To which extent was Russian President Vladimir Putin personally aware or supportive of the decision to prosecute Michael Calvey, the founder of leading Russian private equity firm Baring Vostok?
The question has been actively discussed since the US businessman’s arrest on Feb.15. Assumptions of the Kremlin’s at least knowledge of the matter stem from the participation of Artem Avetisyan, the instigator of the lawsuit against Calvey, in an array of government-related organizations.
Among these are the Russian Government Expert Council, the Public Council of the Federal Tax Service, and the Public Council of the Federal Security Service. Avetisyan is even a member of the working group “for the protection of entrepreneurs’ rights” of the Prosecutor General of Russia.
In 2011, Avetisyan was appointed by Putin to head the “New Business” department of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI). In 2015, Putin awarded him the “Services to the Motherland” medal for his work at the ASI, illustrating again the ties between the two men.
Alleged presidential endorsement
Bloomberg reported yesterday that the Russian President – who did not make any public comments on the matter so far – “defended the decision to prosecute” the US businessman at a closed-door meeting last week.
“Putin was asked about attacks on the handling of the case and the damage it might do to the investment climate, but said that investigators’ suspicions Calvey and his associates had stolen a large amount of money – 2.5 billion rubles ($39 million) – couldn’t be ignored,” the news agency reported, citing three sources “familiar with the meeting” who “spoke on condition of anonymity.”
According to these sources, Putin specified that he “did not give approval in advance for the arrest, but argued that pretrial detention is sometimes justified in business cases,” as reported by Bloomberg, especially when such cases are related to “risks to public safety and health.”
Putin’s alleged closed-door comments might seem paradoxical as the Russian President, in his recent annual state-of-the-nation address, called to limit the practice of jailing suspects in economic cases.
Reacting to the Bloomberg report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin did not defend the prosecution: “The President made just factual statements. He did not express any preference of his own,” the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
Previously, Peskov made the bold assertion that Calvey’s arrest “should not and could not affect the investment climate” in Russia.
Meanwhile, Baring Vostok publicly called the Russian President to “take personal control of the criminal case. ” The firm’s CEO and top executives have been imprisoned during the pre-trial period “despite legal requirements,” Baring Vostok stated in its open letter.
