Rosneft says may sue BBC for report in Ulyukayev’s case

MOSCOW, Nov 24 (PRIME) -- Russian oil major Rosneft may file a lawsuit over a BBC report of alleged interrogation protocols of Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin in a U.S. $2 million bribery case against former Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev, press secretary Mikhail Leontyev told reporters on Friday.

BBC quoted allegedly a protocol of Sechin’s interrogation as saying that no one heard his first conversation with Ulyukayev, when the former minister extorted the bribe, and that witnesses can only confirm the fact of the conversation, but not its content. But Ulyukayev’s lawyer Daredzhan Kveidze told PRIME that Sechin said that other people are able to confirm the fact of extortion.

“We do not rule out going to court,” Leontyev said when asked whether Rosneft may file a suit against the report.

“I don’t know what Ulyukayev’s lawyers said, they should do their own job at court. This is also applicable to BBC, as BBC is not a judicial authority and the switch of attention to BBC is absurd, I think. Do you have any reason to think that these documents are real? Do you have any idea why they are doing this?” he said.

“This is at least a misdemeanor at office, some black PR or falsification of protocols during legal proceedings at a time when these very documents are to become public and are to be considered by court very soon. Why are they doing this? I have an obvious idea that this is the tactics of the defense aimed at turning the proceedings into a comedy, because the only way to divert the blow away from a corrupt official that was caught red-handed is to discredit the legal process.”

Ulyukayev, the first government official arrested on suspicions of corruption, allegedly received the $2 million bribe in November 2016 for a positive outlook on privatization of oil company Bashneft by Rosneft. Now, he can face 15 years in prison if his guilt is proved. He pleaded not guilty in August 2017 and said it was a setup organized by Sechin and the Federal Security Service.

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