MOSCOW, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - Pyotr Makaikin, arrested in Iraq in 2006 following a financial dispute with a local company, has been released from jail, the Russian Foreign Ministry press service said Friday.
Makaikin, who was arrested in October 2006, was a director of a construction firm building a $15.7 million five-star hotel in the city of Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq. He became entangled in a financial dispute with local client company Sherwan General Construction, which allegedly paid him a $150,000 advance.
"The court in Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan made the decision to release Makaikin on November 14. He is due to fly back to Russia on November 20," a Foreign Ministry statement said.
Makaikin thanked the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Russian Embassy in Baghdad and the Council General in Irbil for their assistance.
