Boris Berezovsky faces costly divorce

Boris Berezovsky (pictured), the exiled Russian billionaire and avowed enemy of Vladimir Putin (he lives in London in constant fear of ex-KGB assassins), is facing a costly divorce from his second wife. Galina Berezovsky, 49, who he married in 1991 and with whom he has two teenage children, is said to be hoping to extract a settlement similar to the multi-million-pound pay-out won by Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich’s former spouse, Irina.

While they have lived amicably apart for a number of years, a friend of Galina told the Daily Mail that she was irritated to discover that another Russian woman, Yelena Gorbunova, 41, the mother of two more of Berezovsky’s children, was being described as his wife. Says a Russian pal: "Either he is a bigamist or Yelena is only his mistress."

Berezovsky, 62, sentenced in absentia to six years in jail after being found guilty of fraud in Moscow, has been generous with Galina – she lives in an £8m apartment in West London – but now she wants to formalise their separation and reap the benefits. She is expected to claim around a quarter of her husband’s wealth, which at one stage was estimated at well over £1billion.

Berezovsky’s spokesman, Lord (Tim) Bell, insists the divorce battle will not turn messy. "His relationship with Galina is perfectly amicable. She has asked for a divorce and there are no issues between them that I am aware of. They are negotiating a divorce settlement."