Banker and media magnate Alexander Lebedev said on Thursday he could sell his business assets in Russia after coming under pressure from the Kremlin, adding he feared he might be jailed in a criminal case he regards as politically motivated. Lebedev also said Russia could face a wave of political repression following a series of moves since Vladimir Putin returned to the presidency on May 7 that opposition leaders have described as a crackdown on dissent.
"I think the biggest problem is the country is being run on the model of personal power," Lebedev, whose net worth was put at $1.1 billion by Forbes magazine in March, told Reuters in an interview at his plush Moscow office. "I hope I'm mistaken when I said we're on the brink of political repression." Asked what his long-term plan was, Lebedev said in immaculate English: "Roll back my businesses just completely to zero, frankly, just roll back, try to roll back everything. Just to get out of business."
The 52-year-old billionaire backer of two British newspapers - The Independent and London's Evening Standard - gave no further details, though he said he did not believe he would have much time to sell his assets if pressure on him continued. Lebedev's business interests in Russia include banking, agricultural and construction assets. He also has a stake in Novaya Gazeta, a campaigning newspaper that has criticised the Kremlin and exposed corruption in Russia, and is a shareholder in state energy company Gazprom and state-controlled airline Aeroflot. Although he says he is not involved in opposition politics, Lebedev is unusual among wealthy Russian businessmen or oligarchs in criticising the Kremlin.
Most have avoided doing so since the arrest in 2003 of former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky after he defied Putin by taking an interest in opposition politics. He is still in jail. Lebedev may be at risk of going to jail himself after being shown almost a year ago throwing punches during a television talk show at another guest, businessman Sergei Polonsky, while discussing the economic crisis. Putin at the time called the action "hooliganism" and prosecutors opened an investigation.
The Kremlin has denied putting pressure on businessmen over their political interests although Putin clipped the wings of the so-called oligarchs during his first term as president after they amassed influence as well as wealth. Softly spoken with white hair and turquoise-rimmed glasses, Lebedev said he may now face a similar fate to protest leader Alexei Navalny, who was charged with theft on Tuesday and barred from leaving Russia. Navalny could face a 10-year prison sentence and says he believes he will go to jail.
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