Baltic States – CIS, Financial Services, Latvia, Legislation, Real Estate, Russia

"According to a statement of the National Central Bureau of Interpol of the Russian Internal Affairs Ministry from May 16, at the request of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, Russian citizen Grigory Kulikov was detained in Jurmala. The request of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office on handing him over is currently being reviewed at the competent agencies of the Republic of Latvia," the official spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's Office, Alexander Kurennoi, told Interfax.

It was noted that the request on the extradition of the businessman was sent to the Latvian Prosecutor General's Office in January 2016 after information was received from Interpol that Kulikov was on the territory of this state.

The Latvian State Police would not give any detailed comments but confirmed to LETA that they had detained Kulikov at the request of the Russian colleagues and said that the extradition process will be handled by the Latvian Prosecutor General's Office.

Russian investigators allege that Kulikov is responsible for large scale embezzlement of funds from the investors for construction of an elite housing project, Barvikha Village, in Moscow. Kulikov is charged with embezzling over 85 million rubles (EUR 1.136 mln) from several people and legal entities in 2007-2008. A criminal case against him was opened in Russia in 2012. In November 2014 Kulikov was put on the Federal wanted list in Russia, and in September 2015 he was put on the Interpol international wanted list.