Boris Berezovsky promises to solve high-profile political crimes in Ukraine

He is reported to have promised his full support to Kiev in terms of the ongoing investigation of the “high-profile political crimes” in Ukraine

Former Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky has been talking at great length about Ukraine for the last two or three months. One can get an impression that Mr. Berezovsky (otherwise called Platon Elenin as it is written in his foreign passport he already used for traveling to Latvia and Georgia) spends lonely sleepless nights thinking over the best way to help the Ukrainian authorities. He is reported to have promised his full support to Kiev in terms of the ongoing investigation of the “high-profile political crimes” in Ukraine.

Speaking to the BBC Ukrainian service, Mr. Berezovsky said that he intended to set up a Ukrainian branch of his Fund for Civil Freedoms that he founded in 2001. The fund's head office is based in New York, there is also a branch in Latvia.

“Apart from its other objectives, the fund will provide support to the investigation of crimes relating to the activities of the former regime,” said he.

Mr. Berezovsky was confident that the investigation should be completed and the perpetrators should be brought to justice. He was apparently talking about two most notorious cases i.e. the murder of the journalist Georgy Gongadze and the poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko. 

Mr. Berezovsky confirmed his plans regarding his intended trip to Ukraine in the near future. According to him, he is planning to use his passport issued to Platon Elenin, an alias he already used while visiting Geogia and Latvia.

He has failed to get his Ukrainian visa so far. The “arch-enemy of the Putin regime” puts the blame on Mr. Lutsenko, Ukraine's Interior Minister who allegedly wants to prevent him from  revealing information on the murder of Georgy Gongadze, the case Mr. Berezovsky “knows far too much” about.

The magnate presently living in exile in the U.K. has loads of stories to tell, no doubt about it. He could shed light not only on the Gongadze case, but on many other “cases” as well. It's a pity that he is not keen to share his secrets with the Russian General Prosecutor's office, for a start. Mr. Berezovsky is wanted in Russia for economic crimes including fraud and embezzlement. It is quite funny to hear him saying about “the perpetrators who should be brought to justice.”

Undoubtedly,  Moscow will express its disappointment should the Ukrainian authorities issue a visa to Mr. Berezovsky, especially if it happens on the eve or during the state visit of Mr. Putin to Ukraine. Moreover, Mr. Berezovsky has a knack for turning fishy anything he lays his hands on. At the end of the day, it will be up to Mr. Yushchenko to decide if he really needs such an “ally” around.