Berezovsky introduced Abramovich to " the family ", the close circle around the then president, Boris Yeltsin, which included his daughter Tatyana Dyachenko and chief security adviser, Alexander Korzhakov.

In an open letter to Putin published in Kommersant Berezovsky, then a Duma deputy, said that he would be obliged to vote against the president's legislative project, which was " directed toward changing the state's structure " and represented a " threat to Russia's territorial integrity and democracy.

Berezovsky said he was told the assassin would be someone he knew, who would shoot him in the head and then surrender to the police.

A close friend of Berezovsky, Nikolai Glushkov, was arrested while seriously ill, and Berezovsky gave up the shares and transferred them to Roman Abramovich's Sibneft with the understanding that Glushkov would then be released.

He had, he said, recommended Putin to Pavel Borodin, then a senior member of President Boris Yeltsin's Kremlin administration-and his business partner Boris Berezovsky, a Yeltsin insider, had got Putin appointed as Russian FSB director.

In late 2000, after the Russian Deputy Prosecutor General demanded that Berezovsky appear for questioning, he did not return from abroad and moved to the UK, which granted him political asylum in 2003.

The New York Times called Berezovsky the " public spokesman and chief lobbyist for this new elite, which moved from the shadows to respectability in a few short years ".

Abramovich established several fly-by-night firms and together with his friend Boris Berezovsky used them to acquire the stock of Sibneft.

In 1995, Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky, an associate of President Boris Yeltsin, acquired the controlling interest in the large oil company Sibneft.

In 1995, Abramovich and Berezovsky acquired a controlling interest in the giant Soviet oil company Sibneft.

Abramovich was a close associate of controversial Boris Berezovsky who sold him his stake in Sibneft, although in July 2005 Berezovsky announced his intention to sue Abramovich in the British courts for pressuring him into selling most of his Russian assets cheaply to Abramovich after Berezovsky fled the country.

In September, Berezovsky alleged that the Kremlin had attempted to expropriate his shares in ORT and announced that he would put his stake into a trust to be controlled by prominent intellectuals.

In early December his associate Nikolai Glushkov was arrested in Moscow and Berezovsky dropped the proposal to put ORT stake in trust.

In February Berezovsky and Patarkatsishvili sold their stake in ORT to Roman Abramovich, who promptly ceded editorial control to the Kremlin.

This transaction is the subject of a later dispute in the UK commercial courts, with Berezovsky alleging that he had been put under pressure to sell his stake to Abramovich at a fraction of the true value, an allegation that the court rejected.

Berezovsky's claimed past ownership of Sibneft – which constituted the bulk of his fortune – was put into question by Abramovich, who in a statement to the High Court in London asserted that Berezovsky had never owned shares in Sibneft, and that US $ 1. 3 billion paid in 2001 ostensibly for his stake in the company was actually in recognition of Berezovsky ’ s “ political assistance and protection ” during the creation of Sibneft in 1995.

Berezovsky snapped up the stake on offer for a fraction of the market value.

“ The defendant agreed to pay this amount on the basis that it would be the final request for payment by Mr Berezovsky and that he and Mr Patarkatsishvili would cease to associate themselves publicly with him and his business interests .” The payment was duly made.

Berezovsky made his fortune in Russia in the 90's when the country went through privatisation of state property and " robber capitalism ".

On 19 December 1996, Berezovsky made headlines by negotiating the release of 21 Russian policeman held hostage by the warlord Salman Raduev amid efforts by radicals from both sides to torpedo peace negotiations.

" Berezovsky claimed that Putin had made him a suspect in the Aeroflot case simply because ORT had " spoken the truth " about the sinking of the submarine Kursk.

His first biographer, Eugene Bolkhovitinov, made this assertion in 1804 based on testimonials of those who knew Berezovsky.

Repin has also made two CDs of violin and piano music works with Boris Berezovsky ( pianist ) and has recorded chamber music with pianists Martha Argerich and Mikhail Pletnev, violist Yuri Bashmet, and cellist Mischa Maisky.

