Sixth day of interrogation of Roman Abramovich

On Friday evening, the interrogation of Roman Abramovich by Berezovsky's lawyer Lawrence Rabinowitz was interrupted at the most interesting point: for the first time in the five previous days, the name of Vladimir Putin, who was the president of Russia at the time of the events discussed, was so clearly heard in court. His arrival in the Kremlin in 2000 was marked by the beginning of a policy of ousting the oligarchs from power and “equally distancing” them. At the same time, Abramovich managed to gain Putin’s favor and became the closest of those removed.

On the sixth day of Abramovich’s speech, it turned out that the first result of Putin’s intervention in the relations of the oligarchs was the sale to Abramovich of Berezovsky’s share in the ORT television company (today Channel One - Forbes ) under the threat of a repeat of the fate of the former owner of NTV Vladimir Gusinsky. He was imprisoned in Butyrka prison in June 2000, then released, but after long negotiations he was forced to sell his share in the TV channel.

Berezovsky, as he and his lawyer claim, was broken by blackmail. In exchange for the sale of the ORT stake, he was allegedly promised to free his friend, First Deputy General Director of Aeroflot Nikolai Glushkov, who was accused along with Berezovsky of fraudulent misappropriation of the airline's currency funds, from criminal liability. In 2004, Glushkov’s charges under “heavy” articles were replaced with “light” ones - abuse of power, and he was released after serving more than three years. Berezovsky was sentenced to prison in absentia.

Putin's dissatisfaction with Berezovsky matured after a series of ORT programs dedicated to the death of the Kursk submarine, which sank in August 2000. First, Berezovsky was summoned by the then head of the Kremlin administration, Alexander Voloshin (he is present at the London trial) and allegedly forced the oligarch to give up his 49% stake in the TV channel. Otherwise, Voloshin threatened, he would “end up just like Gusinsky.” Berezovsky, his lawyer claims, asked to organize a meeting with Putin, but he made the same demand, threatening that otherwise Berezovsky would “go to prison.” At the same time, the head of the FSB, Nikolai Patrushev, summoned Badri Patarkatsishvili, and then took him to the Kremlin, where Putin asked Berezovsky’s partner “what kind of strange game Berezovsky was playing.” Putin suggested that his partners “get out of ORT,” and then Patarkatsishvili, according to Berezovsky’s defender, met with Press Minister Mikhail Lesin and he allegedly set a price of $300 million. Although in the end Abramovich paid exactly half as much.

Abramovich claims that he knew nothing about these meetings at the time. Under pressure from his lawyer, he admits that he was close enough to Putin to understand how unhappy he was with Berezovsky. And in 2000, Abramovich allegedly came to his chateau on Cape Antibes in France, which was located next to the chateau of Berezovsky and Patarkatsishvili, to convey to Berezovsky Putin’s dissatisfaction with ORT’s policies.

Negotiations continued until late autumn. Abramovich's initial price was $100 million. However, Berezovsky did not agree to it. The bargaining was not only about the price, but also about Glushkov’s freedom. And this is confirmed by a tape recording a conversation between Berezovsky, Patarkatsishvili and Abramovich during their meeting in the VIP lounge of Le Bourget airport in December 2000. “Do you think Kolya [Glushkov] will be arrested?” - Berezovsky asks Abramovich, and he reassures: “From my point of view, there were no such serious economic crimes for which he (Glushkov) could be arrested.” The next day, December 7, 2000, Glushkov was detained in the office of an investigator of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Now Abramovich insists that “the arrest of Glushkov... [was in no way connected] with the sale of ORT and... this is an absolutely far-fetched position.” The lawyer is sure that the reason is Berezovsky’s intractability.

Did Vladimir Putin know about these negotiations “under pressure”? Rabinowitz is confident that “it was Putin who decided who to arrest.” Abramovich counters that “Putin is [simply] the most informed person who receives all the information from the prosecutor general.” However, it also follows from his words that he would not buy Berezovsky's stake without receiving the Kremlin's blessing. To do this, he secured the consent of the then head of the presidential administration, Alexander Voloshin. “ORT shares are a very explosive product,” explains Abramovich. “If I had known that someone was against their purchase, I would not have gone near them.”

From the questions of the defender and the answers of the oligarch, a picture of his relationship with the president emerges: in the fall of 2000, Abramovich was summoned to the Kremlin and Putin allegedly allowed him to pay Berezovsky $150 million if the deal went without publicity and he himself remained in the shadows. And although Abramovich claims that Putin was not interested in this purchase and did not give him any instructions, the lawyer reminds him that he promised the president to buy shares in the television company. “No,” Abramovich objects. “I promised that if I bought it, I would inform him about it.”

He had to pay more than the allowed amount. As Abramovich explained in written testimony, 49% of the company cost him $164 million. At the same time, $10 million was transferred to a Russian bank account (registered as 38% of the shares) in order to mislead the currency control authorities. And part of the money went through the Latvian Trade Bank. “If I remember correctly,” Abramovich admits, “the entire amount was $164 million: $150 million for 49% of ORT, the rest for making the money legal.” According to him, such a scheme was invented because Berezovsky and Patarkatsishvili were not sure that they would be able to take money from Russia. By then they understood who they were dealing with.

The article uses online reports from Novaya Gazeta , Gazeta.ru and the blog of the Snob magazine.

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