Together: The dead Georgian billionaire and the man accused of killing Litvinenko

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

The figure on the right in the main picture is Andrei Lugovoy, the ex-KGB officer suspected of murdering former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.

With him, in a large white hat, is Badri Patarkatsishvili, the exiled Georgian billionaire who died of an apparent heart attack aged just 52 at his £10 million Surrey mansion last week.

Scroll down to read more ...

Suspect: Boris Berezovsky (right) with Badri Patarkatsishvili at a Russian ski resort in 1999

Again, the finger of suspicion pointed at Mr Lugovoy, who once worked as the Georgian's security adviser and was a friend for more than a decade.

With them is another billionaire, oil tycoon Boris Berezovsky who, like Mr Patarkatsishvili, fled Russia after being accused of plotting a coup.

The picture was taken at the Dombai mountain ski resort on the Russian/Georgian border in December 1999.

Poisoned: Alexander Litvinenko in hospital in London shortly before his death in 2006

Mr Patarkatsishvili, who was worth an estimated £6billion, was a sworn enemy of Russian president Vladimir Putin and spoke only recently about a murder plot against him.

Mr Lugovoy has admitted that he spoke to Mr Patarkatsishvili as recently as a week ago.

He said in Moscow that he had not heard of him suffering from heart problems and that he found his death "shocking".

It was in November 2006 that Mr Litvinenko died of polonium poisoning in London.

Mr Lugovoy, now a Russian MP, was named as his suspected murderer.

It is a charge he has vehemently denied, and Mr Putin has refused to extradite him to Britain.

At the time, Mr Patarkatsishvili stoutly defended him, saying: "Lugovoy is my close friend for many years.

"I want to believe that this man is innocent."

Mr Patarkatsishvili claimed in one of his last interviews that he had an audio tape of a conversation in which four hitmen from Georgia talked of a murder plot.

On Friday, however, an inquest in Surrey was told he had been suffering from severe heart disease and that his health was such that he could have died at any time.

Police who swept his home for traces of poison or radiation are believed to have found nothing, but extensive toxicology tests which could last weeks will now be carried out on his body.