The widow and daughters of an oligarch are fighting for a share of his £3billion fortune – including a £150million superyacht and £75million Monaco mansion.
Loudmila, 70, Elena, and Veronica, 36, are at the centre of a legal clash over Oleg Bourlakov’s will after the 72-year-old died of Covid in June.
Loudmila realized he had been cheating with Sofia Shevtsova, who is 50 years older and says he has had a child.
The couple, who met as science students and were married for 47 years, started divorce proceedings three years ago but he passed away before they finished.
Although Mr Bourlakov had originally named his widow the sole beneficiary in his will, a second one was created after he passed away.
Later, he wrote in Russian and in a notebook that he named his brother-in law and sister, the Kazakovs.
Mrs Bourlakov, Elena, who lives in Canada, and financier Veronica, who lives in Mayfair, are challenging it in a Monaco court.
Meanwhile the Kazakovs are disputing the family’s claims through the courts in London.
Oleg Bourlakov (72) died of Covid on June 5. He leaves behind a large estate. He had clung in to the energy and cement sectors during post-Soviet Russia.
Left: Bourlakov’s daughter Veronica. Right: His alleged girlfriend Sofia Shevtsova
Bourlakov’s fortune was made in post-Soviet Russia, when the energy and cement industries were booming. Some call him the “Cement King”.
The former Air Force officer sold his aggregates business in 2007 and his gas concerns in 2014 for over £1.5billion.
After surviving an assassination attempt in 2018, when shots were fired at the car of his businessman friend, the tycoon ordered his superyacht, which he called “The Black Pearl” in 2010.
For his tireless efforts in creating a vessel capable of sailing virtually without fuel, he was called a visionary by the sailing community.
The 107-metre-long superyacht of his is second in size and equipped with a solar sail to provide power for its almost fuel-free engines.
This 107-meter superyacht, which measures in at a whopping 107 metres, is world’s second-largest sailing vessel. It is also equipped with a sun sail that can power the virtually-fuel-free engines.
The case revolves around a string of London meetings that took place in 2018. Mrs Bourlakov’s daughters claimed she was the victim of fraud on an epic scale.
The couple claims that this was an attempt to con them into a fair portion of their wealth.
Frau Bourlakova alleges that her husband devised a scheme to conceal his assets from her.
He claimed that they had been in an ongoing business partnership since their childhood with Nikolai Kazakov, his brother-in law.
Her lawyer Helen Davies QC told the High Court he was rumbled during a round table talk between Mr and Mrs Kazakov and the Bourlakovs in London in April 2018.
Ms Davies said: ‘At the meeting, Mr Bourlakov, the Kazakovs and (Mr Bourlakov’s adviser) asserted for the first time that all of the Bourlakov family’s business interests were subject to a longstanding oral partnership between Mr Bourlakov and Mr Kazakov, which halved the amount Mr Bourlakov said was available for division between him and Mrs Bourlakova from $3.7billion to $1.85billion.’
During later meet ups in the city, Mr Bourlakov allegedly said ‘there were debts in the hundreds of millions of dollars, which further reduced the value of the Bourlakov family’s assets’.
He claimed Mr Kazakov could claim a part of the disputed assets due to their involvement in it since 1980s. Ms Davies denied this, saying that it was just a scam.
She stated that these statements were false and Mr Bourlakov concocted them to get Mrs Bourlakova’s assets, as well as the large majority of their family’s wealth.
This legal dispute will determine what part of Mr Bourlakov’s estate was left after his death, and whether the Black Pearl was included in it.
In 2018, Mrs Bourlakov, her daughters and others met in London to fight. They claim that they were subjected in an attempt to cheat her of her fair share of their wealth. Pictured: His superyacht
However, the court was informed that a different battle continues over who will inherit this fortune at the end.
The will of Mr Bourlakov was originally to be left to his widow under a 2004 will. However, a new will was discovered after his death.
This document was written in Russian and in an irregular handwritten style on two pages in a notebook. It left all, especially the Black Pearl to the Kazakovs.
The document was claimed by Mrs Bourlakov’s two daughters as a ‘forgery’ or invalid and they are challenging the claim at Monaco’s court.
The London court however, has a dispute between the Kazakovs and the claim that they participated in fraud on an epic level in connection to Mr Bourlakov’s fortune.
According to them, Mrs Bourlakov used subterfugeel tactics to seize disputed marital assets.
James Willan of the Kazakovs’ QC stated: ‘Mr Bourlakov contended till his death. The Kazakovs still contend that it was Mrs Bourlakova and her daughters Elena or Veronica who defrauded Mr Bourlakovs and the Kazakovs to prevent the marital collapse.
They claim that Mrs Bourlakova, who was a nominee for Mr Bourlakov, and Mr Kazakov, seized control over assets in the amount of billions of dollars.
‘Mrs Bourlakova disposed those assets to keep them out reach of Mr Bourlakov, Mr Kazakov in the anticipation of legal proceedings. She transferred hundreds of millions to Elena and Veronica as well as settling about $1.5 Billion of assets into offshore structures – including a Bahamian trust named The Golden Wheat Trust.
Pictured at anchor, the Black Pearl superyacht in Weymouth Bay (Dorset), August 2019.
This complicated legal dispute began in Monaco, December 2018 when Mrs Bourlakova sought divorce proceedings and the division of her marital assets.
Bourlakov, his wife and daughters tried to sue Bourlakov in court on June 2020.
It is up to the court in the principality to decide the legitimacy of the 2019 will.
But the case spilled over into the English courts as Mrs Bourlakova claimed £8.6million compensation from the Kazakovs – and other business associates and companies – for an alleged deceitful conspiracy to ‘minimise or even extinguish’ her share of the family assets.
However, Mr Willan (for the Kazakovs) argued that the case shouldn’t be heard in England because none of the directly involved has any UK connections while Monaco is the “centre of gravity” for the dispute.
The judge Mr Justice Trower asked him to stop the matter from proceeding in England. Mrs Bourlakova was accused of trying to get the legal battle for the estate (including ownership of yacht) decided in London when it should have been resolved in Monaco.
According to Mr Willan, although neither of the Bourlakov girls are participating in the High Court England action, they remain “important individuals” in the larger dispute over who has the right to Mr Bourlakov’s billions.
Apart from Mrs Bourlakova & the Kazakovs the High Court clash includes two companies on her team and five Panamanian-owned companies that were against her. There are four people ‘tangentially linked’ to Mr Bourlakov and all five companies.
It is likely that the judge will rule on Mrs Bourlakova’s conspiracy and deceit claim against Kazakovs at a later date.