NBCUniversal Executive Is Denied Entry Into Russia

An executive with NBCUniversal said he had been denied entry into Russia and detained for several hours July 13, raising the prospect that a growing spy and diplomatic confrontation could now be tipping into the world of business. The executive, Jeff Shell, who oversees the motion picture unit, said he was traveling to Russia on business when he was detained briefly and ordered out of the country. Shell said NBCUniversal had a movie operation in the country. He is also the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the federal agency that oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and other government broadcasters that are not well liked in the Kremlin.

Shell said he had arrived in Moscow around 11:30 pm and was making his way through immigration when he was pulled out of the line. “I was then taken to a small room and left alone for about a half-hour before someone came back with a document in Russian that they wanted me to sign,” he said. Shell said he refused, telling the Russian authorities that he would not sign something he did not understand. He said he was then given a translation of the document, which explained that he had been barred from the country. He said he was then escorted to another room at the airport and that he was locked inside for nearly three hours, until a flight to Amsterdam was arranged.