Chelsea’s Abramovich testifies in court
Chelsea’s Russian billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich, hit back at allegations that he “intimidated” Boris Berezovsky out of billions of pounds by calling him a “megalomaniac”. Carl Dinnen reports.
Mr Berezovsky is claiming £3bn in damages after accusing Mr Abramovich of “betraying” him and “intimidating” him into selling shares in the Russian oil company Sibneft for a “mere $1.3 bn.”
During a previous appearance at the commercial court he said the sale represented “a fraction of their true worth”, and alleges breach of trust and breach of contract.
The Chelsea owner began his defence as the case entered its fifth week by telling the court he owed Mr Berezovsky nothing in “law or honour”.
He said Mr Berezovsky was paid millions of pounds for his services as a “political godfather” but was not a business partner.
“Mr Berezovsky has already obtained a very substantial sum of money from me and I do not believe that he has any entitlement to be paid anything more, whether in law or honour,” Mr Abramovich told the court.
He said he felt that he had to pay for Mr Berezovsky’s political protection and influence, with the then-president, Boris Yeltsin, when Sibneft was created out of former Russian state institutions in the mid-1990s.
“Our relationship was a peculiarly Russian relationship typical for a particular time in Russia’s post-communist history,” said Mr Abramovich.
“I had to pay Mr Berezovsky for the opportunity of creating the oil company under his protection,” he continued.
Mr Berezovsky has told the court that he treated Mr Abramovich like a son, but Mr Abramovich said in the witness statement: “I was not his protege and he was not my mentor… With the benefit of hindsight I hesitate to call him a former close friend.”
Berezovsky a ‘megalomaniac’
He went on to call Mr Berezovsky a “megalomaniac” with “big ideas.”
“(Mr Berezovsky) always had far-reaching political ambitions,” added Mr Abramovich. “There was at times something of a megalomaniac about him that could lead to fantastic suggestions on his part.
“As an example, one of his ideas was to restore monarchy in Russia.
“The grander the plan he entertained at any given time, the more cash he would be after in his almost fanatical zeal to seek to make those grand plans a reality,” Mr Abramovich told the court.
The rise of Russia’s oligarchs
Boris Berezovsky made his fortune during the privatisation of Russia’s state property in the 1990s. He took ownership of the Sibneft oil company and became the principal shareholder in the country’s main television channel, ORT.
In 1997, Forbes Magazine estimated Berezovsky’s wealth at US £1.87bn, but it is believed its value has since dropped to £500m.
Once a supporter of Vladimir Putin, Berezovsky clashed with then-president of Russia soon after his election in 2000, and remains a vocal critic.
He did not return from abroad, instead taking up residence in the UK, where he was granted political asylum in 2003.
Roman Abramovich, the 15th richest man in the world according to Forbes, is worth an estimated £10.3bn.