Billionaire Berezovsky faces multi-million divorce battle

Exiled Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky is facing a divorce battle which could rival the multi-million-pound settlement Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich agreed with his former wife.

Berezovsky, 62, who is based in London and Surrey, is negotiating a settlement with Galina, his second wife.

Galina, 49, who also lives in London, with their two teenage children, has been estranged from Me Berezovsky since the mid-Nineties, although they never divorced.

Lord Bell, Mr Berezovsky's spokesman, said negotiations were under way, after which he was due to marry his partner of 15 years, Yelena Gorbunova, 41, by whom he has two more children. Miss Gorbunova has also been sometimes incorrectly described as his wife. Lord Bell was reported as saying the relationship with Galina was "perfectly amicable".

Mr Berezovsky, who has financed Russian opposition parties, lives under constant fear of assasination by his many opponents in the former Soviet empire.

The businessman, who left Russia in selfimposed exile in 2000, has openly admitted he wants to bring down Vladimir Putin.

He has survived a number of attempts on his life and was charged with fraud and corruption in Russia in 2001. British courts have rejected extradition and he has denied any wrongdoing.

His Surrey house, bought from DJ Chris Evans, has bullet-proof windows and steel doors.