MOSCOW, September 3 (RIA Novosti) - A British court has issued an arrest warrant for businessman Yevgeny Chichvarkin, wanted in Russia on kidnapping and extortion charges, a spokeswoman for the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said on Thursday.
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.
"The U.K. Home Office has informed the Russian Prosecutor General's Office that on August 27 the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court issued an arrest warrant for Yevgeny Chichvarkin," Marina Gridneva said.
Chichvarkin's lawyer told RIA Novosti he was unaware of the British court decision.
"Yesterday there was no word about any [arrest] warrant," Yury Gervis said, adding that Chichvarkin himself had not been informed of the warrant against him.
A British Home Office official said earlier the Westminster court, where all extradition hearings are traditionally held, issues arrest warrants for suspects on instructions from the Home Secretary.
The court, however, has not confirmed whether an arrest warrant has been issued or a trial date.
"We cannot confirm this information at this point," a court official told RIA Novosti.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson earlier pledged an open trial "if it ever takes place."
Russia sent a formal extradition request to the U.K. for the businessman in June.
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.
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.
In a radio interview on Wednesday Chichvarkin said he was considering establishing a business in Britain.
