Russia's richest man wins court bid to avoid England's most expensive divorce
Russia's richest man has won an appeal over ex-wife's £5billion claim to avoid what would have been the most expensive divorce in England.
Vladimir Potanin, who is understood to be worth around 20 billion US dollars (£15.7 billion), wanted to overturn a Court of Appeal decision which would allow Natalia Potanina to bring a multibillion-pound claim against him in London.
The tycoon is CEO of Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest palladium producer and a major producer of refined nickel, and his ex-wife wanted her share of his vast wealth. But lawyers for the billionaire have been attempting to stop Mrs Potanina’s claim going ahead at a Supreme Court hearing in the capital in October, arguing that he faced “prolonged litigation” in the English courts which are “renowned for their generosity” in cases of this kind.
Vladimir Potanin, billionaire and owner of OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, (Bloomberg via Getty Images)Mrs Potanina’s legal team said the Court of Appeal took the correct approach and insisted she had “earned her share” of the family’s wealth after years of marriage. Appeal judges were previously told she is seeking around £5billion from her ex-husband following the breakdown of their marriage. But in a majority ruling on Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled in Mr Potanin’s favour and concluded that the Court of Appeal’s stance on an earlier procedural issue was “wrong in law”.
Natalia Potanina was trying to take her ex-husband to the Supreme Court (East2West News)She wanted to bring a claim for financial relief after their divorce which would secure more of his fortune. Potanin's lawyers, meanwhile, hailed the Supreme Court's decision as a significant victory which may deter so-called "divorce tourism" – where one spouse chooses to bring their claim in a favourable legal jurisdiction.
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"Divorce tourists will now have their claims subject to fair and robust scrutiny before being granted leave (to bring a claim) in this jurisdiction," Potanin's lawyer Fiona Shackleton from Payne Hicks Beach said in a statement.
The Russian billionaire businessman Potanin won his case at the Supreme Court (Getty Images)Lord Leggatt, with who Lord Lloyd-Jones and Lady Rose agreed, sent the case back to the Court of Appeal to consider other legal issues that have yet to be resolved. He said questions “in a case involving foreign parties whose connections with this country are slight and whose dispute has already been heavily litigated in a foreign court appear ripe for consideration by this court”.
He added: “But such consideration must await a case in which the issues actually arise from the decision under appeal.”
Mr Potanin and Mrs Potanina who are both in their early 60s, wed in Russia in 1983, where they spent their married life, and have three adult children. The businessman claims the pair separated in 2007, with a Russian court granting a divorce in 2014. Mrs Potanina, however, argues they did not separate until 2013 when their marriage “ended suddenly”.
Frances Hughes, a partner at law firm Hughes Fowler Carruthers said their client was delighted with the ruling, which meant the courts "will now focus on the merits of her case
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