Interfax's Interview

 "I think it is important not to exaggerate the current set of problems. As you have heard me say in concrete terms - the level of trade, the level of investment, the number of people who are traveling - all that is going up very, very fast indeed," Brenton said in an interview with Interfax.

 At the same time, he admitted that the West is worried by some aspects of the situation in Russia.

 "There have undoubtedly been particular areas of problems: worries in the West about human rights in Russia and worries in the West about the way various British companies have been treated here; there are worries about the way my embassy has been treated, the British Council has been treated and all that," he said.

 "Nevertheless, our overall feeling [] is that, in general, cooperation on the economic front is good, cooperation on particular political issues is good, on Iran I mentioned, very close, very good cooperation," he said.

 Brenton  considers, that the recent deal between TNK-BP and Gazprom on the Kovykta gas field is good news for economic cooperation between Russia and the United Kingdom.
 TNK-BP faced certain problems in developing the Kovykta field, as "they were unable, for reasons outside their control, to meet the license requirements on the Kovykta field," Brenton said.

 "Therefore, they entered negotiation with Gazprom about that field. That has been a successful negotiation in the sense that Gazprom is now acquiring the field at a price which both sides are happy with," Brenton said.

 "One of the products of that interaction between the two companies is, I think, a will on both sides to long-term strategic interaction, which is a very good thing. This cooperation between a very major British company and a very major Russian company is good for your country, good for my country, and good for our economic relations in the future," he said.

 It was reported earlier that TNK-BP, a Russian subsidiary of BP, consented to sell 62.9% of its stake in RUSIA-Petroleum, the holder of a license to the Kovykta field, and also 50% of its stake in the East Siberian Gas Company to Gazprom, which should pay from $700 million to $900 million for this acquisition.

 Speaking about prospects for expanding Gazprom's presence on the British market, Brenton said there were no significant obstacles to this.

 "If businesses want to invest in the UK and are ready to observe our rules, which are there to protect the competitiveness of our market and our national security to some extent, provided companies are willing to come in on the basis of our rules, they are welcome wherever they come. That includes Gazprom," he said.

 As for now, "Gazprom has made a couple of small acquisitions in the UK, but nothing very big," he said.

  Brenton underlines that Boris Berezovsky's calls for a forceful replacement of the Russian government may be unwelcome, but it is not up to the British government to decide on his extradition to Russia, British Ambassador to Russia Tony Brenton said.

 "That, of course, is not the sort of thing that we encourage, if I can put it that way. But, finally, if it doesn't break the British law, we have no recourse against him," he said.

 "This is very clear that, while he is in the UK, he has to behave in a law-abiding way, but we cannot - we, the British government, cannot - decide to send him back to Russia. That's for an independent British court," Brenton said.

 "In order to achieve his extradition, the Russian authorities will have to persuade an independent British judge that he has committed an extraditable offense and will get a proper trial in Russia, and that there are a number of other requirements which have to be met," he said.

 Following a number of statements Berezovsky made in the press in late January 2006, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office on February 16, 2006 opened a criminal case against him on charges of plotting a coup or forcible seizure of power.

 On March 1, 2006, the Russian authorities sent documents to the British Home Office to ensure his extradition. The businessman was also declared internationally wanted, and relevant documents were sent to the National Central Bureau of Interpol in Russia.

 Earlier this week, Berezovsky's lawyer Andrei Borovkov told journalists that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) had indicted Berezovsky under the coup plot case.

 At the same time Brenton mentions that  The United Kingdom has still not received an answer from the Russian Prosecutor General's Office regarding its extradition request for Russian businessman Andrei Lugovoi, whom the British Crown Prosecution Service has indicted for poisoning former Russian secret service officer Alexander Litvinenko.

 "We have had no formal response to that request in the five weeks since I handed it over," British said.

 "We have had no formal request from the Russian authorities for any additional materials of any sort," Brenton said.

 "If a formal request came, then obviously we would have to look at it. But for the moment we are waiting still for a formal reply from the Russian prosecution authorities to our request for extradition," he said.

 Asked to describe the level of cooperation between the UK and Russia in probing into Litvinenko's death, Brenton said, "I think cooperation has been very good."

 On Kosovo problem British Ambassador said that Kosovo's independence could be declared unilaterally if the UN Security Council fails to pass a relevant resolution, British Ambassador to Russia Tony Brenton has said.

 "The people of Kosovo are very clear that they want independence, and they have very firm support from a number of Western countries. And the very strong temptation inevitably will be that, if we cannot do this through a proper Security Council resolution, then it will happen unilaterally anyway," he said.

 "That's something that we want to avoid, and I am sure that Russia wants to avoid. And the answer is fast find agreement at the Security Council, which would open the road to independence by a proper rule," Brenton said.

 "Kosovo has de facto been independent for the last eight years," and the plan produced by Martti Ahtisaari reflects this, he said.

 "If that proves impossible, then the international community faces some very hard choices," Brenton said.

 Asked whether Russia could veto a UN Security Council resolution granting Kosovo independence, Brenton said he hoped this scenario could be avoided.

 "I very much hope that Russia will not be put in a position when it wants to use the veto," he said.

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