Russians pull out of London conference

Several high-level participants from Russia have pulled out of a major investment conference that starts in London this weekend in what is seen as payback for Britain’s refusal to extradite tycoon Boris Berezovsky.

Newspaper reports and bank officials said that the last minute cancellations had been ordered by the Kremlin, which is irked at Britain’s refusal to strip Berezovsky of his refugee status.

The Russians also want to ensure the conference does not detract from Russia’s own economic forum in President Vladimir Putin’s hometown of St Petersburg in June – the last major economic showcase of his presidency.

A Kremlin official sought to cast doubt on those claims, saying he was unaware of such an order and that it was hard to imagine one being issued.

Russia’s chief prosecutor Yuri Chaika has demanded Berezovsky, who lives in the UK, be extradited following the exile’s claim that he was working to overthrow President Putin.

Russian prosecutors have previously charged Berezovsky with fraud. He was granted political asylum in the UK in 2003.

Jonti Small, a spokesman for Eventica, which is organising the London Economic Forum, said that there had been numerous cancellations in the last week by Russian government officials, executives with state companies and private businessmen.