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Berezovsky loses Oligarch feud

Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky has lost the biggest private litigation battle in British legal history against Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. He was seeking more than £3 billion damages, accusing him of blackmail, breach of trust and contract.

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Abramovich 'pleased' judge rejected Berezovsky's claims

There were many serious allegations made against Mr Abramovich by Mr Berezovsky, including attacks on Mr Abramovich's honesty and integrity.

We are pleased that the judge has firmly rejected all such allegations and has described Mr Abramovich as a truthful and frank witness who showed a responsible and honest approach when giving evidence in this case. We appreciate that, to many people, this case has been a uniquely Russian one, and should therefore have been heard in the Russian court system.

Nevertheless, Mr Abramovich has always had great faith in the fairness of the English legal system and is both pleased and grateful for today's outcome.

He stated from the outset that there was no merit to the allegations made by Mr Berezovsky, and this position has now been comprehensively vindicated by the court.

– A statement issued on behalf of Roman Abramovich

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Berezovsky 'an unimpressive, and inherently unreliable, witness'

Mrs Justice Gloster announced in a summary of her judgment:

On my analysis of the entirety of the evidence, I found Mr Berezovsky an unimpressive, and inherently unreliable, witness, who regarded truth as a transitory, flexible concept, which could be moulded to suit his current purposes.

At times the evidence which he gave was deliberately dishonest; sometimes he was clearly making his evidence up as he went along in response to the perceived difficulty in answering the questions in a manner consistent with his case; at other times, I gained the impression that he was not necessarily being deliberately dishonest, but had deluded himself into believing his own version of events.

On occasions he tried to avoid answering questions by making long and irrelevant speeches, or by professing to have forgotten facts which he had been happy to record in his pleadings or witness statements.

He embroidered and supplemented statements in his witness statements, or directly contradicted them.

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Berezovsky loses High Court battle with Abramovich

Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky has lost his High Court battle with Roman Abramovich.

Mr Berezovsky, 66, was seeking more than £3 billion damages after accusing the 45-year-old Chelsea football club owner of blackmail, breach of trust and breach of contract. Mr Abramovich denied the allegations.

Mrs Justice Gloster ruled in Mr Abramovich's favour after a trial in London which started in October 2011 and ended in January this year.

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