All news

Investigators yet to respond to Calvey’s SPIEF participation request — lawyer

The founder of the Baring Vostok is currently under house arrest on fraud charges

MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. The investigation hasn’t yet responded to a request filed by Michael Calvey, the founder of the Baring Vostok private equity firm who is currently under house arrest on fraud charges, concerning his participation in the 2019 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Calvey’s lawyer Dmitry Kletochkin told TASS on Tuesday.

"The investigation hasn’t yet responded to our request to provide Calvey with an opportunity to attend the SPIEF," he said.

The lawyer added that the investigation hadn’t exceeded the time limit for providing a response.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is scheduled to take place on June 6-8. The Kremlin said earlier that Russian authorities would like Calvey to participate in the event but the situation would hardly make it possible for him to attend. The media said last week that Calvey’s lawyers had requested Russia’s Investigative Committee allow their client to take part in the SPIEF.

Calvey case

Calvey was arrested in a 2.5 bln ruble ($38.2 mln) embezzlement case. According to the investigation, he and his accomplices put together a scheme, where the First Collection Bureau, under their control, waived its right to a 59.9% stake in a Luxembourg-based company called the International Financial Technology Group to the Vostochny bank in order to pay it back for a 2.5 bln-ruble debt. However, law enforcement agencies say the stake was actually worth 600,000 rubles ($9,100).

About Baring Vostok

Baring Vostok is one of the largest private equity firms focusing on Russia and the CIS with $3.7 bln in capital. Since 1994, the fund has poured more than $2.4 bln of investments into 70 projects in the areas of financial services, oil and gas, telecommunications and media, and into the consumer sector. Baring Vostok’s projects include CTC Media, Yandex, Avito, Ozon, ER-Telecom, 1C, and Novomet.