MOSCOW, September 10 (RIA Novosti) - Businessman Yevgeny Chichvarkin, wanted in Russia on kidnapping and extortion charges, was arrested in London on Monday but released on bail the same day, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
Chichvarkin is a former co-owner of Russia's largest mobile phone retailer, Euroset.
Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Chichvarkin will appear in court for an extradition hearing on September 22.
However, Chichvarkin's lawyer said he was unaware of his client's arrest or of any bail demand.
"I have not seen any documents or court rulings. The only thing I can say is that Yevgeny Aleksandrovich [Chichvarkin] is free. He was free before September 7, and he has been free since September 7," the lawyer said.
The Russian Prosecutor General's Office said last Thursday that a British court had issued an arrest warrant for Chichvarkin, who has been on the wanted list in Russia since late January on suspicion of involvement in the 2003 abduction of the firm's shipping agent, who had allegedly stolen large quantities of mobile phones, as well as the extortion of money from him. He is currently resident in the U.K.
Russia sent a formal extradition request to the U.K. for the businessman in June.
A host of Russian fugitives from justice, including billionaire Boris Berezovsky and former Chechen separatist emissary Akhmed Zakayev, have made their homes in Britain, with some of them gaining British citizenship or political asylum. Moscow has so far failed to have any of them extradited.
Last September, Chichvarkin and his business partner Timur Artemyev sold Euroset to the ANN investment company for $1.25 billion. Euroset runs over 5,000 outlets in 1,464 cities in Russia and some of the former Soviet republics. The company's sales reached $5.61 billion in 2007.
In a radio interview on last Wednesday Chichvarkin said he was considering establishing a business in Britain.
