LONDON, (Reuters) – A British court has issued an  arrest warrant for a Russian mobile phone tycoon wanted in  Moscow on charges of kidnapping and blackmail, a source  connected to British law enforcement agencies told Reuters yesterday.

Russian prosecutors said they had received notification from  Britain that a court in Westminster had issued an order for the  arrest of Yevgeny Chichvarkin after Moscow asked for his  extradition.

“It has been issued (the arrest warrant) but not executed,”  the source in London said.

“We confirm that a Westminster court has issued an order to  arrest Chichvarkin,” a spokeswoman for the Russian  Prosecutor-General’s office said. She gave no further details.

A spokesman for the British Embassy in Moscow declined  comment while Chichvarkin did not answer repeated calls to his  cell phone.

Chichvarkin helped found Euroset, one of Russia’s biggest  mobile phone retailers, but sold his stake in the firm last  year. He has accused corrupt officials of being behind the  charges, which he denies.

Unmet extradition requests have been a sore point in  Russia’s worsening relations with Britain in recent years.

Russia attacked Britain for hosting Kremlin critic Boris  Berezovsky, while Russia’s refusal to extradite a suspect in the  murder of Alexander Litvinenko led to diplomatic expulsions.