Oleg Deripaska sees off legal challenge over share dispute
London’s High Court dismisses contempt of court case against metals tycoon brought by a former colleague
Russian metals magnate Oleg Deripaska has defeated an attempt by a former business associate to have him fined or jailed for contempt of court in London’s High Court.
Deripaska, the founder of Russian conglomerate EN+, had faced contempt of court proceedings last month brought by Vladimir Chernukhin, a British citizen and a former deputy finance minister under President Vladimir Putin as well as being the husband of a Conservative party donor.
Chernukhin had brought the court case claiming Deripaska had breached legal undertakings made to him in 2018 where Deripaska pledged EN+ shares in a legal dispute between the two men over a valuable piece of land in Moscow.
Chernukhin applied for the Russian metals tycoon to be found to be in contempt of court — which if proven is punishable by a prison sentence or fine. Deripaska had denied breaching the promises which his lawyers told the court he had treated “with respect and care”
Judge Mark Pelling ruled on Wednesday that the case against Deripaska should be dismissed because Chernukhin had not proved the case to the criminal standard. “It follows that this application fails and is dismissed,” he said.
Pelling said that it was for Chernukhin’s side “to prove to the criminal standard that the effect of changing En+’s domicile from Jersey to Russia was to automatically cancel the shares referred to in the undertakings. They have failed to do so.” the judge ruled.
Deripaska, who gave evidence in the case via video link from Moscow, is subject to UK and US sanctions because of his alleged links to President Putin’s regime.
In the case, Chernukhin claimed that Deripaska had breached legal undertakings given to the court over a parcel of EN+ shares which had been designed to give him assurance that the metals tycoon had sufficient assets in the UK to pay a potential $95mn legal award from the Moscow land court case. Deripaska has since paid Chernukhin the $95mn award in full.
Chernukhin had sought the legal promises in 2018 after the US government hit Deripaska and En+ with sanctions which prompted fears that the metals tycoon would redomicile En+ from Jersey to Russia and move his assets to Russia out of reach of the English courts, the High Court heard last month.
However, the High Court was told that months after the undertakings were given by Deripaska, EN+ was relocated from Jersey to Moscow as part of a wider plan drawn up by its British chair Lord Greg Barker to get the US sanctions on EN+ revoked.
In a statement on Wednesday Deripaska said he was “glad to see” that “despite the ongoing frenzy, the UK courts demonstrate independence and choose to rule cases on their merits.” Chernukhin’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.