TUI’s main shareholder Alexey Mordashov resigns following EU sanctions
Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov resigned today from travel firm TUI’s board after he became a target of the EU sanctions against Russia.
Mordashov, a close friend of Vladimir Putin, has been TUI’s majority shareholder for around 15 years, owning 34 per cent stake of the company. The remaining 66 per cent is owned by several private and institutional investors from the UK, Germany and the US.
“The aim of the EU sanctions is to prevent Mr Mordashov from disposing of his shares in TUI AG,” said the company in a statement. “This is to prevent Mr Mordashov from realising any proceeds or profits from his investment in TUI.”
The sanctions, imposed on Sunday by the European Commission following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, relate only to Mordashov as a person and do not involve TUI as a company.
The oligarch’s departure pushed TUI shares to its lowest in a month, hitting 206.70p at 9am today.