Disgraced Russian Nuclear Chief Wants U.S. Apology

Former Russian atomic energy chief Yevgeny Adamov on Friday demanded an apology from the United States for the “baseless accusations” that he embezzled $9 million intended to aid nuclear safety in his country, the Moscow Times reported (see GSN, Jan. 16). 

Adamov said a U.S. court essentially exonerated him Thursday when it cleared a former associate of aiding in the alleged theft of the U.S. nuclear funds.  Mark Kaushansky received a 15-month prison sentence for tax evasion.

The ruling “could not be interpreted in two ways,” Adamov’s lawyer in Russia, Genry Reznik, told Ekho Moskvy radio.  The verdict “completely rehabilitated” Adamov, he added.

Adamov is seeking to have the U.S. charges dropped, and to be compensated for legal costs and losses to his business and reputation, the Times reported.

There has been, however, no indication that the U.S. case will be dropped.  Adamov will not be tried in absentia, said a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

After being forced out of his post in 2001, Adamov was arrested in Switzerland in May 2005 but Russia successfully blocked his extradition to the United States.  He is still awaiting trial in Russia on charges of fraud and abuse of office (Natalya Krainova, Moscow Times, July 2).

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