MOSCOW, December 4 (RAPSI) – A prosecutor has asked a judge to sentence Russia’s economy ex-minister Alexey Ulyukayev charged with bribery to ten years in a high security penal colony, RAPSI correspondent reports from the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow on Monday.

He also requested to fine Ulyukayev 500 million rubles (nearly $8.5 million).

Ulyukayev's defense insists on his innocence.

The former minister stands charged with taking $2 million in bribes. He was arrested while receiving an alleged bribe in mid-November 2016.

According to the Investigative Committee, he threatened to create obtrusions for Rosneft with the use of his position. On November 15, 2016, Ulyukayev was put under house arrest. Later in the evening, President Vladimir Putin relieved Ulyukayev of his post because of loss of trust.

Ulyukayev pleaded not guilty and stated that he believed the case was fabricated. The defendant noted that there was a provocation, orchestrated by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and that there was no sound evidence in the case, aside from a testimony provided by CEO of the country’s largest oil corporation Rosneft Igor Sechin.

The court has seized 15 property items and over 564 million rubles ($9.5 million) belonging to Ulyukayev as part of the case.