KGB declines to comment on attempt to detain BPC manager

The press service of the Belarusian KGB declined to give comments on an attempt to detain Igor Yevstratov.

“We do not comment on rumours. Everyone could have written anything. We do not give any comments. I do not comment on this information,” spokesman Artur Sterkh said to Radio Svaboda.

We remind that the website Belorusski Partyzan informed that officers of the Belarusian KGB had tried to detain in Moscow a former manager of the Belarusian Potash Company (BPC), Igor Yevstratov. Four men in civilian clothes came to him as he was boarding a train to Saint Petersburg. One of them showed him a Belarusian KGB ID card.

Having made sure they found the right person, the men forced him to get off the train under threats and tried to leave the Leningradski Railway Station with him.

Russian policemen heard Yevstratov's angry exclamations and came up to the group. The whole company had to go to a police station. It was found out that the four men were officers of the Belarusian KGB, who for unknown reasons were carrying out investigative activities in Russia, which is prohibited by Russian laws.

Four top managers of the Belarusian Potash Company – Oleg Petrov, Konstantin Solodovnikov, Igor Yevstratov and Dmitry Samoilov – were put on the wanted list in connection with criminal cases opened by the Belarusian Prosecutor General's Office under part 3 of article 424 (abuse of power).