Body believed to be Vladislav Baumgertner found in Cyprus | OneFootball

A badly decomposed body, believed to be that of Vladislav Baumgertner, has been found on a remote coast near Avdimou in south-west Cyprus. According to Nice-Matin, Limassol criminal police and British authorities have opened a joint investigation.

A passer-by discovered the body on Wednesday 14 January within the British Sovereign Base Area. Decomposition prevented immediate identification.

Police sealed off the site for forensic work to determine the cause of death and whether crime or accident. Cypriot and British teams are working together.

Early indications point to Baumgertner, the former Uralkali chief executive. He lived and worked on the island and had been missing for nearly two weeks. A large search by British and Cypriot forces did not find him.

A close associate of AS Monaco president Dmitri Rybolovlev and of Oleg Petrov, he never held a direct role at the club. All three held senior posts at Uralkali.

He was arrested in Minsk by Belarusian security services in a case that saw Petrov and three other Uralkali executives placed on an Interpol wanted list. The allegation was abuse of power after Uralkali ended ties with a Belarus potash firm. He was later extradited to Russia and acquitted.

Earlier in January, a Russian embassy staffer in Nicosia was found dead and police ruled out foul play. The latest discovery has fuelled online speculation and comes amid a political crisis in Cyprus, with corruption claims, resignations and talk of foreign interference.

Source: Nice-Matin