Wife of ex-Moscow mayor speaks

In the US, when disgraced politicians leave power, they usually either go to jail or to CNN. In Russia, falling out with the Kremlin means one thing: a drawn-out struggle for the assets you were allowed to accumulate while in favor.

So it begins with Yury Luzhkov and his wife Yelena Baturina, a construction and real estate magnate who built up enormous wealth during her husband’s 18 year reign as mayor of Moscow. Both Luzhkov and Baturina maintain that her ability to win a staggering amount of plum contracts had nothing to do with her relationship with the mayor – if anything, they say, it held her back from becoming even richer. But anyway.

Last week, masked riot police raided the offices of Baturina’s firm Inteko and investigators linked her to the suspected embezzlement and misuse of city funds to the tune of $440 million.

This weekend, Baturina gave her first lengthy interview since her husband’s firing last year. Sitting in a London restaurant, she admitted that she no longer felt “comfortable” in Moscow. She reiterates the line that her company never did anything wrong. The problem is, she said, that “without a doubt, political changes in Russia have also affected our company.”

“All this hysteria raised in the press, has nothing to do with business in essence,” Baturina said. “In reality, it has more to do with the links between government and business, which they are trying in some way to expose.”

Don’t expect to see Baturina back in Moscow anytime soon, and don’t expect this tug-of-war over her billions to resolve itself easily.

Herewith the 30 minute video for the Russian speakers out there.