By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 04:33 EST, 22 May 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 09:01 EST, 22 May 2012 . The gunned down Russian furniture tycoon romantically linked to Princess Michael of Kent was 'in conflict' with his country's interior ministry before his death, it has emerged. The bullet-riddled body of millionaire Mikhail Kravchenko, 46, was found in a pool of blood beside his Mercedes in an  upmarket neighbourhood outside Moscow on Sunday morning. It has since surfaced that his business had been raided by officers from the ministry's economic unit, with a colleague telling the Telegraph he was a target because of his profitable property portfolio. Distressed: Princess Michael of Kent (left) with her husband the Prince at yesterday's Chelsea Flower Show, and the pair in 2005 (right) with Mikhail Kravchenko . Hand-in-hand: Princess Michael of Kent with Russian millionaire Mikhail Kravchenko in Venice, where they spent four days together. Kravchenko was found dead yesterday . The news came as Princess Michael, 67, went ahead with a pre-planned trip to Chelsea Flower Show yesterday. Accompanying the Queen, and other Royals, she said she was 'very distressed' by the death of her friend - who she was pictured holding hands with during a holiday in Venice. Kravchenko reportedly told a Russian magazine, in the days before his death, how difficult it was to run a small or medium sized business in the country. He said: 'In Russia it is all a business can do to survive - with the exception of those closely linked to the state. Loans are expensive, money is expensive, so furniture retailers do not develop.' Dmitry Potanpenko, managing director of Management Development Group, said his acquaintance was 'under pressure' following the raid. He said: 'Misha was pressed hard, but he did not give up. Now we can most likely expect the seizure of the factory, and then after another two to three resales it will pass into the hands of the real buyer.' Princess Michael of Kent with Russian millionaire Mikhail Kravchenko were alleged to have shared a suite at the Cipriani, one of Venice's most glamorous hotels . The pair were pictured enjoying a day out together in a gondola during their stay in Venice. Both denied an affair was taking place . Police say the tycoon, who built his business empire around his £130million-a-year March 8 furniture brand, was hauled from his car and shot up to ten times. Two ‘professional’ gunmen who knew his whereabouts carried out the killing, and there has been a suggestion there was a mystery passenger with Mr Kravchenko in his car who later vanished. An unnamed source also claimed that before his death Mr Kravchenko had ‘branched out into Russia’s real estate and construction markets’, both of which are ‘notoriously corrupt’, as the furniture market slowed down. The source said: ‘We cannot rule out the common scenario for such shootings – a debt he couldn’t repay or a dispute over ownership of a company or property. Simon Astaire, spokesman for Princess Michael of Kent who was linked to the tycoon following intense scrutiny six years ago, said: ‘Prince and Princess Michael of Kent are very distressed to hear of this tragedy.’ The princess – nicknamed ‘Princess Pushy’ because of her over-confident manner – has always denied having an affair with Mr Kravchenko, 21 years her junior. The two royals and the Russian tycoon together. Princess Michael has strongly denied claims of an affair, but said she and Kravchenko are good friends . Russian look: The Prince in front of Red Square and the glamorous Princess of Kent attending a charity dinner. Both have strong links with Russia . But in 2006 the two were pictured holding hands and staring lovingly into each other's eyes while enjoying a stroll and a gondola ride in Venice. The princess was also reported to have booked a suite at one of Venice’s most expensive hotels for herself under the assumed name of ‘Mrs Green’. At the time, Princess Michael’s spokesman Mr Astaire said the pair – who had met at an interior design exhibition the previous year – had simply forged a friendship after Mr Kravchenko confided in her about the death of his wife and daughter in a car crash in 2001. ‘She has been seeking to be supportive,’ Mr Astaire said. ‘It’s not an affair.’ And later, the princess herself spoke out to deny the claims. She told Hello! magazine: ‘The true nature of our relationship is that it is a very good friendship. ‘I hold hands with all my friends. I don’t think that’s being intimate at all. I’m a very tactile person – I do it all the time.’ Later, Mr Kravchenko also denied claims of an affair, saying: ‘We (the princess and I) have just normal human relations. We are friends.’ Moscow has been awash with rumours surrounding the death of the tycoon, who was regarded as one of Moscow’s most eligible bachelors. Battle: Boris Berezovsky appearing at the High court in London for his dispute with Roman Abramovitch . He was made a widower in 2001 following the death of his wife and their seven-year-old daughter in a car accident. Police said he had been driving only yards from a luxury house he built for his parents at around 2am when he was overtaken and the road blocked. He was then shot five times in the body before being dragged from his car and shot in the head. Some accounts suggested a total of ten shots had been fired. Shocked friends insisted he had had no enemies. Unusually for a wealthy Russian businessman, he was often seen without bodyguards and was described by friends as one of the most ‘modest and unassuming’ of Russia’s super-rich. Friends insisted that his dozen or so businesses in furniture, construction and real estate were all solvent and that despite his vast wealth he had never bothered to hire bodyguards because he had no fears for his safety. One, his aide Marina Sherstyuk, said the news had come ‘like a blow of thunder from a clear sky’. Miss Sherstyuk said everything had been ‘normal’ when she last saw the businessman on Friday at a furniture exhibition. ‘There was absolutely no sign of problems, or tension, no cars following him, no threats – nothing at all indicating that his life could have possibly been in danger,’ she said. ‘He would have never even bothered with bodyguards, he felt no need to use them. He felt no threat at all. For us, as for the inner circle of people who worked closely with him, it was an absolute shock to hear.’ Prince Michael was in Russia last week without the princess. He flew to St Petersburg to be awarded with a degree by a Russian university for services to British-Russian relations. But his trip was overshadowed by revelations that he had accepted £320,000 in secret payments from Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, a leading foe of president Vladimir Putin. The payments via an offshore company from Mr Berezovsky, who is exiled in London, were disclosed in court documents. The oligarch’s spokesman said: ‘Mr Berezovsky has known the prince since the early 1990s and has a high regard for the prince’s work. He therefore chose to be supportive over a period which ended some years ago.’
Bullet-riddled body of Mikhail Kravchenko found in Moscow on Sunday .
His business has been raided by officers from ministry's economic unit .
Colleague said he was a target because of his property portfolio .
Princess Michael of Kent attends Chelsea Flower Show alongside Queen .
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 04:33 EST, 22 May 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 09:01 EST, 22 May 2012 . The gunned down Russian furniture tycoon romantically linked to Princess Michael of Kent was 'in conflict' with his country's interior ministry before his death, it has emerged. The bullet-riddled body of millionaire Mikhail Kravchenko, 46, was found in a pool of blood beside his Mercedes in an  upmarket neighbourhood outside Moscow on Sunday morning. It has since surfaced that his business had been raided by officers from the ministry's economic unit, with a colleague telling the Telegraph he was a target because of his profitable property portfolio. Distressed: Princess Michael of Kent (left) with her husband the Prince at yesterday's Chelsea Flower Show, and the pair in 2005 (right) with Mikhail Kravchenko . Hand-in-hand: Princess Michael of Kent with Russian millionaire Mikhail Kravchenko in Venice, where they spent four days together. Kravchenko was found dead yesterday . The news came as Princess Michael, 67, went ahead with a pre-planned trip to Chelsea Flower Show yesterday. Accompanying the Queen, and other Royals, she said she was 'very distressed' by the death of her friend - who she was pictured holding hands with during a holiday in Venice. Kravchenko reportedly told a Russian magazine, in the days before his death, how difficult it was to run a small or medium sized business in the country. He said: 'In Russia it is all a business can do to survive - with the exception of those closely linked to the state. Loans are expensive, money is expensive, so furniture retailers do not develop.' Dmitry Potanpenko, managing director of Management Development Group, said his acquaintance was 'under pressure' following the raid. He said: 'Misha was pressed hard, but he did not give up. Now we can most likely expect the seizure of the factory, and then after another two to three resales it will pass into the hands of the real buyer.' Princess Michael of Kent with Russian millionaire Mikhail Kravchenko were alleged to have shared a suite at the Cipriani, one of Venice's most glamorous hotels . The pair were pictured enjoying a day out together in a gondola during their stay in Venice. Both denied an affair was taking place . Police say the tycoon, who built his business empire around his £130million-a-year March 8 furniture brand, was hauled from his car and shot up to ten times. Two ‘professional’ gunmen who knew his whereabouts carried out the killing, and there has been a suggestion there was a mystery passenger with Mr Kravchenko in his car who later vanished. An unnamed source also claimed that before his death Mr Kravchenko had ‘branched out into Russia’s real estate and construction markets’, both of which are ‘notoriously corrupt’, as the furniture market slowed down. The source said: ‘We cannot rule out the common scenario for such shootings – a debt he couldn’t repay or a dispute over ownership of a company or property. Simon Astaire, spokesman for Princess Michael of Kent who was linked to the tycoon following intense scrutiny six years ago, said: ‘Prince and Princess Michael of Kent are very distressed to hear of this tragedy.’ The princess – nicknamed ‘Princess Pushy’ because of her over-confident manner – has always denied having an affair with Mr Kravchenko, 21 years her junior. The two royals and the Russian tycoon together. Princess Michael has strongly denied claims of an affair, but said she and Kravchenko are good friends . Russian look: The Prince in front of Red Square and the glamorous Princess of Kent attending a charity dinner. Both have strong links with Russia . But in 2006 the two were pictured holding hands and staring lovingly into each other's eyes while enjoying a stroll and a gondola ride in Venice. The princess was also reported to have booked a suite at one of Venice’s most expensive hotels for herself under the assumed name of ‘Mrs Green’. At the time, Princess Michael’s spokesman Mr Astaire said the pair – who had met at an interior design exhibition the previous year – had simply forged a friendship after Mr Kravchenko confided in her about the death of his wife and daughter in a car crash in 2001. ‘She has been seeking to be supportive,’ Mr Astaire said. ‘It’s not an affair.’ And later, the princess herself spoke out to deny the claims. She told Hello! magazine: ‘The true nature of our relationship is that it is a very good friendship. ‘I hold hands with all my friends. I don’t think that’s being intimate at all. I’m a very tactile person – I do it all the time.’ Later, Mr Kravchenko also denied claims of an affair, saying: ‘We (the princess and I) have just normal human relations. We are friends.’ Moscow has been awash with rumours surrounding the death of the tycoon, who was regarded as one of Moscow’s most eligible bachelors. Battle: Boris Berezovsky appearing at the High court in London for his dispute with Roman Abramovitch . He was made a widower in 2001 following the death of his wife and their seven-year-old daughter in a car accident. Police said he had been driving only yards from a luxury house he built for his parents at around 2am when he was overtaken and the road blocked. He was then shot five times in the body before being dragged from his car and shot in the head. Some accounts suggested a total of ten shots had been fired. Shocked friends insisted he had had no enemies. Unusually for a wealthy Russian businessman, he was often seen without bodyguards and was described by friends as one of the most ‘modest and unassuming’ of Russia’s super-rich. Friends insisted that his dozen or so businesses in furniture, construction and real estate were all solvent and that despite his vast wealth he had never bothered to hire bodyguards because he had no fears for his safety. One, his aide Marina Sherstyuk, said the news had come ‘like a blow of thunder from a clear sky’. Miss Sherstyuk said everything had been ‘normal’ when she last saw the businessman on Friday at a furniture exhibition. ‘There was absolutely no sign of problems, or tension, no cars following him, no threats – nothing at all indicating that his life could have possibly been in danger,’ she said. ‘He would have never even bothered with bodyguards, he felt no need to use them. He felt no threat at all. For us, as for the inner circle of people who worked closely with him, it was an absolute shock to hear.’ Prince Michael was in Russia last week without the princess. He flew to St Petersburg to be awarded with a degree by a Russian university for services to British-Russian relations. But his trip was overshadowed by revelations that he had accepted £320,000 in secret payments from Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, a leading foe of president Vladimir Putin. The payments via an offshore company from Mr Berezovsky, who is exiled in London, were disclosed in court documents. The oligarch’s spokesman said: ‘Mr Berezovsky has known the prince since the early 1990s and has a high regard for the prince’s work. He therefore chose to be supportive over a period which ended some years ago.’
outside Moscow on Sunday morning. It has since surfaced that his business had been raided by officers from the ministry's economic unit, with a colleague telling the Telegraph he was a target because of his profitable property portfolio. Distressed: Princess Michael of Kent (left) with Mikhail Kravchenko . Hand-in-hand: Princess with a pre-planned trip to Chelsea Flower Show