Border Guard Chief Comments on Berezovsky Visit

Commander of the Georgian Border Guard Department said that tycoon Boris Berezovsky, wanted by Russia, visited today Tbilisi, however he added ?Berezovsky traveled with the UK travel passport issued for the name of Platon Yelevin.?

?The check-up confirmed that both the passport and visa were not faked, this person, as well as Berezovsky himself is not wanted by the Georgian authorities. He resembled Boris Berezovsky very much, however he had another name. Hence, the frontier guards had no reason to detain him,? Chkheidze said at a special news briefing on December 3. 

Border Guard chief said that Boris Berezovsky stayed in Tbilisi for 5 hours and then returned to London on the same plane. He confirmed that the plane was owned by Berezovsky?s former aide Tbilisi-based tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili.

He also said that Berezovsky was met in the airport by the bodyguards of Badri Patarkatsishvili, the Georgian media tycoon and Berezovsky’s former lieutenant Badri Patarkatsishvili.

?Yelevin, or Berezovsky was accompanied by three persons,? Chkheidze said.

?The border guards acted in accordance to the Georgian law, The only mistake of the border guards was that they informed the leadership regarding the arrival of this person only in the morning, while he arrived at 12:15 am on December 3,? Georgian border guard chief said.

Spokesman of the Interim President Giorgi Arveladze said today, the short visit of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky to Tbilisi ?has nothing common with the Georgian government.?

?If Berezovsky arrived in Tbilisi illegally, those who helped him enter into Georgia will be punished. Secretary of the National Security Council Jemal Gakhokidze was entrusted to investigate the case within two days,? Giorgi Arveladze said at a special news briefing on December 3.

He confirmed that Boris Berezovsky met in Tbilisi with Badri Patarkatsishvili, adding that the details of the meeting are not known for the authorities.

Later today Tbilisi-based Imedi television, which is owned by Badri Patarkatsishvili, also reported that Berezovsky visited Tbilisi ?to meet his friend Badri Patarkatsishvili.?