A wealthy Russian exile is suing a sanctioned ally of Vladimir Putin in a battle over a multi-billion pound chemicals company.
Alexander Gorbachev sued Andrei Guryev in London for claiming he owed him shares in the fertilizer company PhosAgro.
Gorbachev, who is not related to the former Soviet Union leader of the same name, claims to have made a handshake deal with Guryev under which he would receive a stake in Guryev’s fertilizer company. the latter, which later became PhosAgro.
He claims that after being forced to leave Russia and granted asylum in the United Kingdom, Guryev was only offered $30 million for his share of the company and that after refusing he was told that he had no right to any share in PhosAgro.
If his suit to the High Court in London is successful, Gorbachev could become the owner of Witanhurst, the largest private house in London after Buckingham Palace.
Alexander Gorbachev (pictured) sues his former business partner for a share in a Russian fertilizer company
He claims that Andrey Guryev (photo) reneged on a handshake deal to give him a share of PhosAgro.
As part of the legal battle between the two owners of Witanhurst, the largest private residence in London after Buckingham Palace and owned by Mr Guryev, could change hands.
The £300m house is one of Guryev’s few known assets in the UK, and Mr Gorbachev’s representatives expect him to try to claim the 25-bedroom Highgate estate. he wins, the Times reports.
The building would include an “underground village” including a swimming pool, cinema, gym, staff accommodation and a car park for 25 vehicles which was built beneath the giant estate.
Guryev is also said to own a penthouse in Vauxhall, close to MI6 headquarters.
The feud between the two men and their subsequent High Court battle, which began yesterday, was complicated by the fact that Guryev was sanctioned by the British government in connection with the war in Ukraine.
Guryev, who is an ally of Russian autocratic leader Vladimir Putin, will testify before Judge Pelling KC in Dubai, with his own lawyers paying the trial judge’s flight and accommodation costs.
Gorbachev claims that he and Guryev ran the Apatit mining company in the late 1990s, the company belonging to the Menatep group, a holding company of Mikhail Khordokovksy.
After Khordokovsky’s arrest in 2003 for tax evasion and fraud, Guryev convinced the Russian billionaire to give him his shares in PhosAgro.
Khordokovsky was later imprisoned and fled to Britain after his release from prison in 2013, where he was granted asylum.
PhosAgro is one of the largest chemical companies in Russia. Pictured: a PhosAgro PJSC plant in Cherepovets, Russia
Andrew Guryev (left) pictured with Vladimir Putin (center) during a visit to the town of Cherepovets in Russia in 2020
An aerial view of the Witanhurst estate in Highgate, north London, which is owned by Guryev
Gorbachev, born in Moscow in 1962 and chairman of PhosAgro, fled to Britain after Khordokovsky’s arrest.
He claims he was forced to leave to avoid politically motivated fraud charges and was granted asylum in the UK in 2005.
He says that while in London he was offered $30 million – the equivalent of around £23 million – for his share in the company.
When he rejected the offer, he claims he was told he was not entitled to any share of PhosAgro and has since taken the matter to court.
Both Guryev and Gorbachev asked Judge Pelling to act as a special examiner for the former during a meeting in Dubai.
During the meeting, which will take place at the Dubai International Financial Center, he will ask Guryev about the case and interrogate him.
Guryev went public last year after former Google CEO Eric Schmidt attempted to buy his superyacht, the Alfa Nero.
The yacht, abandoned in Antigua and Barbuda since March 2022, was to be sold at auction by the Caribbean nation.
Schmidt won the auction with a bid of $67.6 million (£52.5 million), but withdrew after Guryev’s daughter challenged the decision in court.
The 267-foot ship can accommodate 12 people and contains a swimming pool that converts into a helipad.
While Guryev denied owning the superyacht, his daughter, Yulia Gurieva-Motlokhov, later came forward to claim it.
After the government lifted sanctions against the ship, Antigua authorities sold it at auction despite Gurieva-Motlokhov’s attempts to block the sale.
Bloomberg reported that following this, his lawyers appealed to the Antigua courts to overturn the transaction.
According to the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Guryev is a known close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
OFAC said he previously served in the Russian government from 2001 to 2013.
dailymail us
