Gutseriev transferred a stake in RussNeft to his brother

Businessman Mikhail Gutseriev, who owned 37.15% of RussNeft, reduced his stake in the company to 0%. This package was received by his younger brother Sait-Salam Gutseriev through the Cypriot company Vemonar Holdings Limited, follows from the message of the oil company, published as part of the disclosure of information on Tuesday evening, August 10.

On August 10, 37.17% of RussNeft on the Moscow Exchange was worth 16.67 billion rubles. ($227 million). 

The change in the owner of the block of shares took place two months ago - on June 10, the message says. The representative of RussNeft did not comment on the reasons and details of the change of the company's largest shareholder. According to the instructions of the Bank of Russia, a notice of the right to dispose of a certain number of votes of the issuer must be sent to the issuer and to the Bank of Russia no later than ten days from the date when the person who acquired or from whom the right to dispose of a certain number of votes of the issuer ceased to know or should have find out about this, Alexander Zablotskis, chairman of the A1 Bar Association, told RBC.

On June 21, Gutseriev came under EU sanctions against Belarus, including in connection with the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk at the end of May, on which Roman Protasevich, the former editor-in-chief of the opposition Nexta Telegram channel, was arrested on the same day. The EU Council explained the imposition of sanctions against the Russian businessman by the fact that he is a “long-time friend” of Alexander Lukashenko and thanks to this he has accumulated significant wealth and has influence in the political elite of Belarus.

In April, Forbes magazine estimated Gutseriev's fortune at $2.5 billion. At that time, he owned 25.26% of the oil company, and his son Said had another 11.89%. Before the deal with his brother, Gutseriev Sr. consolidated these two stakes.