Berezovsky to press on with suit despite setback

LONDON (Reuters) - Former Russian "oligarch" Boris Berezovsky vowed on Thursday to press on with a lawsuit against billionaire rival Roman Abramovich despite suffering a setback in a British court.

Berezovsky, once one of Russia's richest and most powerful men, left the country after falling out with former president Vladimir Putin in 2000 and has become a fierce critic of the Kremlin from his London base.

He claims he was forced to turn over much of his vast business holdings to his former business partner, Roman Abramovich, who is also based in London where he owns the Chelsea football team that lost the Champions League final in Moscow on Wednesday.

Billions of pounds could potentially be at stake in the British court case between the two Russian oligarchs.

Abramovich scored a minor victory on Thursday when a High Court judge denied a bid by Berezovsky to add accusations of threats and intimidation to his claims.

But Berezovsky's lawyers said the ruling was only technical and would not prevent their case from going ahead.

"It is true that our proposed formulation of a claim of breach of trust ... was not accepted by the judge after the present hearing, but this was for purely technical reasons that will not prevent that claim being introduced at a later date," the statement said.

"The claimant's case, therefore, is still on foot and no part of it has been struck out," it said.

(Reporting by Peter Graff; Editing by Giles Elgood)