Vladimir Putin told Boris Berezovsky 'the show is over’

Vladimir Putin accused Boris Berezovsky, the oligarch, of trying to make political capital out of the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine and the deaths of more than 100 sailors, the High Court has heard.

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Roman Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky at the High court
Roman Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky at the High Court Credit: Photo: Geoff Pugh

The then Russian president became “emotional” after gaining the impression that Mr Berezovsky was attempting exploit the tragedy in a “cynical” way, according to Mr Putin’s former chief of staff.

Alexander Voloshin, who flew to London to attend the hearing, said Mr Berezovsky’s political influence came to an end after his television station, ORT, criticised Mr Putin’s handling of the Kursk affair.

Mr Voloshin told the court that during the meeting, in August 2000, Mr Putin told Mr Berezovsky the “show is over”. “I remember the meeting was very emotional, emotions were flying high,” he said. “He [Berezovsky] didn’t like the decision one little bit but that was his problem.”

Mr Berezovsky claims he was forced to sell his shares in ORT to Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea FC owner, and that his former protégée subsequently used Kremlin threats to force him to sell his shares in the oil conglomerate Sibneft.

Mr Voloshin, who admitted that Mr Abramovich “was and still is my friend”, said the government owned 51 per cent of the shares in ORT and had no need to force Mr Berezovsky to sell up.

But he added: “President Putin did have reason to become emotional because he did believe, and I fully agreed with him, that Mr Berezovsky was using the [Kursk] tragedy in order to get some political capital for himself. There is an end to everything sooner or later.”

He added: “For us the drama was that he was using a horrible tragedy to do some political public relations campaigns for himself and the tragedy for him was that his hobby horse would be taken away from him.”

Mr Voloshin claimed most of the journalists at ORT were glad to be free of Mr Berezovsky’s influence, although government ministers were later appointed to the board of the television station.

Mr Voloshin, who remains close to the Kremlin, has gone on to be a successful businessman associated with another oligarch, Oleg Deripaska.

Mr Abramovich denies using blackmail. He claims Mr Berezovsky was paid for providing political influence and protection from criminal gangs and that he never had any shares in Mr Berezovsky’s company. The case continues.