Three influential US senators have asked President George W. Bush to raise the case of William Browder, the hedge fund chief who has been barred from entering Russia, when he meets Vladimir Putin at the Group of Eight summit this month.
The G8 meeting in St Petersburg is expected to be dominated by discussions of energy security, with Russia working hard to keep its domestic situation off the agenda.
But in a letter to Mr Bush last month, the three senators – Bill Frist, Republican majority leader, John McCain, a Republican, and Charles Schumer, a Democrat – said Mr Browder’s case “reminds us that the path to a free society and an open market in Russia cannot be taken for grantedâ€Â.
They said the Moscow government “should either let Mr Browder back into Russia or provide a credible explanation as to why it is denying entry to its largest foreign portfolio investorâ€Â.
The White House had not yet responded to the request, a Senate aide said on Wednesday.
Mr Browder, a UK citizen and chief executive officer of Hermitage Capital Management, with $4.1bn (€3.2bn, £2.2bn) in assets, has been barred from entering the country since November. Russia’s foreign ministry and the Kremlin have both declined to comment on his case.
