Boris Berezovsky

Boris Abramovich Berezovsky is a Russian businessman, mathematician, member of Russian Academy of Sciences and political refugee from Russia under British protection. He is best known for his role as a Russian oligarch, media tycoon and prominent politician during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s. He has been described by critics as the epitome of Russian "robber capitalism", but he denies having ever taken part in the violence that tainted Russian business during that era. Berezovsky was at the height of his power in the later Yeltsin years, when he was deputy secretary of Russia's security council, a friend of Boris Yeltsin's daughter Tatyana Dyachenko, and a member of the Yeltsin inner circle, or "family". Berezovsky made his fortune by capturing state assets at knockdown prices during Russia's rush towards privatisation. He took ownership of the Sibneft oil company and became the main shareholder in the country's main television channel, ORT, which he turned into a propaganda vehicle for Boris Yeltsin in the run-up to the 1996 presidential election. It is said that, in contrast to Russian entrepreneurs such as Vladimir Gusinsky, Berezovsky did not enrich any of the enterprises with which he became involved or took over (e.g. Sibneft, ORT, the car dealership Avtovaz, Omsk Oil Refinery, National Sports Fund, and aluminum smelters Bratsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Novokuznetsk), but instead drained them of cash. Although he helped Vladimir Putin enter the "family", and funded the party that formed Putin's parliamentary base, Putin moved to regain control of the ORT television station and to curb the political ambitions of Russia's oligarchs, who were extremely unpopular with the Russian public. Following the ascent of Putin to the Russian presidency, Berezovsky went into opposition and fled the country after being accused of defrauding a regional government of US$13 million. He was later granted political asylum in the United Kingdom. He has since publicly stated that he is on a mission to bring down Putin "by force". In the UK, he became associated with Akhmed Zakayev, Alexander Litvinenko and Alex Goldfarb in what has become known as "the London Circle" of Russian exiles. He is a founder of International Foundation for Civil Liberties. According to Professor Richard Sakwa, Berezovsky's behaviour is always marked by audacity and cunning. In 2007, a Moscow court found Berezovsky guilty of massive embezzlement in absentia. He was sentenced to six years in jail and ordered to repay the $9 million that the court said he had stolen from the state airline Aeroflot.. He has also been accused by Russian authorities of being involved in the murders of several leading critics of the Putin's regime, including Litvinenko and journalist Anna Politkovskaya, in an attempt to destabilize the country and discredit Putin. In response, Berezovsky - amongst others - has attributed the killings to the Putin regime as a means of political intimidation. Arrest warrants for him have been issued in Russia and Brazil for allegations of fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering. Berezovsky has been under investigation by for money laundering since 2003. Berezovsky survived an assassination attempt in 1994 unharmed. Berezovsky claims that there have been several other assassination attempts directed against him, which he accuses Russian agents of carrying out. Berezovsky has been married four times and has six children.