You're reading: Lawyer: Berezovsky sold political clout to Abramovich

LONDON - Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich paid fellow Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky $2 billion for his political patronage, which was key to building any major business in the chaos of the 1990s Russia, a London court was told on Tuesday.

Berezovsky, who lives in exile in London, is suing his former business partner Abramovich for more than $6 billion in a high-profile case that may shed light on the extent to which business and politics are still intertwined in Russia.

Berezovsky — a former ally of the Kremlin and now one of its most prominent critics — claims that Abramovich "intimidated" him in 2000 into disposing of a 21.5 percent stake in Russian oil company Sibneft at a fraction of its value.

Abramovich denies that Berezovsky ever had an interest in Sibneft.

"Mr Berezovsky received between 1995 and 2002 at least $2 billion from businesses controlled by Roman Abramovich," Abramovich’s lawyer Jonathan Sumption told the crowded court.

"These payments represented the value of Mr Berezovsky’s services as a political godfather."

By the late 1990s, Sumption said, Berezovsky effectively lived off this money.

"This was personal expenditure on a most exuberant scale: palaces in France, private yachts and aircraft, jewels for his girlfriend, valuable paintings."

Berezovsky looked relaxed throughout the hearing, often conferring with his large team of lawyers and aides and giving an occasional hug and a kiss on the cheek to his girlfriend.

Abramovich, sitting at the opposite end of the courtroom, was quieter and listened to the Russian translation of the proceedings through headphones.

Berezovsky fled to Britain in 2001 after criticising the government of then-Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He says his decision to sell his Sibneft stake was influenced by fears that if he refused, Abramovich would ensure Putin intervened and the shares would be expropriated.

Abramovich’s investment vehicle Millhouse Capital later sold a controlling stake in Sibneft to Russian gas giant Gazprom for more than $13 billion in 2005.

Sumption questioned whether Abramovich had this kind of influence over Putin, who is now preparing to return to the Kremlin as Russia’s next president.

"Mr Berezovsky, of all people in the world, has good reason to know that President Putin is his own man… It cannot be suggested that Mr Putin is a patsy or that he allows himself to be manipulated by rich men," he said.

The trial is expected to last more than two months.