A Moscow court has extended the pretrial house arrest of former Economic Development Minister Aleksei Ulyukayev by three months.
The Basmanny district court granted prosecutors' request for an extension on January 10, RFE/RL reports.
Ulyukayev is accused of taking a $2 million bribe in exchange for his approval to allow state oil giant Rosneft to purchase a majority stake in regional oil company Bashneft from the government.
Ulyukayev was arrested on November 15, becoming the highest-ranking Soviet or Russian government official to be arrested since the 1950s. President Vladimir Putin dismissed him from the government the next day.
