A $4 billion dollar legal dispute between two Russian oligarchs will be decided in London after an English judge said that the danger of assassination and lack of a fair trial made it too risky to try the case in Russia.

Mr Justice Christopher Clarke ruled that Michael Cherney, who is now based in Israel, can sue his former business partner Oleg Deripaska in the UK, in an attempt to recover an alleged $4 billion (£2 billion) debt.

Mr Deripaska, Russia’s richest man with a $28 billion fortune, had asked for the case to be dismissed, claiming it should be heard before a Russian court.

But this morning Mr Justice Clark said there was a “significant risk” that any Russian trial would involve “improper interference by State actors” and that “substantial justice may not be done.”

The judge said the risks for Mr Cherney, who fled to the West in 1991, of having to fight the case in Russia included “assassination”, “arrest on trumped up charges” and “lack of a fair trial”.

The judge referred to an assassination attempt against Mr Cherney in Israel, where he is now a citizen, that “appeared” to be the work of a Russian business crime gang “possibly connected to the Russian secret services”.

The dispute concerns a deal that Mr Cherney claims he struck with Mr Deripaska, his former business partner and protégé, at a London hotel in 2001. Mr Cherney says he agreed to sell his shares in SibAl, a Russian aluminium group, for $250 million in cash and a 20 per cent stake in Mr Deripaska’s larger rival RusAl, to be handed over in five years.

Mr Deripaska disputes the details of the deal, leading Mr Cherney’s lawyer to accuse him of trying to use his power and influence in Russian political circles “to re-write history”.

During the trial, Mr Cherney’s lawyers described Mr Deripaska, 39, as a member of former Russian President Putin’s inner circle whose vast contacts make him one of the most influential people in Russia.

Mr Deripaska accepts he is a prominent businessman but denies any special political influence. Despite this, the judge said that: “Given the closeness of the link between the Russian state and Mr Deripaska…[it may see this dispute]…as sufficiently important to justify encouraging the courts to see their way to rejecting Mr Cherney’s claims.”

On the issue of jurisdiction, the judge said that although neither man is domiciled or resident in the UK, both have substantial links to England and the fact that they met at a London hotel is enough, in the circumstances, for the case to be heard in the UK courts.

The case will now proceed to a full trial although no date has been set.

A spokesman for Mr Deripaska said: “We are surprised by the court's ruling that the case should be heard in Britain rather than the Russian courts, given the fact that judge accepts that Russia is an appropriate place to hear the case.

"We disagree with the pejorative claims made about Russian courts in the judgement. We shall be seeking leave to appeal the decision of the court, since we believe that the issues in the case fall clearly within the jurisdiction of the Russian courts."

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