MOSCOW, August 21 (RAPSI) - The Court Appointed Receivers for the estate of Boris Berezovsky are still investigating the deceased oligarch’s Serbian assets, Nick Wood, a partner at international accounting firm Grant Thornton UK LLP told RAPSI Wednesday. 

Grant Thornton has been court-appointed to deal with the estate until an executor is appointed. In a will drafted nine days prior to his death, Berezovsky listed five potential executors, none of whom have yet agreed to take responsibility for the estate, including: two attorneys, old friend Yuli Dubov, daughter Ekaterina Berezovskaya, and former longtime girlfriend Yelena Gorbunova. 

“Our responsibility as Court Appointed Receivers is to preserve and realise Mr Berezovsky’s assets world-wide, that includes Serbia. We are still investigating Mr Berezovsky’s assets in Serbia.  We understand these assets were frozen, but as yet have no formal confirmation of this,” Wood explained Wednesday, adding, “We understand that the Freezing Order was at the behest of the Russian prosecutor, but again we have no formal confirmation of this.” 

Russian prosecutors announced Tuesday that Serbian authorities had seized upwards of 9 billion rubles worth of Berezovsky’s assets in the country at the request of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office. According to Deputy Prosecutor General Aleksander Zvyagintsev, "Seven enterprises owned by Berezovsky have been seized. Their net worth amounts to more than 9 billion rubles ($273 million)." 

Then on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal said that it had lifted the asset freeze, finding that Berezovsky’s ownership of the assets at issue had not been proven. 

When asked about Grant Thornton’s plans to intervene in the reported asset-freeze, Wood explained that, “We are currently taking legal advice as to whether proceedings should be brought in the UK and/or Serbia.” 

The 67-year-old businessman was found by his bodyguard in the bathroom of his house on Mill Lane, Ascot, Berkshire, on March 23. The results of a post-mortem examination found the cause of death to be consistent with hanging.

The British media report that the former oligarch was on the verge of bankruptcy after losing several litigations against his former business partners. In 2012, he lost a case in London against fellow Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich and agreed to pay litigation costs of 35 million pounds.