Dmitri Vadimowitsch Kovtun

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Dmitri Wadimowitsch Kowtun ( Russian Дмитрий Вадимович Ковтун ; * 1965 ) is a Russian international businessman.

He may be involved in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko because he met him in London shortly before his death. According to the Moscow public prosecutor's office, Kovtun itself is said to have been contaminated with polonium , which is why it has initiated an investigation. Kovtun was treated in a Moscow clinic where his business partner, Andrei Lugovoi , an ex-KGB employee who was also involved in the affair , was being examined.

According to the leading Hamburg public prosecutor, Martin Köhnke, there is “a sufficient initial suspicion that he can not only be a victim but also a perpetrator”, but the investigations so far do not allow a “clear clarification as to whether Kowtun is a victim or a perpetrator”. In this context, an investigation is pending against him in Germany on the grounds of suspected unauthorized handling of radioactive substances (Section 328 StGB ) and on suspicion of misuse of ionizing radiation (Section 309 StGB). The police and the Federal Criminal Police Office have set up the Third Man Special Commission to investigate Kowtun .

Kovtun was supposed to testify as a witness via video link from Moscow in July 2015 in the investigation before the London Criminal Court into Litvinenko's death. After agreeing to do so in March 2015, he withdrew three days before the scheduled testimony date, citing his obligations in the Russian investigation into the case as the reason.

Kovtun denies ever having worked for the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB . But he went to the same Moscow Commanding Academy as Andrei Lugovoi, whom he had known since his youth. "We lived in the same house for twelve years, our fathers worked in the common defense ministry," Lugowoi told Radio Echo Moskwy (quoted in Volksstimme .de).

biography

After graduating from the Military Academy in 1986, Kowtun said he was stationed for five years as an officer in the GDR and Czechoslovakia . After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, he stayed in Germany for twelve years. He lived in Hamburg-Ottensen and until recently was married to a German who lived there. With her he built his first company (VFBS, see below), a consulting company, but not a security company, as claimed in the media. In 2003 he went back to Moscow. According to his own statements, he has a residence permit in Germany. According to the newspaper Neues Deutschland (ND), this “definitely” indicates a connection between Kowtun and the BND . "How else was it possible for the Soviet officer, who was stationed in the GDR and [...] deserted after the collapse of the USSR, to get married in Germany without any problems, to set up a business advisory service and to receive an unlimited right of residence immediately?" Asks ND.

Kovtun holds a degree in International Business Administration from the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (MGIMO) and a Masters in Law. He speaks Russian, English and probably also German.

Kovtun initially worked in Russia for the Russian energy company Gazprom . He later went to the Alfa Group , the largest private industrial and financial group in Russia. He then became one of the managing partners at VISTA Foreign Business Support (VFBS), which advises Western companies on legal and other matters on business initiation, market entry and their activities in Russia. According to its own information, VFBS is a partner company of the US law firm Fragomen Global Immigration Services, LLC as well as a member and in close contact with the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Russia. According to the company's website, clients also include numerous well-known German companies. Kowtun was responsible for business development, corporate strategy and marketing at VFBS. Since then he has worked as a consultant for western companies. According to his own statements, he met Litvinenko on October 16 through Lugowoi in London and met him on October 17 in a London office in order to initiate a deal with a British company. They met again on November 1st in the bar of the Millennium Hotel in London.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alexander Litvinenko inquiry: key figure pulls out of giving evidence in: The Guardian , July 24, 2015, accessed July 25, 2015
  2. ↑ UK inquiry into Litvinenko's poisoning death wraps up , CNN, August 1, 2015
  3. ^ Litvinenko inquiry: Russia involved in spy's death, Scotland Yard says , The Guardian, July 30, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Kovtun, Dmitri Vadimowitsch
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian businessman, former employee of the Russian secret service KGB
DATE OF BIRTH 1965