Moscow, April 15 - RAPSI.  The assistant of Russian Federal Fishery Agency (Rosrybolovstvo) head Igor Bukulin, who stands accused of extorting $250,000 for support in winning a catch quota tender, could not have affected the tender results, Andrey Krainiy, the head of the agency, told the Tverskoy District Court on Friday.

According to Krainiy, it would have been impossible to manipulate the tender results.

The second individual involved in the case is Russian Tradition Trade House General Director Alexander Vorobyov, who was detained alongside the Rosrybolovstvo official.

They have both pled not guilty.

Earlier, Anatoly Bagmet, the head of the Investigatory Committee, told RIA Novosti that Bukulin and Vorobyov are charged with accepting bribes from commercial company director for support in winning a Pacific salmon catch quota tender.

According to the investigation, Bukulin and Vorobyov extorted $250,000.

The investigation uncovered that a middleman was involved in receiving the bribe. They were detained while receiving a $90,000 tranche from the businessman.