LONDON (Reuters) – Sanctioned Russian billionaire Andrey Guryev on Thursday defeated a lawsuit introduced by a former pal looking for 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 value round $1 billion.
He relied on what he says have been oral agreements between the pair, together with throughout a dialog exterior a London pub within the mid-2000s, which Guryev allegedly reneged on.
Guryev, nonetheless, characterised the lawsuit as a “shakedown” and stated Gorbachev cashed out any curiosity he had within the enterprise almost twenty years in the past.
Decide Mark Pelling dismissed Gorbachev’s case, saying in a written ruling that “there are simply too many unexplained and unexplainable inconsistencies and inherent implausibilities about what the claimant has alleged over time”.
Gorbachev stated in a press release: “This is an extremely disappointing decision. Clearly, I will review it and consider my options.”
Guryev’s spokesperson stated in a press release that the ruling “finally brings to an end a 12-year-long campaign by Gorbachev”.
Imposing sanctions on Guryev in 2022, Britain referred to him as a “close associate” of Putin. The U.S. included him in a spherical of sanctions the identical 12 months that focused “Kremlin-connected elites”.
The BBC has beforehand reported {that a} spokesperson for Guryev stated there was no “proper or legitimate basis” for the sanctions.
The lawsuit introduced by Gorbachev largely centered on competing recollections of conversations about Phosagro held almost twenty years earlier, at London pubs, resorts, eating places and a sauna.
Gorbachev claimed that Guryev had promised to carry an curiosity in Phosagro on his behalf, after Gorbachev was compelled to flee Russia in 2003 and declare asylum in Britain.
However Guryev – who, along with his household, is value $9.3 billion based on Forbes journal – stated the lawsuit was merely Gorbachev’s newest try to say an curiosity in Phosagro. (This story has been refiled to take away the picture)
