Putin dismisses economy minister - Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev after losing trust in him, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says.

Ulyukayev was detained on Monday night and charged with extorting a $US2 million ($A2.7 million) bribe from Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil company in a case that threatens to expose fault lines in Putin's inner circle.

Peskov told reporters that Ulyukayev's arrest did not concern a $US5 billion deal for Rosneft to purchase a stake in mid-sized oil producer Bashneft.

Ulyukayev has denied he is guilty of receiving bribes, a Russian investigator has told a court.

Ulyukayev, whose ministry has been overseeing a sell-off of state assets, is the highest-ranking Russian official to be arrested while in office since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.