The British authorities have allowed Russian investigators to question the current and former executives of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as part on an ongoing investigation, Russia’s Interior Ministry spokeswoman Anzhela Kastuyeva said on Wednesday.
“As soon as all the formalities are settled… Russian Interior Ministry officers will go to Britain to conduct an investigation,” she said.
Last February Russian investigators pressed charges of attempted bribery against the former EBRD Russia Director Yelena Kotova.
The London-based EBRD lifted diplomatic immunity from Kotova and three other officials appointed by Russia's Economic Development Ministry to facilitate an investigation by Russian and British authorities. The move came after an EBRD inquiry found that Kotova and three of her deputies had breached the bank's code of ethics.
Kotova served on the EBRD Board of Directors for five years until she was dismissed by Russia's Economic Development Ministry in December 2010. She is the first board member to lose diplomatic immunity since the bank was founded in 1991.
The EBRD helps build up market economies and democracies in 29 countries, from central Europe to central Asia. The bank invested nine billion euro in the region in 2010, including 2.3 billion euro in Russia.
