Bloomberg: Putin supported the arrest of Michael Calvey

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the investigation "could not ignore" the suspicions against the founder of Baring Vostok, Michael Calvey, and top managers of the company arrested in Russia, writes Bloomberg. The first information about Putin's immediate reaction to the arrest is unlikely to encourage business.

More. The President expressed his position on the Calvey case last week at a closed meeting, three Bloomberg sources said.

Putin said that he did not approve of this arrest in advance , but indicated that the detention of businessmen before trial could be justified in individual cases. According to the president, excessively limiting the investigations of law enforcement officers and regulators in relation to business endangers the safety and health of society, reports Bloomberg.

The meeting took place after the message to the Federal Assembly on 20 February. In his message, Putin pointed out that "conscientious business should not constantly go under the article, constantly feel the risk of criminal or even administrative punishment."

The president has never spoken publicly about the Calvey case.

Context. Baring Vostok today circulated an open letter to Putin , asking him to take personal control of a criminal case on charges of fraud against Calvey and top managers of the fund. The Fund considers the case to be purely entrepreneurial, connected with a corporate conflict between the shareholders of Vostochny Bank. In such disputes, Russian courts have formed the practice of pre-trial preventive measures not related to arrest, the fund notes.

Details of the case against top managers of Baring Vostok are being reported to Putin, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said today. He said the president would be briefed about the foundation's letter, but did not speculate whether Putin would take the case personally.

Calvey was supported by the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev , business ombudsman Boris Titov, the head of Yandex Arkady Volozh and dozens of other entrepreneurs. They ask Calvey to be released from custody on bail.

Sherzod Yusupov, a shareholder of Vostochny Bank and a partner of its shareholder Artem Avetisyan, wrote a statement to the top managers of Baring Vostok. During his address to the Federal Assembly, Putin said that the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI), where Avetisyan works, is creating a special platform for businesses to complain about pressure.

Sergei Smirnov