MOSCOW, March 11 (RIA Novosti) - The former co-owner of top Russian cell phone retailer Euroset has been placed on the international wanted list, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said on Wednesday.
Charges against Yevgeny Chichvarkin, who is currently in Britain with his family, were brought as part of an earlier kidnapping case against former Euroset vice president Boris Levin and two other company officials.
"Today the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia has sent an instruction to Interpol on adding Yevgeny Chichvarkin to the international wanted list," said Marina Gridneva, a spokeswoman for the Russian prosecutors.
A court issued an arrest warrant for Chichvarkin in late January. It was appealed against by the businessman's lawyers as "illegal and without grounds" as no separate criminal case against Chichvarkin had been opened. But the Moscow City Court ruled the warrant legal.
The businessman is suspected of authorizing the 2003 abduction of Euroset's shipping agent, Andrei Vlaskin, who allegedly stole large quantities of mobile phones from the company and then sold them on through a retail outlet he had set up for the purpose.
Chichvarkin currently has no plans to return to Russia and his lawyer said Britain would most likely refuse to hand him over.
"Charges against Chichvarkin were brought illegally in terms of procedure, and I am 100% sure that Russia will be denied extradition because Britain is scrupulous about personal immunity and freedom," Vladimir Zherebenkov said.
