LONDON (Reuters) – Sanctioned Russian billionaire Andrey Guryev on Thursday defeated a lawsuit introduced by a former pal in search of a big stake in one of many world’s greatest fertiliser producers.
Guryev, who stood down as CEO of Phosagro in 2022 after being sanctioned by the USA and Britain as an affiliate of President Vladimir Putin following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was sued by Alexander Gorbachev at London’s Excessive Court docket.
Gorbachev claimed he was entitled to a 24.75% curiosity in Guryev’s shares in Phosagro, which might presently be price round $1 billion.
He relied on what he says have been oral agreements between the pair, together with throughout a dialog outdoors a London pub within the mid-2000s, which Guryev allegedly reneged on.
Guryev, nevertheless, characterised the lawsuit as a “shakedown” and stated Gorbachev cashed out any curiosity he had within the enterprise practically twenty years in the past.
Decide Mark Pelling dismissed Gorbachev’s case, saying in a written ruling that “there are just too many unexplained and unexplainable inconsistencies and inherent implausibilities about what the claimant has alleged over time”.
Gorbachev stated in a press release: “That is an especially disappointing choice. Clearly, I’ll evaluate it and contemplate my choices.”
Guryev’s spokesperson stated in a press release that the ruling “lastly brings to an finish a 12-year-long marketing campaign by Gorbachev”.
Imposing sanctions on Guryev in 2022, Britain referred to him as a “shut affiliate” of Putin. The U.S. included him in a spherical of sanctions the identical yr that focused “Kremlin-connected elites”.
The BBC has beforehand reported {that a} spokesperson for Guryev stated there was no “correct or reputable foundation” for the sanctions.
The lawsuit introduced by Gorbachev largely centered on competing recollections of conversations about Phosagro held practically twenty years earlier, at London pubs, inns, eating places and a sauna.
Gorbachev claimed that Guryev had promised to carry an curiosity in Phosagro on his behalf, after Gorbachev was pressured to flee Russia in 2003 and declare asylum in Britain.
However Guryev – who, along with his household, is price $9.3 billion in keeping with Forbes journal – stated the lawsuit was merely Gorbachev’s newest try to assert an curiosity in Phosagro. (This story has been refiled to take away the picture)
