MOSCOW. Sept 2 (Interfax) - The editors' office of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper does not rule out that the an exiled tycoon could have been the customer of the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, but says that it more likely that the customer is still in Russia, Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said.

"We have several theories. Speaking about customers, we do not rule out that an exiled tycoon could have ordered the murder. Though the theory which, let me say, is better developed brings us to Russia," Sokolov said on the air of the Ekho Moskvy radio station on Sunday.

"We believe that the customer has still been in our country," he said.

Asked whether the customer has any links with politics or business, Sokolov said: "Business and politics got so interdependent in Russia that God knows."

Asked about the leak on information on suspects in the Politkovskaya murder case, Sokolov said that this shocked the Russian Prosecutor General's Office. "The situation surrounding the murder can be described as betrayal," he said.

Information was sold to journalists, the editor-in-chief said. "There are people who know something in every agency. They began to sell information to journalists," Sokolov said.

"As far as I understand the Russian Prosecutor General's Office launched checks in the instance, and I hope that people who sold information will be punished," Sokolov said.