Late Russian oligarch Berezovsky's estate 'hopelessly insolvent'

Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky arrives at a division of the High Court in central London December 19, 2011. REUTERS/Olivia Harris

LONDON (Reuters) - The estate of late Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who helped broker Vladimir Putin's rise to the Kremlin's top job only to become his sworn enemy, is hopelessly insolvent, a British judge has said.

A fast-talking former mathematician who scaled the heights of the ruthless world of post-Soviet business and politics, Berezovsky clashed with Putin soon after his election in 2000 and fled to Britain where he became his most vociferous enemy.