Why was Ulyukaev actually detained? “The Ulyukaev Case” and the secret budget of the Putin system. Why did they come for Ulyukaev?

Former Russian Minister of Economic Development Aleksey Ulyukaev, accused of bribery, gave his last word in the Zamoskvoretsky court. The defendant once again told in detail how he was provoked to take a bag with money, and explained why he was framed and who benefited from it.

Bribe for a discount on privatization

Former head of the Ministry of Economic Development Alexey Ulyukaev made the last word in the Zamoskvoretsky court, where his criminal case on charges of a bribe of $2 million is being considered. Earlier, the prosecutor had already appeared before the court, demanding 10 years in prison for the defendant, and Ulyukaev’s lawyers, who refuted all the prosecution’s arguments and asked acquittal for their client.

First, Ulyukaev reminded those gathered about the events of November 14, 2016, when the minister was detained - he was persistently invited to his office by the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin. Having met the guest at the door, Sechin did not let him come to his senses and immediately handed him a bag with money, which, as Ulyukaev himself believed, contained wine, since the top manager of the oil company who had previously invited him had promised such a gift. The meeting and transfer of money took place in just 19 seconds. Then Sechin had a terse conversation with Ulyukaev and hastily escorted him out of the company, the defendant recalls. After this, Alexey Ulyukaev wondered who benefited from his arrest?

“And who benefits - this is obvious! By order of the Russian government, investors had to pay 710.2 billion rubles for Rosneft shares (for the privatization of the state corporation’s share) - the company itself announced this amount to the government. The high selling price of the Rosneft stake was the main argument used by the company, offering to give it Bashneft. But in fact, Rosneft paid a completely different amount - 18 billion rubles less. This is a huge amount for Russia’s budget deficit in 2016. The organizers [of the bribe provocation] reasonably sought to eliminate the critic they could listen to. In addition, the president’s condition was directly violated - not to use the money of Russian banks to purchase Bashneft,” Ulyukaev revealed the motives of those who provoked him to take a bribe.

Finally, Alexey Ulyukaev noted that Sechin himself never appeared in court for questioning, as he fears liability for giving false testimony - the ex-minister has no doubt that he would have brought him to light.

“Why didn’t Sechin appear in court? Obviously because he was afraid of liability for giving false testimony. I ask the court to send a request to the Investigative Committee to conduct an investigation into the fact of a knowingly false denunciation and provocation,” the official concluded.

The next court hearing is scheduled for December 7 - during the hearing the court will have to announce the verdict on the case.

There have never been such cases in Russia - the former Minister of Economic Development was sentenced by the Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow to 8 years in a maximum security colony for receiving a bribe on an especially large scale. The court found that Ulyukaev’s guilt was fully proven, although he himself never admitted guilt and throughout the entire trial he called what was happening a provocation.

Alexey Ulyukaev was detained a little over a year ago and was immediately sent under house arrest. The case, as it turned out, was connected with the process of takeover of Bashneft "" - according to the statement of the head of Rosneft that the minister demanded $2 million in order not to interfere with the resolution of the deal, the FSB took on Ulyukaev.

The process turned out to be scandalous - by and large, from the evidence that was presented publicly, it did not even clearly follow that a bribe took place at all. Moreover, it was impossible to say that extortion took place. As it turned out later, the investigation had only the words of Igor Sechin, and the story was based on the gesture with fingers raised in the letter V, made by Alexei Ulyukaev after winning a billiard game. These fingers, according to Sechin, should have been interpreted as “two million.”

Then there was the famous spy story with the “sausage basket”, the scandalous leak to the media of audio recordings of conversations between Ulyukaev and Sechin, Sechin’s categorical refusal to appear in court, Ulyukaev’s sensational last word, in which he suddenly began to repent to the people for his frivolous and hypocritical bureaucratic life (“good , but it’s too late,” social networks unanimously noted). Towards the end of the process, retired FSB General Oleg Feoktistov, who was called the main character in the arrest of Ulyukaev, unexpectedly left the post of head of the Rosneft security service, switching to a sinecure at the Peresvet bank.

Where are the landings? Here are the landings

In general, the story is quite well known, and it remains to be seen what it may mean in the context of social relations in the country; first of all, does it mean the onset of some new period in these relations, a change in the rules of the game. After all, it is obvious that one of the basic principles of Vladimir Putin was violated - “not to give up your own.” The case of the ex-Minister of Defense, as it turned out, did not reach the court, the ex-Minister of Sports, and now Deputy Prime Minister, is not resigning despite the most serious accusations from international organizations, and Alexey Ulyukaev received a full conviction. His case did not fall apart, and the charges were not even softened. He was "surrendered".

Compare with how the Russian elites reacted to the arrest of a senator and billionaire in France: an entire prosecutor general flew to the rescue and said that “it is wrong when people with a special status can be arrested so easily.” Alexey Ulyukaev, meanwhile, was arrested quite easily.

