Germany probes Russian oligarch’s alleged sanctions dodge

German tour operator TUI said Friday that authorities are investigating Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov for allegedly seeking to shield his major stake in the group from EU sanctions.

Investigators from the German economy ministry suspect Mordashov used complex ownership transfers to his wife to hide the 1.5-billion-euro ($1.7-billion) stake in TUI.

The EU added Mordashov, who holds 34 percent of TUI, on March 1 to its list of individuals to be sanctioned over their close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin following the Ukraine invasion.

Three days later, Mordashov informed the German tourism giant that his company Unifirm had transferred 4.1 percent of its shares in TUI to Severgroup, another company which he owns.

Mordashov said another two shareholdings controlled by him sold their TUI stakes amounting to 29.9 percent of the company to Ondero Limited, based in the British Virgin Islands.

He did not detail the ownership structure of Ondero, but TUI said Friday it has been informed that the company was controlled by Mordashov’s wife Marina Mordashova.

The tourism company said it has been told by the economy ministry that it had “initiated an investigation procedure under the Foreign Trade and Payments Acts against Ondero Limited” over the transactions.

Until the probe is concluded, the transaction is “invalid”, added TUI.

At current prices, 34 percent of TUI amounts to around 1.53 billion euros.

Mordashov, who had stepped in to prop up TUI when the operator was on the brink during the coronavirus pandemic, had issued a statement to distance himself from Putin’s war in Ukraine.

“I have absolutely nothing to do with the current geopolitical tensions and I don’t understand why the EU has imposed sanctions on me,” he said in a statement.

Western allies have imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, including placing oligarchs and other individuals close to Putin on sanctions lists.

Yachts owned by Russia’s richest have been seized by various nations, as US President Joe Biden vowed that allies are “coming for your ill-begotten gains.”

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