MOSCOW, May 30 (UPI) -- The Kremlin said it had no knowledge a top Russian economist and government adviser fled the country amid a crackdown on criticism of President Vladimir Putin.
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he understood Sergei Guriev was simply vacationing with his wife and children in France.
"This is not our question. This has nothing to do with the Kremlin, nothing to do with the president," he told The New York Times of the sudden departure of Guriev, who has assailed the Kremlin's increasingly repressive tactics and supported regime opponents.
"The only thing I can tell you is that this is pure speculation," he said of reports Guriev fled.
Guriev, 41, who is in France, where his wife and children have lived for several years, would not comment on his decision.
But a friend told the Times Guriev abruptly left the country because "had reason to believe he could be deprived of his freedom."
The unidentified friend told the Times Guriev had asked "influential people in Moscow who normally would protect him, and he was given advice that he was not safe."
Guriev also stepped down from a number of prominent positions, including as the rector of Moscow's New Economic School, widely recognized as one of Russia's best, The Wall Street Journal reported.
He also pulled his name from the slate for re-election to the board of directors of OAO Sberbank, Russia's largest and Europe's third-largest bank, the Journal said.
A school spokeswoman said the institution hadn't received any resignation from Guriev and as far as she knew, Guriev was still rector and was simply on vacation.
President Barack Obama spoke at the school when he visited Moscow in July 2009.
Guriev told the Journal "personal circumstances" were responsible for his decision to leave the bank. The bank had no immediate comment.
Guriev, who frequently appeared with top Russian officials including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, also canceled plans to speak at next month's annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a showcase event for foreign business held under Putin's patronage, the Journal said, citing a government official.
Guriev was one of the few eminent Russians to openly support opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a critic of Russian corruption and of Putin, now on trial for embezzlement. Navalny, who had said he would mount his own campaign for president, says the charges against him are trumped up and his trial is a political witch hunt.
Guriev said publicly he and his wife donated $320 to Navalny's anti-corruption fund last year.
In an essay on his blog, he said he made the donation because he believes Russia needs more political competition.
"Am I scared to support an opposition politician?" he wrote. "No. I'm a free man. I know that as long as I don't break the law, no one can forbid me from saying or doing something.
"Could I be wrong about that? Of course," he wrote.
