The 20-year-old Russian, Roman Bogdayan, produced a pistol during his visit to the Russian Embassy Friday, which was immediately cordoned off by special police units. After five hours of negotiations, he surrendered to the authorities. Reports about hostage-taking were not confirmed.
"We are happy that the incident in our Embassy in San Jose has ended, and nobody of the staff was hurt," Mikhail Kamynin, the Foreign Ministry's spokesman, said adding that the ministry hoped the local police would investigate the incident and bring the culprits to justice.
Russian Ambassador in Costa Rica, Valery Nikolayenko, said the incident had been caused by a money conflict between two young people inside the Embassy.
"Considering that these young people were Russians, we cannot hand them over to local authorities completely," he said. "Our consular department will control the process and make sure that our compatriots' rights are observed."
Costa Rican TV Channel 7 said the young man with the weapon wanted his Russian companion to return him $45,000 - all of his family's savings, which he had invested in failed pineapple business.
