Russian oligarchs battle over £2bn

A cramped courtroom in ­central London was the unlikely setting for the battle of the Russian oligarchs on Friday, as Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich kicked off a £2bn ($3.9bn, €2.5bn) dispute over their share in some of Russia’s largest companies. Mr Berezovsky, a vocal critic of the Kremlin who lives in exile in London, is suing Mr Abramovich for allegedly threatening and intimidating him into selling his stakes in Sibneft, the Russian oil group, and Rusal, the aluminium maker, for far less than they were worth. The lawsuit pits two of the world’s richest men against each other, in the latest colourful chapter in a relationship that has declined over the past decade from business partners to sworn enemies. Mr Abramovich, the owner of London’s Chelsea football club with a fortune estimated at more than $24bn, is facing a host of allegations, including using fraud and blackmail to acquire Mr Berezovsky’s holdings. The accusations date back to 2000, shortly after Mr Berezovsky fled Russia to seek asylum in Britain. Mr Berezovsky claims his 21.5 per cent stake in Sibneft was supposed to be held in trust along with shares held by another businessman. Instead, Mr Abramovich pressured him into selling his interest by threatening that the assets would otherwise be expropriated by the Russian state, the High Court was told. Mr Berezovsky has brought similar allegations concerning his stake in Rusal, claiming that Mr Abramovich broke an oral agreement not to sell his shares. He says he lost $2.3bn on Sibneft and about $1.75bn on Rusal. Neither of the two men was present for Friday’s preliminary hearing, which centred on fairly technical points of law. Andrew Popplewell, Mr Abramovich’s lawyer, said the lawsuit was hopeless and he would probably seek to have it thrown out of court. “The claims depend wholly on oral conversations not recorded or evidenced in writing at the time or indeed ever,” Mr Popplewell said. Friday’s hearing paled in excitement to the oligarchs’ meeting last October, when Mr Berezovsky personally served the writ on his rival after bumping into Mr Abramovich while shopping in an upmarket London neighbourhood. Mr Abramovich slipped from first place to third in the latest ranking of the country’s 100 wealthiest individuals by Forbes magazine. The top position is now held by metals magnate Oleg ­Deripaska, with a fortune estimated at $28.6bn. --The Financial Times