LUKoil vice president Anatoly Barkov said in an interview published Monday that he and his driver were not responsible for a February car crash that killed two women in southern Moscow and insisted that the accident had not damaged the oil company’s reputation.
Barkov told the Kommersant Vlast weekly in his first interview since the crash that media were to blame for the finger-pointing and the public needed to vent anger at rich people and high-ranking officials who abuse traffic privileges obtained by using flashing blue lights on their cars. But he denied using a flashing blue light himself.
Barkov also said calls to boycott LUKoil did not damage the company’s gasoline sales.
He said he would not sue people who accused him of wrongdoing, including rapper Noize MC, and confirmed that he would financially support the 2-year-old daughter of one of the victims until she reaches adulthood.
(MT)
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