Remember Khodorkovsky?
He was the richest man in Russia. A typical billionaire of the transition. The Kremlin targeted him, took his money and business, put him in jail where he spent 10 years. Then he was pardoned generously, the Germans supported him, now he is a political outcast and a dissident against Putin regime in the western world. But he's alive.
Does Berezovski spring to mind?
He was the most powerful oligarch of the Yeltsin era. Due to his own merits (and hundreds of millions) Boris Nikolaevich won the presidential election. Soon, however, Putin came, Berezovsky significantly overestimated his powers and thoughtlessly opposed the new ruler. His business was seized and the prison door opened wide for him. In the meantime, the savvy multi-billionaire vanished abroad and eventually appeared in London. He began to condemn President Putin. Ten years later, he was found dead in the bathroom.
Dramatic and instructive. And the parallels between Moscow and Sofia are by no means little in number.
Until recently, Bozhkov was the richest Bulgarian. He is a well-read man. And he is certainly well aware of the biographies of his oligarch colleagues. Probably the master of combinations has already put two and two together. And he realized there would not be a third time.
“Khodorkovsky” version. Bozhkov returns to Bulgaria and being a picture of innocence, stands before justice. He serves a ten- year-sentence, concludes an agreement and kicks off running around the world. He would not be welcome in the West because he is not Khodorkovsky.
But in the East, he finds shelter – attending exotic foundations and universities, lecturing on human rights, thundering against authoritarianism and trying to depict himself as a political exile. He outlives to sense old age and oblivion.
“Berezovsky” version.
The extradition, of course, gets stuck. He remains abroad in limbo. He spends modestly the remnants of his exported capital. From time to time he gives interviews similar to Tsvetan Vassilev’s. Lists his enemies. He expects a political rematch but does not live up to see it because he knows too much – for those in power, for those who hold power and for others who act in the shadow of power. On a rainy autumn day he is found in a hotel room with a neck loop. Depression and suicide, investigators will say.
In fact, there is a third option. But only theoretical. A radical change in Bulgaria. The chance for it to happen to the seller of happiness is about as much as winning a jackpot from his own games of chance.
Which way will Bozhkov take?
The task has one correct answer only. And the future exile is a mathematician after all.
