British court to hear case against richest Russian

A businessman won the right yesterday to sue Russia's richest man for $4 billion in a British court, after a judge ruled he might be assassinated or held on trumped-up charges if he tried to bring a case in Russia.

The ruling, in which the judge cast doubt on the integrity of the Russian legal system, could further strain relations between Moscow and London, which have been at a post-Cold War low.

Israel-based Russian entrepreneur Michael Cherney accuses his former business partner Oleg Deripaska of failing to honour a business deal worth billions.

Mr Deripaska, an aluminium baron and one of Russia's most powerful oligarchs, says the case should be heard in Russia.

High Court Judge Christopher Clarke accepted Mr Cherney's argument that his life and freedom would be at risk in Russia, and a trial there might not be fair.

"I am persuaded that the risks inherent in a trial in Russia - assassination, arrest on trumped-up charges and lack of a fair trial - are sufficient to make England the forum in which the case can most suitably be tried in the interests of both parties and the ends of justice," the judge ruled.

There was "a significant risk" that Mr Cherney, 56, would not obtain a trial in Russia "unaffected by improper interference by state actors and that substantial justice may not be done".

Geoffrey Vos, Mr Cherney's lawyer, had told the judge that in 2001 Mr Cherney agreed to exchange shares in the Russian aluminium company SibAl for cash and a 20-per-cent share in the new Russian aluminium giant Rusal.

Mr Deripaska has denied any such deal was made.

Dr Vos said the case should be heard in Britain because the deal was struck in London, where both men have business interests. Like many of Russia's richest men, Mr Deripaska owns a home in London.

"It was somewhere readily accessible to both parties and may properly be regarded as neutral ground. Both parties have confidence in English law and the English courts," Dr Vos said.

Mr Cherney said in a statement later he was delighted his claims could proceed in London.

Relations between Britain and Russia have been strained for several years and there is little sign of improvement.

Britain accuses Moscow of harbouring the main suspect in the murder of a former KGB agent poisoned in London, and British oil companies say Russian authorities have bullied them to push them out of giant deals negotiated in the 1990s.