12th October, 2012
Boris Berezovsky has agreed to pay £35 million ($56 million) towards his fellow Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich’s legal costs after he lost their bitter legal battle, a British judge heard Friday.
Berezovsky, 66, was seeking more than £3 billion ($4.75 billion, 3.8 billion euros) in damages from Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, after accusing the 45-year-old of blackmail, breach of trust and breach of contract.
But in August, judge Elizabeth Gloster ruled in Abramovich’s favour at London’s High Court after a four-month trial and described Berezovsky as an “unimpressive and inherently unreliable witness”.
Gloster was told Friday that Berezovsky had agreed to pay £35 million towards Abramovich’s legal costs in the wake of her ruling.
Neither Berezovsky, who settled in Britain more than a decade ago after going into “self-imposed exile”, nor Chelsea Football Club owner Abramovich were present at Friday’s hearing.