The Litvinenko Inquiry

Part 6 | Chapters 1 to 8 | The polonium trail – events in October and November 2006
the Golden Dragon restaurant on the evening of 17 October. Mr Lugovoy said that the
conversation had taken place while he was away from the table. He said as follows: 133
“In this connection I would like to tell you what Sasha had told Dmitry Kovtun not
long before his death, when we met together in October of last year. During our
dinner at one of the Chinatown restaurants in London, Litvinenko, enlarging on the
subject of ways to make money, touched upon the resumed negotiations between
Russia and the UK regarding Berezovsky’s extradition. Lamenting the fact that
Berezovsky did not appreciate the services rendered to him by Litvinenko, who
allegedly saved his life more than once, Litvinenko told Kovtun, that he had the
most important materials of compromising nature, regarding the illegal activity of
Berezovsky on the UK territory. If any part of the documents pertaining to the
circumstances of his obtaining the refugee status were to be made public, then he
(Berezovsky) would have huge problems. Litvinenko hinted to Dima, that especially
now, when Russia raised an issue with the UK of extraditing Berezovsky, it would be
very opportune to let Berezovsky know that such materials exist, and to put a value
of several million dollars on them. Still being financially dependent on Berezovsky
– Berezovsky was paying his son’s tuition fees and the family’s accommodation
in London, Litvinenko – Litvinenko asked Kovtun to find a reliable person, whom
he would introduce to Berezovsky, which person would be able to familiarise
Berezovsky with the materials, compromising him. Litvinenko was absolutely sure
of the success of this enterprise, referring to the explosive nature and authenticity
of the compromising materials he possessed. Since the conversation took place
when I left the table, Litvinenko asked Kovtun to keep that conversation between
them, fearing that I, as a person who could contact Berezovsky at any point, would
expose Litvinenko’s idea to him.”
6.147 Several years after the press conference, in 2011, Mr Lugovoy provided a lengthy
witness statement in the course of the Terluk libel proceedings. One section of
that statement was devoted to a detailed narrative account of the meetings that
he and Mr Kovtun had had with Mr Litvinenko in October and November 2006. In
that statement, Mr Lugovoy made no mention at all of anything that Mr Litvinenko
said at the Golden Dragon restaurant – whether in terms of a private discussion
between Mr Litvinenko and Mr Kovtun concerning Mr Berezovsky (as Mr Lugovoy
had described at the press conference) or in terms of a discussion about Russians in
Spain, as Mr Kovtun now asserts. Nor did he say anything about a discussion between
Mr Kovtun and Mr Litvinenko on 16 October while they were waiting for a cab. Rather,
Mr Lugovoy gave an account of a conversation between Mr Kovtun and Mr Litvinenko
that had supposedly taken place earlier in the day on 17 October. Paragraph 127 of
this statement read as follows: 134
“We, that is Mr Litvinenko, Mr Kovtun and I, had a meeting at 18.00 with RISC on
17 October 2007 [sic]. After the meeting at RISC, when we were walking back to
the hotel, Mr Litvinenko was walking next to Mr Kovtun some distance ahead of
me. I was speaking on my mobile phone. Whilst we were walking I could not hear
what Mr Litvinenko was saying to Mr Kovtun. However, later that day Mr Kovtun told
me that Mr Litvinenko resumed his complaint that Mr Berezovsky was not treating
him fairly and that he simply could not survive on the money that Mr Berezovsky
was paying to him. He said that he knew information regarding Mr Berezovsky
that was worth a great deal of money. He said that he needed to find someone
133
INQ001886 (page 6)
134
INQ001788 (page 21)
139