Boris Berezovsky

Boris Abramovich Berezovsky (Russian: Бори́с Абра́мович Березо́вский) (born January 23, 1946), is a Russian business man, billionaire and former mathematician. He is best known for his role as a Russian oligarch, media tycoon and politician during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s.

He has been described by critics as the epitome of Russian "robber capitalism", but he denies having ever taken part in the violence that tainted Russian business during that era.

[1] Berezovsky was at the height of his power in the later Yeltsin years, when he was deputy secretary of Russia's security council, a friend of Boris Yeltsin's daughter Tatyana, and a member of the Yeltsin inner circle, or "family".[1]

Berezovsky made his fortune importing Mercedes cars into Russia in the 1990s and setting himself up as a middleman distributing cars made by Russia's Avtovaz. As well as taking ownership of the Sibneft oil company, he became the main shareholder in the country's main television channel, ORT, which he turned into a propaganda vehicle for Boris Yeltsin in the run-up to the 1996 presidential election. Although he helped Vladimir Putin enter the "family", and funded the party that formed Putin's parliamentary base, Putin moved to regain control of the ORT television station, and to curb the political ambitions of Russia's oligarchs, who were extremely unpopular with the average Russian.[2]

After the ascent of Putin to the Russian presidency, Berezovsky went into opposition and later fled to the United Kingdom where he was granted political asylum. He has since publicly stated that he is on a mission to bring down Putin "by force".[3][1] In the UK, he became associated with Akhmed Zakayev, Alexander Litvinenko and Alex Goldfarb in what has become known as the London Circle of Russian exiles. He is a founder of International Foundation for Civil Liberties.

Berezovsky has been accused by Russian authorities of being involved in the murders of several other leading critics of the Putin's regime, including FSB defector Alexander Litvinenko and journalist Anna Politkovskaya, in an attempt to destabilize the country and discredit Putin.

Arrest warrants for him have been issued in Russia[4] and Brazil[5] for allegations of fraud, embezzlement and money laundering, and he is currently under investigation by the Swiss Bundesanwaltschaft for money laundering.[6]


Berezovsky survived an assassination attempt in 1994 unharmed. There have been several other alleged assassination attempts on him which he accuses Russian agents of carrying out.