Former Russian prime minister Yegor Gaidar was the victim of an "unnatural" poisoning, his spokesman told AFP, citing doctors. "This was an unnatural poisoning. The doctors can't say what the substance is yet. We are expecting an official diagnosis at the beginning of next week," Valery Natarov said.
Natarov said Russian doctors had to compare their results with those of Irish doctors after Gaidar fell ill on November 24 during a trip to Ireland.
Gaidar suddenly fell unconscious and started vomiting blood after eating fruit salad and drinking a cup of tea.
Natarov and Gaidar's daughter, Maria, said earlier Thursday that Gaidar, who is recovering in a hospital in Moscow, is feeling better.
Maria Gaidar told the Kommersant daily that, based on her conversations with doctors, she expected the diagnosis to point to "a poison unknown to civilian medicine."
Gaidar remained unconscious for three hours in hospital in Ireland and for a full day his life was considered in danger.
President Vladimir Putin telephoned Gaidar on Thursday and expressed his concern for his health, Natarov said.
Gaidar's illness came one day after the death in London of former Russian secret services agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned by a rare radioactive substance.
As Russia's first post-Soviet prime minister, Gaidar was a chief architect of reforms known as "shock therapy", which helped transform the communist economy but are widely blamed for increasing poverty in Russia.
Gaidar now heads an economic think tank in Moscow that frequently criticizes Putin's policy of increasing state control over the economy.
