LONDON — Yevroset founder Yevgeny Chichvarkin, who fled to Britain after losing his assets, staged a protest in London on Wednesday to draw attention to the risks of investing in Russia.
Chichvarkin, joined by about 10 supporters, protested outside a state-sponsored Russian investment forum in a T-shirt showing his face above the slogan “Russia Calling?” — a play on the forum’s slogan.
Investors “think that if they agree on something with some of the corrupt officials, their business is secure,” he said. “Investors who bought Yukos shares also thought that, until they earned ‘zero.'”
He was referring to the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former owner of the Yukos oil company, who has been in jail since 2003 on murky charges of tax evasion and fraud.
Chichvarkin fled to Britain in 2008 saying he could be killed if jailed in Russia, where he faced charges of extortion and kidnapping. He said the charges, dropped in January, were politically motivated.