Forbes: Berezovsky built residence near Radashkovichy in Belarus
The improvement of Belarus’ image was Berezovsky’s last political project, according to influential magazine Forbes.
Lord Timothy Bell and his company Bell Pottinger Group were in charge of the project to improve the image of the official Minsk in the West. Bell’s main achievements were Lukashenka’s meeting with the Pope and his invitation to the EU summit which was hard to imagine earlier. It was Berezovsky who recommended Bell, Lukashenka confessed to Russia Today in March 2013.
Belarus did not pay Bell, he said. Boris Berezovsky financed Bell, Forbes thinks. Even the exact sum was mentioned – $60 million. The official Minsk allowed Berezovsky to enter Belarus in response to it.
Berezovski built a residence near Radashkovichy, the magazine reports. “He built a village and had fun there,” a friend of Berezovski’s said. “Birch-trees, Russian women, fresh ice-cream and rye bread… He felt at home.” Berezovski wanted to turn Belarus into an off-shore zone, open a lot of casinos and so on.
However, attracting investors was one of the terms of the agreement with Belarus. Berezovski did not bring any. That is why the contract with Bell was cancelled. Europe turned away from Minsk after the mass protests in Belarus in December 2010 and Lukashenka’s rude reaction to them. The Belarusian authorities turned away from Berezovski. The oligarch’s property was taken out from Minsk in March 2011 and representative offices were closed, Forbes reports.
Photo: Reuters