Police seal off the front gates of the Sunningdale home of Boris Berezovsky after he was found dead. Matthew Lloyd / Getty Images
Police seal off the front gates of the Sunningdale home of Boris Berezovsky after he was found dead. Matthew Lloyd / Getty Images

Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky found dead in UK mansion 'saw no point in living'



LONDON // The home of Boris Berezovsky, the exiled Russian tycoon once seen as a kingmaker in Moscow who was found dead on Saturday, was cleared yesterday after a search by police.

Chemical and radiation experts found no hazardous materials in their search of the property where Berezovsky's body was found and police are treating the death as unexplained.

Russian media reports suggested the 67-year-old former oligarch, who had lived in a mansion outside London since 2000, had killed himself.

But the man once known as the "Godfather of the Kremlin" had been the subject of assassination attempts before and an associate, former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, was killed by polonium poisoning in London in 2006.

Berezovsky's death comes just months after he lost a devastating court case to fellow Russian oligarch, Roman Abramovich. He had accused Mr Abramovich, a former protégé, of blackmail, breach of trust and breach of contract in relation to a Russian oil company.

Berezovsky sought £3 billion (Dh16.8bn) in damages but a judge on the London High Court described Mr Berezovsky as an "inherently unreliable" and "deluded" witness, who treated truth as a "transitory, flexible" concept.

The verdict and the legal costs, which fell to Berezovsky and are believed to have totalled some £100 million, was said to have hit him hard.

Recently alleged to owe a former mistress £5m, and still reeling from a number of other court cases as well as a costly divorce, one friend told Britain's Sky News Mr Berezovsky was "demoralised". Alexander Dobrovinsky, Berezovsky's lawyer, told the Russia 24 channel that the oligarch was in a "very poor state".

"He lost this court case in London, he borrowed a lot of money, he was selling paintings and was almost living in poverty at the end of his life. I think he just could not take it, " Mr Dobrovinsky said.

RT, another Russian TV channel, reported that Berezovsky had told an interviewer from Forbes in off-the-record remarks shortly before he died that he "saw no point in living".

A fierce critic of Vladimir Putin's Kremlin, Berezovsky remained politically active in exile. He funded political projects and opposition media critical of the Russian president with whom he fell out after helping him to power in the 1990s.

He was the most vocal of the oligarchs who rose to prominence with the sell-off of Russia's state industries in largely rigged auctions after the fall of the Soviet Union. A trained mathematician who was born to an engineer in 1946, his business interests included car dealing and banking.

But it was after taking control of the state-owned ORT television channel in 1994 that Berezovsky's political influence peaked. Once seen as the power behind Boris Yeltsin's throne, he rallied behind Mr Putin when Yeltsin's grip on power weakened, using ORT to rubbish political rivals.

The two fell out after a money-laundering scandal involving the Russian airline Aeroflot in the late 1990s, however, and Berezovsky left Russia, the subject of an extradition order until he died. He had been on Russia's most-wanted list since 2002 and was sentenced in absentia for embezzling £1.3bn from two major state companies.

The Russian Interfax news agency reported yesterday that he had recently sought to mend bridges with the Russian president. Dmitry Peskov, a presidential spokesman, told Interfax that Berezovsky had been in contact to ask Mr Putin for forgiveness.

"Some time ago, maybe a couple of months, Berezovsky addressed Putin in a letter, written by him personally, in which he admitted he made a lot of mistakes and was asking for forgiveness and to help him to return to the motherland," Mr Peskov said. He did not indicate any response from Mr Putin.

That would have been a remarkable late turnaround for Berezovsky, and the murky machinations of post-Communist Russian politics are unlikely to allow matters to rest there. Money, power and death have followed Berezovsky and those he associated with across the world.

Litvinenko, over whose murder Berezovsky and the Kremlin traded accusations, was not the only Berezovsky foil to meet an untimely and high-profile death.

American journalist Paul Khlebnikov, who nicknamed Berezovsky the "Godfather of the Kremlin" in a book of that name and who had been the subject of a lawsuit by the oligarch, was found murdered in Moscow in 2004.

In 2008, Badri Patarkatsishvili, a former business associate, died under still unexplained circumstances in his home in England.

In 2007, Berezovsky said British police had warned him to leave the country for his own safety after, he said, uncovering an assassination plot against him.

The outsized manner of Berezovsky's life means his death is likely to provide fuel to conspiracy theorists everywhere regardless of the outcome of the British police investigation.

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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
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W.
Wael Kfoury
(Rotana)

ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand

UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final

The specs

Engine: 4 liquid-cooled permanent magnet synchronous electric motors placed at each wheel

Battery: Rimac 120kWh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry

Power: 1877bhp

Torque: 2300Nm

Price: Dh7,500,00

On sale: Now

 

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Bedu%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Khaled%20Al%20Huraimel%2C%20Matti%20Zinder%2C%20Amin%20Al%20Zarouni%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%2C%20metaverse%2C%20Web3%20and%20blockchain%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Currently%20in%20pre-seed%20round%20to%20raise%20%245%20million%20to%20%247%20million%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Privately%20funded%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ

Price, base: Dh1,731,672

Engine: 6.5-litre V12

Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm

Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm

Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
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The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

The Settlers

Director: Louis Theroux

Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz

Rating: 5/5

Neil Thomson – THE BIO

Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.

Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.

Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.

Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.

Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.

Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.

House-hunting

Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove

  1. Edinburgh, Scotland 
  2. Westminster, London 
  3. Camden, London 
  4. Glasgow, Scotland 
  5. Islington, London 
  6. Kensington and Chelsea, London 
  7. Highlands, Scotland 
  8. Argyll and Bute, Scotland 
  9. Fife, Scotland 
  10. Tower Hamlets, London 

 

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME DISPUTE

2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.

2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus

2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.

2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.

2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg

Rating: 4/5

Virtuzone GCC Sixes

Date and venue Friday and Saturday, ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City

Time Matches start at 9am

Groups

A Blighty Ducks, Darjeeling Colts, Darjeeling Social, Dubai Wombats; B Darjeeling Veterans, Kuwait Casuals, Loose Cannons, Savannah Lions; Awali Taverners, Darjeeling, Dromedary, Darjeeling Good Eggs

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Tesalam Aleik

Abdullah Al Ruwaished

(Rotana)

VEZEETA PROFILE

Date started: 2012

Founder: Amir Barsoum

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: HealthTech / MedTech

Size: 300 employees

Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)

Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

BMW M5 specs

Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor

Power: 727hp

Torque: 1,000Nm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh650,000

UK's plans to cut net migration

Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.

Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.

But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.

Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.

Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.

The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
THE SPECS

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine 

Power: 420kW

Torque: 780Nm

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Price: From Dh1,350,000

On sale: Available for preorder now

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances