France and Russia may be on war path after French authorities arrested a billionaire Russian lawmaker, Suleiman Kerimov in Nice over alleged tax evasion. Kerimov was reportedly arrested on Monday night in circumstances that Russian authorities claim violated his diplomatic immunity.
Kremlin's spokesman says French diplomat in Russia was summoned in connection with Kerimov's arrest. He said at the time of his arrest, the lawmaker had diplomatic immunity which puts officials from overseas above the law of the country of operation. He added that Russia would do everything necessary to resolve the matter.
"We will apply all efforts, maximum of efforts, to defend his legal interests. It is especially important here that Suleiman Kerimov has a diplomatic passport which he used to enter France,"
Although he has been released, Kerimov was asked to hand over his passport to the authorities. His bail has been set at €5m (£4.4m).
BBC reports that Kerimov's family controls Russia's largest gold producer, Polyus, and he has an estimated net worth of $6.3bn (£4.7bn). Shares in the company fell after news of his arrest broke. In 2013 Kerimov was wanted in Belarus in connection with the activities of Russian fertilizer giant Uralkali, which he had a stake in. The Belarusian government later removed him from the wanted list.
