MOSCOW, October 27 (RAPSI) - The former head of Russia’s Udmurt Republic Alexander Solovyov had filed an appeal against a 10-year prison sentence passed on him in a 140 million-ruble (about $1.8 million) bribery case, RAPSI was told in the press office of the republican community of judges on Tuesday.

Solovyov was sentenced to a maximum security penal colony in mid-October. He was found guilty of bribe-taking on an especially large scale. In addition to the 10-year prison term he was fined 275 million rubles (about $3.6 million at the current exchange rate).

In the course of the probe the former official admitted guilt and cooperated with investigators; he presented detailed information about the crimes he had been charged with; nevertheless, he changed his position at the court hearings saying he did not commit bribery, the statement reads.

According to the charging documents, in 2014-2016, Solovyov received bribes amounting to 140 million rubles from representatives of organizations behind the construction of bridge crossings over the Kama and Buy rivers in the Udmurt Republic.

On April 4, 2017, Solovyov was relieved of his position on decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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