ANOTHER RUSSIAN BUSINESSMAN MURDERED.

Ivan Lushchinsky, chairman of the board of Baltic Maritime Lines, was murdered in St. Petersburg. The murder, according to investigators, had all the signs of a paid killing. (8)

Baltic Maritime Lines is the biggest Russian steamship line in the Baltic. Privatized in 1993, the company came into the mass media’s focus when Vladimir Panskov, currently Finance Minister but at that time an official of the Tax Inspectorate, was accused of taking bribes from the company. He was arrested in March 1993, but his guilt was never proved, and he was released after four months in detention. Baltic Maritime Lines currently experiences serious financial difficulties, including tens of millions of dollars worth of debts to various creditors.

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