Russia's former economics minister has been sentenced to eight years in a maximum security prison after being convicted of accepting a $2 million bribe.

Alexei Ulyukayev, the highest-ranking Russian official to have been arrested since 1993, was detained last year at the headquarters of Russia's largest oil producer, Rosneft, after a sting operation by Russia's main intelligence agency. 

Ulyukayev has denied the charges and said Rosneft's chief executive Igor Sechin, a longtime ally of President Vladimir Putin, set him up.

A Moscow court on Friday also ordered Ulyukayev to pay a $2.2 million- fine. Prosecutors earlier this month asked the court to send him to a high-security prison for ten years. (AP)