Earlier this yr, the corporate took the bizarre public stance of talking out in opposition to Russia’s battle in Ukraine, calling for sympathy for the victims, and for the tip of the battle.
Lukoil’s chairman Ravil Maganov died this week after falling out of the window of a hospital in Moscow, in response to Russian state information company TASS.
Lukoil confirmed the demise on Thursday in a press release revealed on its web site.
Another prime Lukoil supervisor, Alexander Subbotin, was discovered useless close to Moscow in May after reportedly visiting a shaman, TASS reported. Russia’s State News Agency quoted an official as saying authorities have been referred to as to an unconscious man affected by a coronary heart failure. TASS reported the police opened a legal investigation into the case.
Links with Gazprom
In the primary of the deaths reported this yr, a prime government at Gazprom was discovered useless in his cottage in the village of Leninsky close to Leningrad on January 30, 2022, in response to Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti.
RIA reported {that a} suicide notice was discovered on the scene and that the investigators have been investigating the demise as a suicide. Russian nationwide broadcaster RenTv has recognized the person as Leonid Shulman, the top of transport at Gazprom Invest.
Just a month after that, one other prime government at Gazprom was discovered useless in the identical village. Alexander Tyulakov was found useless in his storage on February 25, in response to Novaya Gazeta, an unbiased Russian newspaper. Novaya Gazeta reported he died by suicide.
CNN’s calls to Gazprom have not been returned.
CNN has requested Russia’s Investigative Committee for touch upon the 2 circumstances however has not acquired a response.
Two extra Russian businessmen with hyperlinks to Gazprom died in apparent murder-suicide incidents in April.
One of them, Vladislav Avayev, the previous vice-president of Gazprombank, was discovered useless along with his spouse and daughter in his Moscow condominium on April 18, in response to TASS.
Citing a supply in regulation enforcement, TASS claimed authorities have been investigating the Avayevs’ deaths as a murder-suicide.
Yulia Ivanova, a consultant of the Investigative Committee for Moscow, was quoted by Tass as saying {that a} relative found the Avayevs’ our bodies after being instructed by the household driver and the nanny that they may not contact them on the telephone or get into the condominium, because the door was closed from the within.
Igor Volobuev, a former VP of Gazprombank who lately left Russia for Ukraine, instructed CNN that he didn’t imagine Avayev killed himself.
“His job was to deal with private banking, that means dealing with VIP clients. He was in charge of very large amounts of money. So, did he kill himself? I don’t think so. I think he knew something and that he posed some sort of risk,” Volobuev instructed CNN in April.
Russia’s Investigative Committee didn’t reply to CNN’s request for touch upon this case.
Just a day later, on April 19, Sergey Protosenya, a former government on the fuel producer Novatek, which is partially owned by Gazprom, was discovered useless at his residence in Lloret de Mar, a Mediterranean resort close to Barcelona.
The our bodies of his spouse and daughter, exhibiting indicators of getting suffered violence, have been discovered contained in the household’s luxurious residence, an official supply near the investigation instructed CNN final week, whereas the physique of Protosenya was discovered in the backyard exterior, in response to the supply.
Son questions preliminary findings
Catalan police in the province of Girona, the place the city of Lloret de Mar is situated, instructed CNN on Friday that they have since accomplished their investigation into the case and despatched the findings to a court docket.
The police power stated its conclusion was that the deaths have been a double homicide and subsequent suicide.
Speaking to the Daily Mail in April, Protosenya’s son questioned that model of occasions, suggesting as an alternative that his father was murdered.
“The Catalan police have taken statements from the son. Other hypotheses have been ruled out. Also ruled out was a triple homicide,” the police’s press official instructed CNN at the moment. “That this was the work of the Russian mafia? Well, no,” the official added.
Novatek, Protosenya’s former employer, stated he was “a wonderful person and a wonderful family man.”
“Unfortunately, there have been speculations on this topic in the media, but we are convinced that these speculations are not related to reality. We hope that the law enforcement agencies of Spain will conduct a thorough and objective investigation and sort out what happened, ” the corporate stated in a press release.
Coroner’s ruling
Mikhail Watford, a Ukrainian-born Russian oil and fuel billionaire, was discovered useless in his residence in Surrey, England on February 28.
Surrey Police instructed CNN it didn’t imagine there have been any suspicious circumstances.
Another Russian businessman, Vasily Melnikov, was discovered useless alongside his household in Nizhny Novgorod in late March, in response to the Russian newspaper Kommersant.
Melnikov owned MedStom, a medical provides firm. According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, a 43-year-old man, his spouse, 41, and two youngsters aged 4 and 10 have been discovered stabbed to demise on March 23.
The committee didn’t identify Melnikov, however the ages of the useless and the placement of the incident match the Kommersant report.
The regional department of the investigative committee has not up to date the standing of its investigation and didn’t return CNN’s request for remark. At the time of the incident, in March, it stated there “were no signs of unauthorized entry into the apartment,” and that “knives were found and seized.”
“[Investigators] are considering several versions of what happened, including the murder of the children and wife by the head of the family, followed by self-inflicted death,” the committee stated.
How to get assist: In the United States, name the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide can also present contact data for disaster facilities all over the world.
CNN’s Uliana Pavlova, Anna Chernova, Frederik Pleitgen, Chris Liakos, Julia Horowitz, Zahid Mahmood and Al Goodman contributed reporting.
