Court freezes Abramovich's oilfield assets

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Court freezes Abramovich's oilfield assets
By Andrew Osborn in Moscow
Published: 19 July 2005

Roman Abramovich and Sibneft, the oil giant he controls, came under legal attack in the British Virgin Islands yesterday as disgruntled business partners sought to repossess their share in a Siberian oilfield which they claim was stolen from them.

The AIM-listed Sibir Energy said it would do everything in its power to regain its 50 per cent stake in the South Priobskoye oilfields in western Siberia, a stake it said is worth $2bn (£1.1bn), but which it claims was illegally diluted to just 0.98 per cent by Mr Abramovich and Sibneft in a corporate sleight of hand.

A court in the British Virgin Islands ruled in Sibir's favour, freezing the disputed 49 per cent stake until a hearing later this month and had ordered it to be placed in the hands of a receiver. The court also ordered Sibneft and Mr Abramovich, estimated by Forbes magazine to be worth $14.7bn, to maintain assets worth at least $1bn until the receiver steps in, it added. "We have promised to pursue those responsible for the dilution of our interests," Henry Cameron, Sibir's chief executive, said in a statement to accompany the legal action. "We have started proceedings in the British Virgin Islands because BVI companies have been used as vehicles to commit the fraud.

"We have also sued Sibneft and Roman Abramovich because we believe they directed and procured the dilution of our interests."
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article300119.ece