A Russian tycoon living in Britain has died after he was hit by a car while walking his dog near his Surrey home.
Surrey Police confirmed in a statement that 49-year-old Dmitry Obretetsky, whose company was the official distributor of Mars and Nestle was the man that was knocked down in Oxshott on November 25.
He died in hospital five days later. His dog Oscar was also killed in the three-car crash.
Obretetsky’s friend Pavel Borovkov today questioned whether he was deliberately killed, telling Russian news outlet Life: ‘You know, people drive cars very carefully in (Britain)… I don’t exclude that he was specially knocked down.’
He also paid tribute to the tycoon as “a wonderful friend and colleague, an understanding and friendly person”.
He added: “Dmitry was a man of diverse interests – he did not focus only on business.
“We remember how at the famous quarter-final of Euro 2008 he proudly, completely alone in a crowd of Dutch fans, held a large Russian flag with the inscription ‘Volgograd’.
“He loved contemporary music – hard rock. He was a fan of Ozzy Osbourne.”
Surrey Police are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage after the father of three was mysteriously killed.
A police spokesman said: ‘We are continuing to investigate the circumstances around the collision.’
Dmitry Obretetsky ‘s death is the latest of a string of prominent Russians who have died in mysterious circumstances in the UK. In 2008, Badri Patarkatsishvili died at an estate near Leatherhead, while Alexander Peripilichnyy died near Weybridge in 2012, and in 2013, Boris Berezovsky died near Ascot.
Obretetsky was reported to be a billionaire who made his fortune in Volgograd after the fall of the Soviet Union before moving to Surrey with his wife and children
He founded a household chemicals retail company and was owner of Magnat Trade Enterprise, official distributor for Mars, Nestle, and Procter & Gamble in Russia.
His consulting company LLC Advant said: “We know very little about what happened. Of course, this is a great loss and tragedy for all of us.”
