Russian government to meet on Wednesday, ahead of schedule

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian government will hold an urgent meeting at midday on Wednesday, Valentina Matvienko, speaker of the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, told senators, the Interfax news agency reported.

President Vladimir Putin dismissed Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev on Tuesday over allegations he extorted a $2 million bribe from top oil producer Rosneft in a case that could expose fault lines in the Russian leader's inner circle.

The Russian government said in a statement cited by RIA news agency that Wednesday's meeting was routine and had been brought forward by one day from Thursday because of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's schedule.

(Reporting by Polina Devitt; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Christian Lowe)

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