[Dog]

Mr. Kivelidi, 46, the head of the Russian Business Round Table, was killed by cadmium, a heavy metal, the police said. His secretary also died of poisoning.

They used cadmium on him..

[Silly]

I thought it was cardemom.

[jdm]

Dog, Thanks for your interest and posts. I'm going to post a 1995 NY Times article related to Kivelidi in a sec.

[jdm]

Not sure how helpful this is...

Aug 17, 1995 -- NY TIMES...

Pulling up in chauffeur-driven limousines and surrounded by bodyguards, a group of Russia's richest men gathered today outside the former K.G.B. headquarters to protest the murders of dozens of businessmen.

The demonstration was provoked by the fatal poisoning of a prominent banker, Ivan Kivelidi, earlier this month.

Mr. Kivelidi, 46, headed Rosbiznesbank, a leading bank, and the Roundtable, an influential Russian business organization.

During the brief demonstration, Mr. Kivelidi's deputy read a statement from the Roundtable calling for a Government crackdown on crime. Then the dozens of businessmen lighted candles and observed a moment of silence.

The Roundtable, which represents the 200 largest businesses in Russia, says there have been 90 attacks on businessmen in the past year, 46 of them fatal. Nine senior members of the Roundtable have been murdered.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CEED61E31F934A2575BC0A963958260&n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fRussia

[jdm]

Whoa, check this out. Just 4-5 months ago authorities nabbed the person who killed Kivelidi way back in 1995.

I think Britain should track down and question this Vladimir Khutsishvili guy, don't you think?

JULY 6, 2006: Suspect Captured in Top Banker's [Kivelidi] Killing

Police have arrested the man suspected of killing wealthy banker Ivan Kivelidi in 1995 by lacing his telephone with a toxic substance. A conviction would close the book on one of Russia's most infamous and enigmatic contract murders.

Vladimir Khutsishvili, once a close friend of Kivelidi, was arrested Friday in central Moscow after an acquaintance tipped off police that he had returned to town, police spokesman Vadim Kolesnik said.

Khutsishvili, who had an international warrant out for his arrest and may have been hiding in the United States, was detained without incident at around 8:30 a.m. Friday at 32 Ulitsa Yefremova, near the Frunzenskaya metro station, Kolesnik said.

Khutsishvili denied any involvement in Kivelidi's death.

Kivelidi, the founder of Rosbiznesbank and one of the country's richest businessmen in the mid-1990s, fell into a coma Aug. 1, 1995, and died three days later. His personal secretary, Zara Ismailova, died Aug. 3, 1995, after falling ill with similar symptoms.

An investigation found that the two had suffered a severe reaction to a highly toxic substance smeared on Kivelidi's telephone. Law enforcement officials said in January 2001 that the substance was a top-secret chemical warfare agent produced in a military chemical factory in the Saratov region, Interfax reported.

Kivelidi's friends would not have suspected anything was amiss had Ismailova not died, because Kivelidi, who was 46, was taken to the hospital almost weekly to be treated for heart problems, Kommersant reported Saturday.

The business newspaper Vek, which was founded by Kivelidi, reported in 1995 that on the day Kivelidi fell ill, Khutsishvili had spent several hours in his office while he was out.

Four years after Kivelidi's death, Moscow police detained a man who claimed to have sold the substance to Khutsishvili, Kommersant reported.

The police spokesman could not confirm that report and referred questions to the City Prosecutor's Office, which is handling the investigation.

City Prosecutor's Office spokesman Sergei Marchenko declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

Along with the murders of journalists Vladislav Listyev and Dmitry Kholodov, the Kivelidi case is one of the country's most infamous unsolved crimes from the 1990s. Kivelidi also headed the Russian Business Roundtable, a now-defunct lobby group that encompassed 270 business associations around the country. He had frequently accused the police of failing to protect businessmen and investigate their murders.

Khutsishvili, now 50, was initially detained two months after Kivelidi's death. The night before Kivelidi died, investigators said at the time, the two had fought over Kivelidi's plans to issue more shares in Rosbiznesbank, which would have effectively diluted Khutsishvili's stake in the bank, Kommersant reported.

Members of the Russian Business Roundtable rallied behind Khutsishvili, and he was released a month later due to lack of evidence. He had disappeared by the time Moscow prosecutors charged him in connection with the two deaths, in January 2000.

"He had an international warrant out for his arrest, and we believe he spent several years in the United States," Kolesnik said. He did not elaborate.

Khutsishvili said in comments broadcast on NTV television Saturday that he planned to challenge his arrest.

"This was my friend whom I worked for, and this terrible deed has completely bankrupted me," Khutsishvili said.

The statute of limitations for murder is 10 years, but police said it had not expired in Khutsishvili's case because he was only charged in 2000.

Someone should swab the phone at Litvinenko's office and Sushi bar!