High Court judge calls for cap on divorce costs as Siberian supermarket exec racks up £8m in fees
A High Court judge has called on the government to put a cap on the cost of getting a divorce, in commenting on a protracted legal battle between a Siberian supermarket executive and her homemaker husband.
Mr Justice Mostyn decried the “apocalyptic” state of affairs, that has seen a couple rack up £5.4m in costs, following an 18-month long divorce battle between a 42-year-old Greek man and his 41-year-old wife, who is listed by Forbes as Russia’s 75th richest woman.
The judge said the court battle as a whole is set to cost between £7.2m-8m, as he claimed the court fight had created a situation that is “beyond nihilistic”.
The divorce battle has centred around the Russian wife’s holdings in Siberian supermarket chain Maria-Ra, which owns and operates 1,300 stores in Russia. The husband claims his wife has corporate interests worth at least £300m.
The wife currently lives in a 5.25m house in a “prestigious area” of London while the husband is renting a place in a “similarly affluent area of London” for £10,000 a month, at his ex-wife’s expense.
The couple also own a £1m house in Russia, and have an account with London headquartered wealth manager Coutts & Co containing £11m.
In countering her husband’s claims, the wife has said the war in Ukraine has restricted her ability to access funds in Russia, as she claimed she has paid £500,000 to get permission from the government to access her Coutts account in order to pay her legal fees.
The case comes after banks warned the UK government that its bid to block all Russian citizens living in the UK from holding more than £50,000 in any UK bank account may breach anti-discrimination laws.