The divorce of a Russian oligarch could become the most expensive in the world: his wife demands a fabulous sum from him

Russia's richest man, Vladimir Potanin, has appealed to Britain's highest court to avoid one of the world's biggest divorce cases. The publication told in more detail Fortune.

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Lawyers for the sanctioned billionaire have asked Supreme Court judges to overturn a previous decision that cleared the way for Natalia Potanina to revive her multibillion-dollar lawsuit in London. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Potanin's net worth is $29,3 billion.

The case is set to test Britain's laws, which have earned London the nickname the divorce capital of the world, as judges lean toward equal division of property between spouses. Potanina's lawyers estimated in 2019 that the size of her claim could reach up to $9 billion.

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English courts are “renowned for their generosity” when considering divorce cases, Potanin’s lawyer Edward Faulks said in court. However, existing law "encourages forum choice in high-money cases such as this."

In the UK, the largest publicly known divorce settlement is £450 million ($550 million) awarded to the wife of billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov. Although the spouses came to an agreement for an amount that was less than a third of the award.

Judges previously said Potanina received a "paltry amount" in previous Russian divorce proceedings, given the billionaire's wealth and the length of their 31-year marriage.

The court case changed several times when the trial court accused Potanina of “scam tourism”, and then she won an appeal. Throughout the marriage, the couple lived in Russia, and in 2014 Potanina purchased a house in Westminster. Potanina demands 50% of the value of her husband’s share in PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel, as well as dividends.

This amount significantly exceeds $5 billion, taking into account the fact that Potanin owns about a third of the shares of the metallurgical company.

According to Potanina, she received about $40 million as a result of the divorce proceedings in Russia, while Potanin says his ex-wife received $84 million.

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Potanina's lawyers said that "the costs and delays in this case have been simply appalling, and there has been no significant progress." By January 2022, Potanin had spent about 8,4 million pounds sterling ($10,2 million), and his ex-wife had spent 1,4 million pounds sterling ($1,7 million).

Potanin took advantage of restrictions on foreign ownership of Russian assets after the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine by moving into finance and acquiring stakes in banks as foreign owners pulled out. After purchasing a stake in PJSC Rosbank, Potanin came under UK sanctions. In addition, at the end of last year he was included in the US blacklist. Until then, Potanin had largely avoided Western sanctions, which subjected other members of the Russian elite.

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