Russian Tycoon Loses His Government Job

President Boris Yeltsin has dismissed Boris Berezovsky, one of Russia’s richest men, from his position as deputy secretary of the National Security Council.

Berezovsky and other tycoons helped Yeltsin defeat a Communist challenger in last year’s elections but have been criticized since for benefiting from government favors during ostensible auctions of Russian state assets.

A Kremlin statement distanced Yeltsin from the dismissal, stressing that Berezovsky was removed at the urging of the two deputy prime ministers, Anatoly Chubais and Boris Nemtsov.