Andrey Melnichenko is price $13 billion.Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Russia filed a lawsuit towards oligarch Andrey Melnichenko, who’s price $13 billion.
The lawsuit alleges Melnichenko’s buy of energy plant operator Sibeco 5 years in the past was corrupt.
The state is seeking to seize Sibeco amid Putin’s name for Russian tycoons to take a position at residence.
Russia seems to be going ham on its billionaires mendacity low abroad as Moscow grapples with supporting its financial system amid the struggle in Ukraine.
Authorities have filed a lawsuit towards Andrey Melnichenko, an oligarch now primarily based within the United Arab Emirates, the Monetary Occasions reported on Sunday.
The lawsuit — filed earlier this month within the Siberian metropolis of Krasnoyarsk — alleges Melnichenko’s buy of energy plant operator Sibeco 5 years in the past was corrupt, the FT reported.
In 2018, he purchased the corporate for 36 billion rubles, or $571 million, from a former authorities minister who was later arrested in 2019 for embezzlement and fraud at one other unnamed firm.
Russian state prosecutors at the moment are planning to grab and nationalize Sibeco, per the FT. Melnichenko’s consultant confirmed to the FT that he obtained the lawsuit and {that a} authorized workforce is engaged on the case. A listening to is scheduled for early September.
The lawsuit towards Melnichenko comes because the Kremlin pushes to get wealthy Russians to switch their belongings again residence amid an exodus of high-net-worth people following the Ukraine struggle.
At a gathering of enterprise leaders in March, Putin known as on these current to put money into Russia, Reuters reported.
“A accountable entrepreneur is an actual citizen of Russia, of his nation, a citizen who understands and acts in its pursuits,” Putin mentioned, per Reuters’ translation. “He doesn’t cover belongings offshore however registers corporations right here, in our nation, and doesn’t change into depending on overseas authorities.”
The ninth richest particular person in Russia, Melnichenko — who has been sanctioned by the European Union and the US — is price $13 billion as of Monday, in accordance with Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index. His wealth is basically derived from majority stakes in fertilizer big Eurochem and coal firm Suek.
In March 2022, Melnichenko — whose mom is Ukrainian — informed Reuters in an interview that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “actually tragic.”
Melnichenko didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Insider despatched through his basis outdoors common enterprise hours.
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