You're reading: Russian oligarch admits he now enjoys ‘extravagant life’

LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Helicopter trips, smart skiing holidays and plush properties are just a few of the luxuries that changed Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich's mind about not imitating a rival's "extravagant lifestyle", a London court was told on Tuesday.

To laughter in London’s Commercial Court, the media-shy owner of Chelsea soccer club was forced to swallow his words that in 1994 he "was never interested in imitating" the lifestyle of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky.

The list of Abramovich’s skiing holidays in the luxury resort of Courchevel and in Megeve, both in the French Alps, are some of the latest insights into the lives of Russian-born oligarchs in a $6 billion lawsuit.

Watched for clues about the state of play in the intertwined worlds of Russian business and politics, the case pits Berezovsky against a former protege whom he accuses of intimidating him in 2000 into selling shares in oil company Sibneft at a fraction of their value.

Abramovich, 45, denies that Berezovsky ever had an interest in the company.

The two were close when making their fortunes in Russia in the 1990s when a small group of businessmen snapped up shares in former state firms sold off after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They fell out a decade ago.

Abramovich wrote in his witness statement that in 1994 he was surprised by Berezovsky’s "extravagant lifestyle", adding: "I was never interested in imitating his lifestyle."

However, when quizzed by Berezovsky’s lawyer, Abramovich agreed that he had bought a large country estate in England, an expensive flat in the swanky London area of Knightsbridge and a chateau in France.

"You now want to qualify that, do you, to say whilst you weren’t interested in an extravagant lifestyle then, you may have an extravagant lifestyle now?" asked the lawyer, Laurence Rabinowitz.

Abramovich agreed, speaking in Russian via an interpreter in a courtroom packed with stern-looking bodyguards and armies of lawyers and aides.

The taciturn businessman — the third-richest person in Britain according to an annual list compiled by the Sunday Times newspaper with a fortune estimated at over 10 billion pounds ($16 billion) — also wrote in a witness statement: "I travelled with my family and my personal assistant … by helicopter to Megeve."

FRIEND AND FOE

Once a close ally of former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, Berezovsky, 65, fled to Britain in 2001 after falling out with Yeltsin’s successor Vladimir Putin. Criminal charges were also brought against Berezovsky in Russia over his business dealings.

In contrast, Abramovich is an example of a businessman whose riches have helped fund Russia’s resurgence.

Abramovich used his billions to revive the remote Arctic region of Chukotka during his 2000-2008 stint as governor, coinciding with Putin’s presidency. He also sold Sibneft to state-controlled gas giant Gazprom for more than $13 billion, where it now forms the basis of the company’s oil arm.

Abramovich’s relationship with Berezovsky began in late 1994 when he wanted to create what later became Sibneft, he wrote in his witness statement.

To achieve this in the chaotic 1990s Russia, he required the help of a politically connected person and, as a potentially successful businessman, protection from criminal gangs, an arrangement known in Russian as "krysha" or "roof", he wrote.

"Mr Berezovsky provided me with political support in the second half of the ’90s and … physical protection in relation to the creation of Sibneft. In return, Mr Berezovsky expected substantial cash payments from me," Abramovich wrote.

"Mr Berezovsky’s demands were not tied to any notion of a ‘share of profits’ — be it of Sibneft or any other company."

By 2000, when Putin became Russia’s president, Abramovich’s business relationship with Berezovsky was over, he wrote. "His time had passed. His period in Russia’s post-communist history was over … Yet he still treated me as his ‘cash cow’ and expected me to fund all his expenses."

In 2001 the two oligarchs decided to end their common dealings in relation to Sibneft and agreed that Abramovich would pay Berezovsky and his associate a final sum of $1.3 billion, Abramovich wrote. He saw this as "buying myself my freedom" from any association with Berezovsky and their "krysha" relationship.

The trial continues.