By Sam Tobin
LONDON, March 22 (Reuters) - Russian aluminium tycoon
Oleg Deripaska on Wednesday denied lying about the relocation of
EN+ Group from Jersey to Russia to avoid U.S. sanctions, as he
fights his former business partner's attempt to jail him at
London's High Court.
Deripaska, founder of aluminium giant Rusal , has
been locked in a dispute with former Russian finance minister
Vladimir Chernukhin since 2010 over a joint venture to develop
real estate in Moscow.
Chernukhin – whose wife Lubov Chernukhin has given more than
2 million pounds ($2.5 million) to Britain's ruling Conservative
party and its lawmakers since 2012 – says Deripaska is in
contempt of court for allegedly allowing EN+ Group, which owns a
57% stake in Rusal, to "redomicile" in 2019 in response to U.S.
sanctions.
Contempt of court can be punished by up to two years in
prison and an unlimited fine.
Chernukhin's lawyers argue Deripaska breached an undertaking
to preserve 45.5 million EN+ shares in Jersey to meet a $95
million debt to Chernukhin, which has since been paid in full.
Jonathan Crow, representing Chernukhin, said on Tuesday that
the shares were rendered "worthless" because of the difficulty
in enforcing debts against Deripaska in Russia.
But Deripaska, who denies breaching the undertaking, argues
the EN+ shares would have been worthless if the company was not
redomiciled as the company would have been bankrupted.
Giving evidence via videolink from Moscow, Deripaska said he
had agreed to reduce his shareholding in EN+ below 50% and to
the appointment of independent directors to its board in order
to get U.S. sanctions lifted, as there was "no way out".
He added that Russian state-owned lender VTB, to which EN+
owed around $1 billion, required EN+ to move to Russia in order
to agree with the plan.
His lawyer Thomas Grant said on Tuesday that Deripaska was
giving evidence from Russia in part because British sanctions,
imposed due to his perceived links to the Kremlin, prevented him
travelling to London.
Grant also said U.S. charges for allegedly violating
sanctions could have prompted U.S. authorities to seek
Deripaska's extradition from London.
($1 = 0.8167 pounds)
(Reporting by Sam Tobin
Editing by Mark Potter)
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