03 August 2003 15:42
RUSSIA: YUKOS-CONNECTED BANKER DENIES PRIME MINISTER WAS TARGET OF PREVIOUS RAID...
Trast Investment Bank President Ilya Yurov on 31 July denied media reports that during a search of Trast on 30 July
prosecutors sought information about a state-owned bank that is reportedly close to Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov,
"The Moscow Times" reported on 1 August. "This is absolute rubbish," Yurov said, pointing to an
article on the topic in "Kommersant-Daily." "Only 15 percent of that article was true." Yurov said
investigators seized files relating to 15 Trast clients, but that the Russian Development Bank (RosBR) was not among
them. He said he believes the seizures are related to the tax-evasion charges filed recently against Menatep board
Chairman Lebedev. Prosecutor-General's Office spokeswoman Natalya Vishnyakova refused either to confirm or deny the
"Kommersant-Daily" story, "The Moscow Times" reported. RosBR was created in 2000 at the initiative
of Kasyanov as a state-owned vehicle to channel state credits to industry. Current RosBR President Tatyana Ryskina until
2000 was the president of Trast and Investment Bank, which later changed its name to Trast Investment Bank. Prior to
that, she worked at a number of Menatep-connected companies, "The Moscow Times" reported.
"Kommersant-Daily" is owned by self-exiled former oligarch Boris Berezovskii. RC Copyright (c) 2003. RFE/RL,
Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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