InfoAnda - Russian tycoon's London court battle doomed: lawyer |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Film shows life and bloody death of Iran protester | | 23 June 2010
Clinton at DMZ as warning sounded over North Korea | 21 July 2010
JFK's sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver dies at 88 | 12 August 2009

World trade suffers biggest drop since WWII | 24 February 2010

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Russian tycoon's London court battle doomed: lawyer |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Davos 2012 Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Summits Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Geraldine Fabrikant Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Full Focus Editor's choice A selection of our best photos from the last 24 hours. Full Article Images of December Best photos of the year Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Mark Wahlberg apologizes for 9/11 comments 18 Jan 2012 Republicans fume as Keystone oil pipeline rejected | 18 Jan 2012 Suddenly, Romney faces fight in South Carolina | 18 Jan 2012 Iran says in touch with powers on new talks, U.S. denies 12:21am EST Seattle faces unusually strong snowfall 18 Jan 2012 Discussed 123 Romney opens 21-point lead in South Carolina: Reuters/Ipsos poll 109 Obama set to reject Keystone oil pipeline: sources 94 Ohio woman loses appeal on ”White Only” pool sign Watched Was there a rape on Big Brother? Wed, Jan 18 2012 Will Russia spill blood? Tue, Jan 17 2012 Obama rejects Keystone pipeline Wed, Jan 18 2012 Russian tycoon's London court battle doomed: lawyer Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Russian billionaire battle reaches London court climax Tue, Jan 17 2012 Billionaire Kremlin hopeful says Putin must change Tue, Jan 17 2012 Profile: Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov turns to politics Tue, Jan 17 2012 Putin ejects Kremlin "puppet master" after protests Tue, Dec 27 2011 Tens of thousands of protesters pressure Putin Sun, Dec 25 2011 Analysis & Opinion In Citi appeal, who will speak for Rakoff? Leading Copt faces Egypt trial for insulting Islam with Mickey Mouse tweet Related Topics World » Russia » By Olesya Dmitracova LONDON | Wed Jan 18, 2012 5:59pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - Boris Berezovksy's $6 billion lawsuit against rival Russian tycoon is doomed to fail because key witnesses are dead and no written records exist of crucial agreements at the heart of the case, London's Commercial Court was told on Wednesday. The trial, expected to end on Friday with a judgment due weeks later, has pitted former Kremlin insider Berezovsky against one-time ally Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Chelsea soccer club. Berezovsky, 65, says Abramovich intimidated him into selling his stake in oil firm Sibneft - the crown jewel of his business empire - at a knockdown price. Abramovich, 45, denies Berezovsky ever had an interest in the firm. "The burden of proof is on Mr Berezovsky to establish his claims," said Ali Malek, a lawyer representing an opponent of Berezovsky in a separate case that partly overlaps with the Abramovich lawsuit. There were "insuperable difficulties" in the case for Berezovsky as "the agreements were all oral". "The court would normally expect, in view of their importance, that the alleged agreements be recorded in writing or certainly evidenced in writing by contemporaneous documents and here they were not," Malek said. "The court is being asked to make findings of fact in 2012 in relation to agreements some 16 to 17 years ago... Important witnesses are dead," he added. The titanic legal battle between two of the wealthiest and most powerful men to emerge from post-Soviet Russia has provided rich media pickings ever since a tussle between the two tycoons and their retinues of bodyguards in a Hermes luxury boutique in London, when Berezovsky served Abramovich with a writ. RUSSIA'S ROARING 90s And it has thrown a powerful spotlight on the shady business dealings in Russia in the decade following the collapse of the Soviet Union, when opaque deals to sell off state assets turned a handful of insiders into the owners of multi-billion dollar natural resources companies. It is this kind of "unusual background and context" in Russia that further complicates the case, Malek said. Spoken agreements between big businessmen in Russia were not uncommon in the 1990s because they were reluctant to disclose their assets. Judge Elizabeth Gloster is also being asked to rule whether Abramovich's payments to Berezovsky were for his political patronage and protection from criminal gangs - an informal arrangement known in Russian slang as "krysha" - or dividends from Sibneft. During the morning part of Wednesday's hearing, Berezovsky appeared cheerful, sitting next to his younger girlfriend, his large legal team and bodyguards. But by the afternoon, he was yawning loudly. Abramovich did not attend Wednesday's hearing. A close ally of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin during the 1990s, Berezovsky left Russia in 2000 after falling out with Yeltsin's hand-picked successor Vladimir Putin. He says he gave up his Sibneft stake because he feared that if he refused, Abramovich would ensure Putin had the shares expropriated. Abramovich says he paid Berezovsky $2 billion for "krysha", but not as dividends from Sibneft because Berezovsky was never an owner. Abramovich has since sold Sibneft to the Russian state natural gas monopoly Gazprom. Berezovsky also accuses Abramovich of selling, without permission, his shares in aluminium producer RUSAL. (Editing by Jon Boyle) World Russia Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Thursday, 19 January 2012
Occupy London campers told to leave cathedral |
Analysis: Ship disaster unlikely to prompt quick safety changes |
Ayman Nour sees Mubarak's Egypt in army rule |
Hungary gives way in dispute over contested law |
Two attacks kill 13 in Afghan south |
Five Europeans killed in attack in remote Ethiopia |
7 charged in $62 million Dell insider-trading case |
Suspicion grows China was behind hack of U.S. commission |
Zynga buys four mobile gaming companies |
China opposed to U.S. listing Taobao as market for piracy |
Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis near split: report |
LL Cool J to host Grammys |
Oscars pick 9 movies for foreign film shortlist |
Adele joins Titanic in her 16-week chart reign |
Pro-fighter Gina Carano goes Haywire in movie debut |
Country music great Haggard hospitalized with pneumonia |
Lindsay Lohan doing it well on probation |
Iran says in touch with powers on new talks, U.S. denies |
Weather key to resuming search of capsized Italy liner |
Pakistan court adjourns contempt case against PM |
Swagger, insecurity feed China crackdown: dissident |
Britain accuses Argentina of colonialism over Falklands |
Russian tycoon's London court battle doomed: lawyer |
Lawmakers flip on piracy bills protested on Web |
Sony Ericsson makes shock loss before ownership change |
EBay cautious in short run as Europe weighs |
AT&T jacks up data plan prices as usage booms |
U.S. charges Chinese man with NY Fed software theft |
McAfee software bug could turn customers' PCs into spam servers |
Virus infections stop after suspects named |
Mark Wahlberg apologizes for 9/11 comments |
Judge clears Bruno Mars of cocaine charge |
Ken Ishii, out of dance clubs and into daydreams |
Original Oscar winner Wings soars again in Hollywood |
Exclusive: Pakistan-U.S. ties on hold for evaluation |
Tape shows cruise ship crew denying emergency |
Dempsey to Israel as allies seek unity on Iran |
Syria conflict persists as Arab monitors' mandate expires |
Yemen amends immunity law, Saleh still protected |
U.S. Treasury names top Guatemalan drug trafficker |
NATO head indicates Afghan forces could be smaller |
Ethiopia sends elders to help release kidnapped tourists |
Apple rolls out digital textbook service iBooks 2 |
Angry Birds creator says IPO needs longer to hatch |
News Corp pays out over hacking claims, said to admit coverup |
China's challenge to the iPad raises a red flag |
Huffington Post to land in Italy with L'Espresso |
Rift maker Trion raises $85 million in new funding |
Suspicion grows China was behind hack of U.S. commission |
Book Talk: Absurdist Jim Henson film that wasn't |
Tom Russell sings of life from Hollywood to Mexico |
French indie rockers in pursuit of global break |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01