Billionaire oligarch Vagit Alekperov, who is one of Russia's richest men, has resigned from his position as the CEO of the country's second-largest oil company, Lukoil, amid sanctions from the United Kingdom over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
On Thursday, the oil company said that Alekperov has informed them about his "decision to resign" as a director and president of Lukoil. Officials did not, however, disclose the reasons for the billionaire's resignation.
Russian Billionaire Oligarch Resigns
However, the announcement of the decision was made only a few days after UK authorities imposed sanctions on Alekperov and seven weeks after Lukoil (LUKOY) broke ranks with President Vladimir Putin. The company had called for an end to Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
A source familiar with the matter claimed that Alekperov decided to part ways with Lukoil after the sanctions imposed on him to protect the company's operations. The oil company produces more than 2% of the world's crude oil and employs more than 100,000 people. It operates in dozens of countries and is only behind state-owned giant Rosneft as the largest oil company in the nation, as per CNN.
The 71-year-old billionaire oligarch has joined a long list of Russian CEOs who have chosen to step down from their positions after receiving sanctions from the West. The list includes the bosses of the country's largest petrochemical producer Sibur Holding, internet company Yandex NV, and e-commerce firm Ozon Group, who have resigned in recent months.
As of Mar. 31, Alekperov owned 3.12% voting shares of Lukoil and was the beneficiary of 5.43% of shares without voting rights. The oil company's shares fell as much as 7.39% to 3,970 rubles each and were trading down 7.2% as of 6:36 p.m. in Moscow. The numbers showcase the lowest since the end of February when Russia first started invading its European neighbor.
According to Aljazeera, later, Lukoil's board of directors appointed Vadim Vorobyev, who is the company's first executive vice president to be its acting president. Two unidentified people close to the company revealed the information as the company declined to comment on the matter.
Who Is Vagit Alekperov?
Alekperov is estimated to have a net worth of roughly $18.6 billion and started his oil career as a simple rig worker in the Caspian Sea. by 1990, he was already the Soviet Union's deputy minister for the oil and gas industry.
In the year that the Soviet Union collapsed, 1991, Alekperov converted three government-owned oil fields into Lukoil. He is currently holding the title of Russia's eight-richest person.
Until recently, Alekperov was able to escape personal sanctions and he was described in 2004 as a man whose "unimpressiveness is calculated" and is known to behave in a way that showed his greatest wish was to be ignored by the public.
In an interview at the time, the billionaire oligarch said that he could not afford to be indifferent to politics but argued that he had no personal ambitions. He said that his only task connected to politics was to help his country and his company advance, Business Insider reported.
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