UKRAINE READY TO ADMIT BEREZOVSKY

RIA Novosti ^ | 2005-04-04 16:00 | Tara Burnos

[jb6]

KIEV, April 4 (RIA Novosti, Tara Burnos) - Exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky can visit Ukraine anytime, representatives of the Ukrainian State Border Service Committee and Security Service told RIA Novosti on Monday.

"Any person having proper documents can enter our country," said Anatoly Samarchenko, spokesman for the State Border Service Committee.

"If Berezovsky's visit is legitimate and Ukrainian law enforcement bodies have nothing against it, he can arrive in Kiev anytime," he noted.

According to Marina Ostapenko, spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Security Council, security services have no claims against the exiled Russian businessmen.

"No one, including border guards, has forwarded any relevant papers to us," she said.

Press secretary of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry Inna Kisel does not rule out that "the Ukrainian law enforcement bodies can have an ambiguous approach to the legitimacy of Boris Berezovsky's visit to the republic."

"Ukraine signed the Vienna and Geneva conventions. In compliance with the Vienna convention, Berezovsky is a refugee and we cannot disturb him. According to the Geneva convention, he is on the internationally wanted list and we can arrest him on his arrival in Ukraine," Inna Kisel said.

"The Ukrainian justice is likely to stick to the Vienna convention, which makes British citizen Platon Yelenin a refugee," she added.

Earlier former aide to ex-president Kuchma, people's deputy Alexander Volkov denied the statement of Georgian media that Boris Berezovsky had visited Kiev.

"He told me on the phone that he would come this week," Volkov said.

[Dr. Frank fan]

This would not sit well with Russia.

"The Ukrainian justice is likely to stick to the Vienna convention, which makes British citizen Platon Yelenin a refugee," she added.

That strikes me as very strange. "British citizen Platon Yelenin" is Boris Berezovsky's false identity. He took the name "Platon", as I understand, from the main character of the film Oligarch ("Tycoon: the New Russian"). The idea that Ukraine would have to pretend that they don't know that "Platon Yelenin" is Boris Berezovsky is quite odd to me.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Tymoshenko to visit Russia KYIV. March 21 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is planning to visit Russia.

Tymoshenko announced the news on 1+1 television on Monday, saying that she had been invited to visit Russia by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kyiv on Saturday.

The visit will help establish state-level cooperation between the two countries, as well as cooperation between governmental committees, Tymoshenko said.

Tymoshenko said that Putin wants effective cooperation with Ukraine. The talks dealt with cooperation within the common economic space, the free trade zone and several large-scale infrastructure projects, said Tymoshenko.

[Finalapproach29er]

Payback time, pootie.

[jb6]

So Yushchenko who compaigned on cleaning up the oligarchs (never mind his prime minister is one worth $11 billion and so is his fourth in charge) is going to play host to one of the biggest thieves in the world. How nice.

[Romanov]

Payback time? Are we now applauding a murderer and a thief for being able to visit Ukraine? Boris Berezovsky cannot keep himself from meddling in politics, and this is a huge mistake for Ukraine. Let's see how long he stays there and how much trouble he causes...

[Romanov]

If I was Timoshenko I'd be worried the Russians would grab her and offer her freedom in exchange for Berezovsky....