MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/. The Kremlin rejected the use of the term ‘oligarchs’ when referring to representatives of Russia’s big business elite.
"There are no oligarchs in Russia," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
When asked whether the Russian oligarchs informed President Vladimir Putin of the fact that US law enforcement agencies are taking a heightened interest in them, Peskov said, "I think the phrase "Russian oligarchs" is inappropriate." Instead, Peskov used the term "representatives of big business."
"I do not know about any information coming from representatives of large Russian businesses on this matter," the Kremlin spokesman said.
On Wednesday, CNN reported citing its own sources that Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating allegations into the so-called ‘Russiagate’ interference in the US presidential elections of 2016, took action against at least three Russian businessmen.
According to CNN, Mueller's team stopped a wealthy Russian, searching his electronic devices when his private jet landed at a New York area airport.
A second Russian was stopped during a recent trip to the US, although it is not clear if he was searched, according to a person briefed on the matter, as reported by CNN.
Mueller's team also made an informal voluntary document and interview request to a third Russian oligarch who has not traveled to the US recently. The CNN sources did not disclose the names of the three Russians and the reasons the investigators are interested in them.