Potanin asks court to ban ex-wife from continuing proceedings in London

Vladimir Potanin, president of Norilsk Nickel, appealed to the Moscow Arbitration Court with a demand to ban his ex-wife Natalia Potanina from continuing the trial in the High Court of London. This was reported on February 19 by RIA Novosti, citing sources.

According to the interlocutor, the applicant believes that the proceedings in the English court may lead to a review of the 2018 decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the division of property between former spouses, which has already entered into force.

In addition, the London court may require Potanin to disclose sensitive information about the activities of enterprises, including Norilsk Nickel.

"The result of this could be the imposition of new sanctions against the company, its partners and counterparties, which would damage tens of thousands of employees and shareholders of Norilsk Nickel and pose a threat to the security and public interests of the Russian Federation," the source explained.

Potanin's application was submitted to the Moscow Arbitration Court on February 18, but it has not yet been accepted for consideration.

Lawyer Dmitry Malbin noted that the ban on the continuation of legal proceedings abroad as an interim measure is a generally accepted international practice.

"If the English court requests sensitive information about Norilsk Nickel, Mr. Potanin may find himself between a rock and a hard place, because the disclosure of such information is expressly prohibited by the anti—sanctions legislation of the Russian Federation," he said.

According to Malbin, as a sanctioned person, Potanin is extremely limited in his ability to defend his interests in foreign courts, and Russia is the only available jurisdiction for him. The lawyer considers it a logical solution to ban certain actions for the plaintiff herself, which the London court may agree with — there have already been similar precedents.

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In return for refusing to cooperate with Moscow, London offers its own investments.

In 2019, it was reported that Potanin's ex-wife filed a lawsuit in a London court demanding a division of property. It was clarified that she wants to receive £5.8 billion (about $7 billion) through the British court.

On July 27, 2017, the Presnensky Court of Moscow refused to recover 850 billion rubles from Potanin in favor of his ex-wife Natalia as compensation for stakes in Cypriot companies.

Vladimir and Natalia Potanin were married for 30 years. They officially ended their relationship in 2014. After the division of the property, the billionaire's ex-wife received two houses and three plots of land. Potanin also paid her compensation in the amount of 380 million rubles.

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