| Pavel Borodin | ||||||
The arrest in New York of the Kremlin’s top property manager Pavel Borodin, on a Swiss warrant issued almost a year ago, leaves president Vladimir Putin with a tough choice. Is he willing to sacrifice one of his own for the sake of Russia’s reputation?
Borodin caught Boris Yeltsin’s eye through his adroit administration and Siberian dumplings and Yeltsin gave him control of the government’s $650 billion property portfolio.
He rebuilt the Russian White House after Yeltsin unleashed tanks on it in the fracas with communist hardliners and restored Kremlin palaces, churches, and Yeltsin’s residence to their tsarist splendour.
But at the end of Yeltsin’s term he was caught up in a corruption scandal. Swiss companies Mabetex and Mercata Trading were accused of paying kickbacks, some allegedly to Yeltsin allies. Bernard Bertossa, Geneva’s chief prosecutor, says Borodin is wanted for involvement in laundering $25 million.
A Russian investigation was dropped for lack of evidence.But Putin gave Borodin the job of running the presidential household, with authority to give Duma deputies houses, cars and even suits. Putin is reported to have been very unhappy about sacking Borodin but bowed to popular pressure. The Russian foreign ministry is lobbying the US to release Borodin. Even though he is set to be extradited, prosecutors say a conviction will be hard without Russian help.
Duma deputies have, predictably, been outraged. Vladimir Zhirinovsky even suggested arresting US citizens in Russia. Putin has yet to express an opinion but is reported to have said in private that the US courts should follow their course. Others say he takes the arrest as an insult at a time when US-Russian relations are cooling.
