sechin did not attended the court hearings despite being summoned as a witness.