Bloomberg Said Russian prosecutors filed a lawsuit against the 51-year-old tycoon on August 17 in a court in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.
Billionaire Melnichenko is the founder of SUEK JSK, Russia’s largest coal company, and EuroChem Group, a fertilizer company. According to the latest Bloomberg billionaire rankings, Mr. Melnichenko’s net worth is currently $13 billion.
“The lawsuit is against Mr. Melnichenko, SUEK JSK and two other companies, but the Siberian court did not give further details” – Bloomberg Wrote, adding that the lawsuit was published on the court’s website.
The company SUEK JSK is based in Russia, while the company EuroChem is registered in Switzerland, while it has large assets in Russia.
Billionaire Melnichenko filed a lawsuit in Russia. Photo: Bloomberg
Billionaire Melnichenko was earlier banned by the European Union (EU) in March this year for “having close ties with President Vladimir Putin”. About three months later, billionaire Melnichenko’s wife, Alexandra Melnichenko, was also sanctioned by the European Union.
The US and Western countries have recently imposed a series of sanctions on Russian oligarchs in a bid to pressure Moscow after President Putin launched a special operation against neighboring Ukraine in late February last year.
In that context, President Putin has called on Russian oligarchs to put patriotism above profit, increasing domestic investment to strengthen the economy in the face of Western sanctions.
President Putin urged Russian billionaires abroad to bring back their assets. Photo: RT
The first hearing related to the billionaire Melnichenko case will take place on September 7, according to records published on the Siberian court’s website. A spokesman for billionaire Melnichenko also said he had received notice of the court’s request.
Bloomberg It is learned that billionaire Melnichenko is currently living in the United Arab Emirates after living in Europe for several years.
Although the court has not announced details, the news site rbc Russia revealed that Melnichenko’s case involved energy assets that companies linked to him had bought in 2018 from businesses linked to former minister Mikhail Abyzov.
Mikhail Abyzov was arrested in 2019 on charges of embezzlement.
