Russian business ombudsman Boris Titov says he has stopped his campaign to repatriate foreign-based Russian businesspeople over concerns they may face arrest upon arrival.
Titov's report to Russian President Vladimir Putin, parts of which were published by the RIA Novosti news agency on July 12, says that the decision to stop the campaign was made due to a failure by the Prosecutor-General's Office to guarantee that Russian businessmen from the so-called London List would not be arrested on their return.
According to Titov's report, some 136 foreign-based Russian businesspeople have applied to return to Russia, of which 12 did. The applications of 10 other individuals are still being processed, it said.
Titov launched the campaign in early 2018 after he met with dozens of Russian businesspeople in London, many of whom were wanted in Russia for alleged financial and other crimes.
Titov said at the time that many businesspeople were eager to return to Russia and cooperate with investigators on condition of not being immediately arrested and placed in pretrial detention centers.
Businessman Andrei Kakovkin was the first person who used Titov's campaign and returned to Russia from London in February 2018.
In October 2019, Kakovkin was sentenced to three years in prison on embezzlement charges.
