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Fugitive Russian tycoon may open business in London

© RIA Novosti . Valery Titievsky / Go to the mediabankYevgeny Chichvarkin
Yevgeny Chichvarkin - Sputnik International
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Businessman Yevgeny Chichvarkin, wanted in Russia on kidnapping and extortion charges, is considering establishing a business in Britain.

MOSCOW, September 2 (RIA Novosti) - Businessman Yevgeny Chichvarkin, wanted in Russia on kidnapping and extortion charges, is considering establishing a business in Britain, a Russian radio station said on Wednesday.

A co-founder of Russian mobile phone retailer Euroset, Chichvarkin has been on the wanted list in Russia since late January on suspicion of involvement in the 2003 abduction of the firm's shipping agent, who had allegedly stolen large quantities of mobile phones, as well as the extortion of money from him. He is currently resident in the U.K.

"It may be something in the service industry," Chichvarkin said in a phone interview with Business FM, adding that he had no business plan and was doing things "instinctively."

The businessman also said that he would not be interested in setting up a small company after "the big deal" that was Euroset, and expressed satisfaction with the sum he had earned from the sale of his former business.

Last September, Chichvarkin and his business partner Timur Artemyev sold Euroset to the ANN investment company for $1.25 billion. Euroset runs over 5,000 outlets in 1,464 cities in Russia and some of the former Soviet republics. The company's sales reached $5.61 billion in 2007.

Chichvarkin also said he was unconcerned over attempts by Moscow to have him extradited to Russia.

"I have no fear, because I know the trial [in Britain] will be independent from either politics or the state," he said.

A host of Russian fugitives from justice, including billionaire Boris Berezovsky and former Chechen separatist emissary Akhmed Zakayev, have made their homes in Britain, with some of them gaining British citizenship or political asylum. Moscow has so far failed to have any of them extradited.

 

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