Report: Russian magnate seeks $12 bln from government

MOSCOW, Apr 18 (PRIME) -- The International Chamber of Commerce held an arbitration hearing on Monday over a Russian magnate's claims for U.S. $12 billion from his country, part of a long-running battle with President Vladimir Putin's government, Associated Press reported.

Russia accuses Sergei Pugachyov of embezzlement, while he alleges the Russian state unlawfully took over his shipyards and other assets. Pugachyov had a big business empire in the 1990s, including ship-building, banking and energy, and was a longtime Putin ally before they fell into dispute.

Pugachyov's representatives said his lawyers sought at Monday's hearing to freeze Russian government assets abroad or other punitive measures. His claims for $12 billion are retaliation for what he calls unjustified Russian seizures of his assets.

The Russian state Deposit Insurance Agency says Pugachyov ran his bank into the ground in a scam to get money from the government. Authorities have frozen Pugachyov's assets in Britain and Switzerland in that case, and he was sentenced in Britain for contempt of court after fleeing to France.

No decision was made at Monday's hearing, held in Paris at Pugachyov's request, according to lawyer David Goldberg, representing the Russian government.

Pugachyov didn't comment after the hearing.

Russian prosecutors want Pugachyov extradited from France, but that is unlikely because the magnate is now a French citizen, with a home on the French Riviera.

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