The previous similar case of comparable scale - the planting back in 2005 - although it did not lead to mass plantings of large entrepreneurs, it changed the rules of the game. It became clear that the oligarchs could no longer engage in politics on their own, under any circumstances. Probably, the sentence to Ulyukaev should show that something is also impossible now. Eight years in prison is not just an abstract “signal”, it is a direct indication.

The pre-election factor also played a role. Putin’s slogan “where are the landings?” from the point of view of flirting with the voter, it was high time for it to be at least somehow realized at the highest level. The TV viewer is unlikely to understand the details; for him, the phrase “the minister was imprisoned for a bribe” is enough.

However, we are not talking about embezzlement. Even the money for the bribe, according to the case materials, was provided to Igor Sechin by a certain “investor” Valery Mikhailov. That is, there is not a public interest here, but a private one - a conflict with a person who was already considered one of the most powerful people in the country, and is now even more strengthened in this image.

Stranger among "friends"

There are quite a lot of dubious statements in the case, and if you believe information from anonymous sources who claim that in general the practice of informal payments for speeding up bureaucratic procedures is widespread, then it becomes unclear why right now Igor Sechin suddenly decided to slam his fist on the table because of a not at all prohibitive, in general, on the scale of Rosneft, the amount (120 million rubles - for that amount, for example, Gazprom ordered an exclusive tablet for), and why Vladimir Putin chose not to nip the conflict in the bud, although one telephone call was probably enough for him to do this call. You never know who in the government is at odds with anyone - after all, the minister could have simply been dismissed.

They say that Alexey Ulyukaev behaved too independently in the government and allowed himself to be sarcastic and argue even with the president at meetings. The point, one might assume, is this too: if at first influential people in Russia were only required to follow the general rules of the game, now, in difficult economic conditions, it becomes necessary to demonstrate personal, guard loyalty in everyday communication, and resign here, if necessary. , you won't get away with it.

Yes, Igor Sechin turned out to be definitely more “at home” for the president than Alexey Ulyukaev, and will always be so - many experts made the simplest conclusion. Putin knew Sechin from the Leningrad City Council and Leningrad State University, while Ulyukaev came from Yegor Gaidar’s team, that is, a man of the “dashing 1990s,” and, perhaps, therefore could not be considered an ally of Putin. Nevertheless, Ulyukaev was hired by the government and was rated as a professional, but, as it turned out, he was there “on a bird’s license”, which is something that other ministers, except, perhaps, Vitaly Mutko, probably need to think about. The unsinkability of the sports minister rhymes well with the boundless trust in the head of Rosneft - personal attachments at the peak moment turn out to be stronger than anything else. A bold and clear line has been drawn between hired professionals and the inner circle.

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The stupid arrest of Ulyukaev disrupted our investigation into him. True, it’s our own fault - we found his offshore two years ago, but shelved it.

I have no doubt that Ulyukaev is a swindler:

1. Here are the documents for his Cypriot offshore, which we found a long time ago. Formally, it belongs to Ulyukaev-papa, but if Alexey Ulyukaev himself is now 60, then his dad is definitely over 80. I strongly doubt that he is running some kind of business and for this he needs a Cypriot company.

The offshore company was registered on May 19, 2011, that is, when Ulyukaev was the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank, it was an active company.

We did not find what was registered in her name, but we assume that in this way Ulyukaev hid foreign real estate from declaration.

Now it’s not so interesting to do this - Ulyukaev will cease to be an official - maybe some journalists will dig into it.

2. Income.

In 2015, he had 60 million and his wife 15. This is four times more than the salary of the US President. It is clear that this is the same “business” as that of Volodin, Surkov and all other government officials - simply the legalization of corrupt income.

This is a special investigator (brought from Volgograd) who is used in political matters, when you need to invent everything. Forgery specialist.

This all looks like a bad joke, and not a single word of the investigators/operatives can be trusted. Which in no way excludes the first part of my post.

The real reason for the detention, in my opinion, is simply a planned nightmare of the elites. The elites fear and hate Putin. He fears their betrayal, so he does what all authoritarian leaders do in such cases: from Stalin to the leader of the Tumbo-Yumbo tribe. Periodically represses some unexpected character, so that the rest are afraid, talk less and snitch on each other more actively. Either Geyser, then Belykh, then Ulyukaev.

The entire government consists of swindlers; anyone can be imprisoned. There is a crook's inner circle, and there is a distant one. Ulyukaev is from further away, like the rest of the “detained corrupt officials”, the risk is higher there. Well, it’s clear that when someone gets a black mark, it’s beneficial to someone else. In this case, probably Sechin. Well, not Sechin, but Figechin, what difference does it make: toads and vipers.

The verdict has been passed on the former Minister of Economic Development, convicted of attempting to receive a bribe from the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin. Hundreds of journalists, including reporters from the Russian-language channel Deutsche Welle, watched one of the most high-profile trials of 2017.

