MOSCOW, November 2 - RAPSI. The court has extended on Wednesday the arrest of former Tula Governor Vyacheslav Dudka, who is charged with accepting a large bribe, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reported.

The Moscow court held for the investigators petition to extend Dudka's house arrest until January 6, 2012. The police expect to finish the preliminary investigation in his case by early 2012.

Dudka was placed under house arrest on September 6.

According to investigators, Dudka and Viktor Volkov, the head of the Tula Regional Property and Land Department, granted a 2.5 hectare land plot to a company for the construction of a supermarket in exchange for a 40 million ruble ($1.3 million) bribe in spring 2010.