Mr Abramovich discloses that there was a showdown at St Moritz airport in Switzerland in 2001 when Mr Patarkatsishvili asked him to pay US $ 1. 3 billion (€ 925 million ) to Mr Berezovsky.

In 1989 Berezovsky took advantage of the opportunities presented by perestroika to found LogoVAZ with Badri Patarkatsishvili and senior managers from AvtoVAZ.

From 1995 to 1997 through the controversial loans-for-shares privatisation auctions ( see Privatisation in Russia ), Berezovsky and Patarkatsishvili assisted Roman Abramovich in acquiring control of Sibneft, the sixth-largest Russian oil company, which constituted the bulk of his wealth.

2001 was the year of systematic takeover by the government of privately-owned television networks, in the course of which Berezovsky, Gusinski and Patarkatsishvili lost most of their media holdings, prompting one of them to warn of Russia " turning into a banana republic " in a letter to the New York Times.

In 2001 Berezovsky and Patarkatsishvili ended their involvement in Sibneft for a US $ 1. 3 billion fee from Roman Abramovich.

Berezovsky sold the Kommersant publishing house to an old friend and business partner, Georgian fruit canner and opposition television station owner Badri Patarkatsishvili, who was already chairman of the Kommersant company's board.

The court dismissed the lawsuit, concluding " that the sum of $ 1. 3 billion paid by Mr. Abramovich to Mr. Berezovsky and Mr. Patarkatsishvili did not represent the sale price of Mr. Berezovsky ’ s and Mr. Patarkatsishvili ’ s alleged Sibneft interest, but rather was a final lump sum payment in order to discharge what Mr. Abramovich regarded as his krysha obligations.

According to The Times, Roman Abramovich submitted a 53-page court defence that accused Boris Berezovsky and Badri Patarkatsishvili of demanding huge sums for helping him to rise from obscurity.

Arkady “ Badri ” Patarkatsishvili, emerges as the key intermediary, passing messages between Abramovich and Berezovsky.

To counter this group in the Duma elections of 1999, Berezovsky was instrumental in the creation, within the space of a few months, of the Unity party, with no ideology other than its support for Putin.

In 2006 a UK court awarded Berezovsky £ 50, 000 in libel damages against the Russian private bank Alfa Bank and its Chairman, Mikhail Fridman.

The Guardian accepted that its description of Berezovsky was unjustified and apologised for its error.

In November 1996 Vinogradov won a libel suit against the newspaper Kommersant and Russian TV controlled by Boris Berezovsky, who had spread rumors that Inkombank couldn ′ t pay its interbank borrowings, and that a Central Bank inspection report implied that the bank was near collapse, a claim denied by the Central Bank.

In the early 1990s, Ogoniok was owned by Boris Berezovsky, and its popularity started to decline.

Among its graduates were Maksym Berezovsky, the first composer from the Russian Empire to be recognized in Europe, and Dmitry Bortniansky.

One of Berezovsky ’ s early endeavours was AVVA ( All-Russia Automobile Aliance ), a venture fund which he formed in 1993 with Alexander Voloshin ( Yeltsin ’ s future Chief of Staff ) and AvtoVAZ Chairman Vladimir Kadannikov.

Bennett points out that neither Berezovsky nor his team ( which includes Alexander Litvinenko ) have provided any evidence to support their claims.

In 2001 and 2002, TV channels NTV ( previously owned by Gusinsky ), TV6 and TVS ( owned by Berezovsky ) were all taken over by media groups loyal to Putin.

His victory was due largely to the support of the TV networks controlled by Gusinsky and Berezovsky ( NTV and ORT ) and the money from the business elite.

Potanin's victory unleashed a bitter media war, in which ORT and NTV accused the Chubais group of fixing the auction in favor of Potanin, whereas Chubais charged Berezovsky with abusing his government position to advance his business interests.