Russian businessman Igor Grechushkin who owned the Rhosus, the vessel that had transported the 2750tonnes of ammonium nitrate that exploded on 4 August killing 137 Beirut residents and injuring thousands of others was questioned by Cypriot police on 6 August.
According to global media reports Grechushkin and his company, Teto Shipping, abandoned the vessel and its crew in 2014 when the port authority in Beirut said the vessel was unfit to leave the port. The Russian businessman now resides in Limassol, Cyprus, married to a Russian national who holds a Cypriot passport, though contrary to some reports Grechushkin does not.
Reports in the Cyprus Mail said that “Police here [Cyprus] had received a request from Lebanese authorities, asking that if and when Grechushkin were found, to pose a series of questions to him relating to the cargo at the port of Beirut.”
Cyprus police chief Stelios Papatheodorou confirmed that Grechushkin had been questioned yesterday and details of that questioning were communicated to the Lebanese authorities.
The explosion has seen widespread anger in the Lebanon directed at what Lebanese people believe is a corrupt government, leading to tear gas being fired on demonstrators in the streets of Beirut.
