KGB: We did not detain businessman Izrailevich

Photo: kgb.by
Photo: kgb.by

Belarus' state security committee (KGB) has not confirmed the detention of businessman Arkadiy Izrailevich.

"The committee has not detained this businessman. We have nothing to do with his detention,” KGB press secretary Andrei Yarash told Euroradio.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs told Euroradio they are checking information on possible detention of 'yet another Belarusian businessman.'

The rumours about the detention appeared in mass media on the evening of October 31. Izrailevich was detained on October 30, Nasha Niva reported without indicating the source of information. According to the newspaper's report, Izrailevich was detained when making a bribery attempt in order to settle construction issues. The businessman’s lawyer Alena Akalzayeva has neither confirmed nor refuted the information. She said she was not ready to comment on the situation.

Arkadz Izrailevich is No.98 on the list of the most influential and successful Belarusian businessmen, Yezhednevnik reports. He became known because of the scandal connected with the construction of the restaurant “Poedem, Poedim” in the Kurapaty Tract in a Minsk suburb. The entertainment complex is situated next to the mass graves of the victims of Stalin-era executions in 1937-1941. Protests staged by civil activists erupted immediately after the restaurant opened in June 2018.