The BBC Russian service published the contents of Sechin’s interrogations in the Ulyukaev case

The head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, was repeatedly summoned to court in the case of the former head of the Ministry of Economic Development, Alexei Ulyukaev, but he, under various pretexts, avoided questioning and promised that he would not appear in court until the end of the year. The BBC Russian service got acquainted with the interrogation protocols of the head of Rosneft Igor Sechin, which he gave during the preliminary investigation.

Sechin was interrogated three times: on the morning of November 15, 2016 in a company car, in one of Rosneft’s offices on Sofiyskaya Embankment on January 17, and on May 31, 2017.

During the first interrogation, Sechin said that Ulyukaev demanded a bribe from him “in October-November 2016.” Only during the second interrogation did the head of Rosneft clarify that on October 15, at the summit in Goa, the minister “during the daytime in the hotel building during a conversation” began discussing the privatization of Bashneft. The deal had already been approved by the government at that time, and the minister, according to Sechin, “asked to thank him in some way for the positive decision by paying a so-called bonus.” Sechin clarified how to understand this request.

"Ulyukaev A.V. with a gesture in the form of two fingers, he showed the amount of the remuneration he required, specifying verbally that this gesture corresponds to 2 million US dollars. About the said proposal of Ulyukaev A.V. I promised to think about it,” says Sechin’s interrogation protocol.

According to him, their conversation with Ulyukaev was seen by Rosneft security officers, but no one else heard. Ulyukaev himself denies such a conversation, and witnesses to their conversation interrogated in court said that they did not see such gestures .

Sechin told the investigator that after returning from Goa, he told the head of the Rosneft security service, Oleg Feoktistov, about Ulyukaev’s demand, and together they contacted the FSB. Both Feoktistov and Sechin agreed to participate in the operational experiment, during which Alexey Ulyukaev was detained on November 14, 2016.

During interrogation on January 17, Sechin said that it was Ulyukaev who called him around noon and asked for a meeting - the call the head of Rosneft regarded as a “repeated demand for a bribe.” He named Feoktistov as a witness to the conversation.

At the same time, Sechin clarified that Ulyukaev, having learned about his departure on November 15 on a business trip, did not want to reschedule the meeting and offered to meet at the Rosneft office on the same day.

As the BBC notes, these words of the head of Rosneft contradict the materials of wiretapping Sechin’s phone announced in court . It was the head of the oil company who called Ulyukaev and asked him to come to the office, since Sechin “had unfulfilled instructions” and “a lot of questions had accumulated there.”

During the interrogation, Igor Sechin told how 2 million dollars, treated with a special solution, were packaged for the operational experiment. They were placed in a bag locked with a key, and the key to the bag was placed in an envelope “in order to prevent premature contact of any persons other than the bribe recipient with the bag.”

“Feoktistov O.V. put the key to the lock that locked the said bag in my pocket,” Sechin clarified.

The head of Rosneft recalled that he and Ulyukaev met in front of the garage in the Rosneft yard, and the minister was very lightly dressed: “I offered him a jacket. He refused, citing his habit of traveling short distances without a jacket,” Sechin noted. After that, they approached the place where a bag with money was standing in the yard.

“A short conversation took place between us, in which I told A.V. Ulyukaev that “the volume was collected,” thus denoting a bribe,” Sechin said. According to him, Ulyukaev “did not ask him any questions” and “did not express surprise at receiving a heavy bag of money from me.” “He was not interested in the contents of the bag and the need for a key to it, which clearly indicated his full awareness of the purpose of the visit to Rosneft and the contents of the bag,” the interrogation report says.

FSB officers gave Sechin recording equipment, and this conversation between the minister and the head of Rosneft was also read out in court. Sechin’s retelling does not contradict Ulyukaev’s phrases, which can be heard on the recording, however, the expert invited by the defense noted that from the conversation it cannot be concluded that Ulyukaev was aware that there was a bribe in the bag.

Igor Sechin, as the main witness for the prosecution, has repeatedly called to the Zamoskvoretsky District Court, which is considering the case of Alexey Ulyukaev, but never appeared, citing his lack of employment. At a meeting on November 22, his lawyer said that “Sechin’s employment is expected to increase by the end of the year.”

The head of the Ministry of Economic Development, Alexey Ulyukaev, was detained on November 14, 2016, and after the arrest he was removed from office. Ulyukaev has been charged with receiving a bribe on an especially large scale, associated with extortion (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, he received $2 million from Igor Sechin “for a positive assessment allowing PJSC NK Rosneft to carry out a transaction to acquire a state-owned stake in PJSC ANK Bashneft in the amount of 50%.” Ulyukaev denies guilt and insists that Sechin and FSB General Oleg Feoktistov participated in a provocation against him.