DAVOS, Switzerland, January 29 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian first deputy prime minister said a recent court ruling sanctioning the arrest of a former co-owner of a top cell phone retailer Euroset, Yevgeny Chichvarkin, was not a warning to Russian business.

"We have not sent any [warning] signals to Russian business, we do not and will not send them," Igor Shuvalov said.

On Wednesday Moscow's Basmanny Court issued an arrest warrant for Chichvarkin, who is currently in the U.K.

Charges against Chichvarkin were brought as part of an earlier kidnapping case against former Euroset vice president Boris Levin and two other company officials.

Chichvarkin is suspected of authorizing the 2003 abduction of Euroset's shipping agent, Andrei Vlaskin, who allegedly stole large quantities of mobile phones from the company and then sold them on through a retail outlet he had set up for the purpose.

"We believe that business is a priority and it should be protected by legislation," the first deputy prime minister said, adding that business leaders who break the law should be punished.

Despite the recent events, Chichvarkin remains a candidate in the leadership race for the Moscow branch of the recently-formed Pravoye Delo (Right Cause) pro-Kremlin, right-wing party, a senior party member said on Wednesday.

Party leaders, however, earlier said the Moscow branch could not be headed by anyone who lived abroad.