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A court in Lviv has seized all the local assets of the Georgian mineral water company Borjomi as part of a probe into the business of exiled Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky.

Ukrainian law enforcement officers seized all Borjomi's non-movable assets "that are owned by the accused Berezovsky and are located in Ukraine" and banned their sale, a police statement reads. The Ukrainian assets are controlled by UK fund Salford Capital Partners Inc., which refused to comment.

Berezovsky, who fled Russia for London after Putin was elected president for the first time in 2000, has been a thorn in the side of the Kremlin and fighting a running battle with the Russian powers that be. His Borjomi assets in Russia were seized in October as part of the same investigation. He has also been tried in absentia in Russia and found guilty of fraud against AvtoVAZ, LogoVAZ, and Aeroflot, for which he was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

The latest court order was carried out at the request of Russia's Investigative Committee - the second time Ukrainian courts have interceded on behalf of the Russians this year. In May, several men were arrested in Odesa at the request of the Russian authorities for allegedly planning to assassinate President Vladimir Putin. At the time the arrests were widely seen as an attempt by Kyiv to curry favour with Moscow, as the two sides are locked in a protracted dispute over the price Ukraine pays for Russian gas.