In his last word, Ulyukaev, hoping for an acquittal, assured the court that he had become a victim of provocation - however, the verdict of the servants of Themis turned out to be disappointing for him: 8 years of strict regime and a 130 million ruble fine. The case was based on the testimony of FSB General Oleg Feoktistov, who was interrogated behind closed doors - the security officer claimed that it was he who, as part of an investigative experiment, handed Sechin a bag with two million dollars, who handed it over to the accused, allegedly as a token of gratitude for the privatization of Bashneft. According to the ex-minister, he did not even suspect that there might be money there, counting on an expensive gift in the form of elite alcohol - as a result, the details of the essence of his agreement with Igor Ivanovich could not be found out. As prosecutor Boris Neporozhny explained, for all the subpoenas sent to the executive director of the largest Russian oil and gas company, documents were received indicating the latter's business trips on the days when the hearings were held. By the way, four years ago, the same prosecutor participated in the trial related to the criminal case of accepting a bribe by the former Tula governor Vyacheslav Dudka, which ultimately resulted in a prison sentence of 9.5 years for the official.

DW columnist Roman Goncharenko, referring to the opinion of the court, "explains that the sentence passed by the Zamoskvoretsky court is not as severe as possible, since in this situation a punishment of 10 or even 15 years in prison could be quite realistic. If you believe the version Alexey Valentinovich himself about the provocation staged against him, then the matter here could be not only in the privatization of Bashneft and the sale of the state stake in Rosneft - it is known that the minister’s opinion on these transactions was indeed disapproving, but with all his desire he could not prevent their implementation alone. Perhaps a significant role in the relationship between the two high-ranking officials was played by Ulyukaev’s views expressed during closed meetings and causing disapproval from the president on issues within his competence. For example, he repeatedly allowed himself to publicly declare the critical state of the Russian economy. , and the reports and forecasts he prepared about the state of affairs in this area were not always rosy.

Even though the leadership of the Ministry of Economic Development generally shared the position of most experts on the passage of the economic bottom, the former head of the department still believed that difficult years of stagnation awaited Russia in the near future. Surely, some of these statements might not have pleased the higher authorities, and almost simultaneously with the start of the new presidential race, Ulyukaev went to places not so remote. Thus, the elites were given a clear signal to consolidate in anticipation of the start of a possible confrontation with the West, and at the same time, the goal was achieved to remind all those who finally believed in their absolute infallibility of the need for at least formal compliance with the letter of the law. If Putin wants to make the fight against corruption one of the main themes of his election campaign, it is possible that new high-profile revelations await us, especially since in Russian society there is a huge demand for this kind of sensation, Goncharenko concludes.

Alexey Ulyukaev. Photo: Kirill Zykov/Moscow Agency

The Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow found former Minister of Economic Development Alexey Ulyukaev guilty of receiving a bribe (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) from the head of Rosneft Igor Sechin and sentenced him to eight years of strict regime and a fine of 130 million rubles. The judge ordered 61-year-old Ulyukaev to be taken into custody in the courtroom.

The prosecutor asked to sentence the former minister to ten years in a maximum security colony and a fine of 500 million rubles.

The court found that Ulyukaev demanded a bribe of two million dollars from Sechin during the Goa summit, using the authority of his position. The former minister, as the court ruled, acted in selfish interests.

“Ulyukaev used the authority of his position to demand a bribe from the head of Rosneft Sechin for giving a positive opinion [on the purchase of Bashneft]. At the same time, he promised Sechin to further hinder the company’s activities in case of refusal,” the verdict says.

Interfax writes that the court sentenced Ulyukaev to the minimum prison term prescribed by his charges. The defendant's defense will appeal the court's decision.

Ulyukaev did not admit his guilt. Before sentencing, he wished himself a long and happy life.

“I can say one thing: don’t renounce the scrip and prison. I wish myself a long and happy life,” Ulyukaev said, answering a journalist’s question about what he wishes for himself before the verdict. The former minister added that this could happen to anyone. “Prepare in advance,” he said.

Ulyukaev came to court without his belongings and in a cheerful mood. He said that he slept normally at night and did not read books before bed, since he reads them only during the day. Someone managed to give him a bouquet of white roses. Journalists asked who gave the flowers. “They say it’s a fan. The main thing is that the wife doesn’t find out,” the former minister answered, laughing.

The announcement of the verdict included the novices of one of the monasteries. They said that they would pray for Ulyukaev, but he admitted that he was an atheist.

The former minister spoke cautiously about his prospects. He completely ruled out a return to the ministerial post, comparing himself to the “dirty white crow” in the government, expressed hope for an acquittal and again promised to defend the interests of the people in the future.

TASS

According to investigators, Ulyukaev received two million dollars from the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, for patronage in the deal to purchase Bashneft. Sechin stated that Ulyukaev demanded a bribe for a positive conclusion on the deal. According to Ulyukaev, Sechin set him up; the court summoned the head of Rosneft to testify five times, but he never appeared at the hearings.

Before handing over a bag of money to Ulyukaev (according to the former minister, he thought it contained wine), Sechin contacted law enforcement agencies with a statement about extorting a bribe. Ulyukaev was detained immediately after receiving the bag, then President Vladimir Putin