MOSCOW (AFP) -- Russian prosecutors did not appeal to Interpol to inquire into a clandestine visit to Georgia by Kremlin linchpin-turned-exile tycoon Boris Berezovsky, Interpol officials said.

"As of now we have no information that the prosecutor general's office asked Interpol to send an inquiry through its channels to Georgia regarding Berezovsky's visit," the Interpol officials posted in Russia's interior ministry said as quoted by the RIA-Novosti news agency.

Berezovsky, who was once the Kremlin's eminence grise but today lives in self-imposed exile in Britain, flew in to the Caucasus nation shortly after midnight Wednesday under the alias of Platon Elevin, Georgian media reported.

Russia reacted furiously to the mysterious visit, which was widely publicized in Russia and Georgia.

Russia's foreign ministry handed Georgian ambassador Zurab Abashidze a note demanding explanations why Berezovsky, who is "wanted by Interpol," was not detained in Georgia.

Georgian officials tried to play down the scandal, with the border guards pointing out that neither Berezovsky nor "Platon Elevin" was wanted in Georgia.

Meanwhile, Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili, whom Berezovsky had flown to visit, told the Izvestia daily that he was surprised by the storm his friend's trip had prompted.

"Berezovsky has come to Tbilisi many times before, but it has never caused such a fuss," said Patarkatsishvili, the tycoon's long-time associate who is also wanted by Moscow.