Ex-EBRD director charged with attempted bribery

(AP) Russia's Interior Ministry says it has charged a former Russia director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development with conspiracy to take a $1.4 million bribe.

The police said in a statement on Tuesday that Yelena Kotova and a Russian banker combined their powers as well as links in the business community to negotiate the bribe from an unnamed Canadian oil and gas company in exchange for vetting a $95 million loan.

Kotova sat on the EBRD's board as Russia's representative between 2005 and 2010 when she was dismissed to allow the investigation to proceed. The bank then asked authorities in Russia and the UK to lift her immunity and that of three other EBRD officials.

The London-based EBRD was not immediately available for comment.