Marina Mordashova holds papers
Sanctioned TUI shareholder appoints wife
03/18/2022 11:51 am
The major shareholder of the travel group TUI, Mordashov, is on the EU sanctions list after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Shortly before, he transfers his papers to a company controlled by his wife. The federal government is examining the process.
After the withdrawal of its major shareholder Alexei Mordashov due to sanctions, the travel group TUI has his wife Marina Mordashova as a major shareholder. The company has been informed that Ms. Mordashova controls Ondero Limited, TUI said. Ondero, in turn, is the majority shareholder in Unifirm Ltd, which holds 29.9 percent of TUI shares.
The travel group was not aware of the connection between Marina Mordashova and the billionaire and former TUI major shareholder who was sanctioned by the West for his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to a report by Business Standard and other online media, this is the oligarch’s third wife.
Mordashov had moved his block of shares shortly before the European Union sanctions came into force against him, which deprived him of access to his assets and thus to the TUI stake. Mordashov had declared that he had nothing to do with Russian politics, but did not expressly distance himself from Putin. Almost 30 percent ended up with the Ondero company based in the British Virgin Islands, and he sold the remaining 4.13 percent to the Russian Severgroup, which Mordashov manages.
Ondero subsequently announced that Marina Mordashova was already the controlling shareholder of Ondero at the time the shares were transferred on February 28, TUI further explained. The Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection has informed the company that the effectiveness of the reported transaction will be checked in accordance with the Foreign Trade Act. Until the conclusion of this process, the transaction is pending and Unifirm may not exercise its voting rights.