The company had been the first major one to oppose the invasion of Ukraine.
The chairman of Russian oil giant Lukoil, Vaguit Alekperov, has resigned, the company announced on Thursday, a week after the billionaire was placed on the list of Russian personalities sanctioned by the United Kingdom. “President and member of the board of directors of Lukoil, Vaguit Alekperov, announced his decision to resign from (his) position“, According to a press release from the number two in the Russian oil sector which is also listed on the London Stock Exchange. Loukoil, a private group, had called in early March, a week after the entry of Russian forces into Ukraine and while the West was increasing sanctions, to quickly stop the Russian offensive in this country.
Read alsoRussian oil giant Lukoïl calls for an end to the war in Ukraine
With 10.5 billion dollars, Vaguit Alekperov, 71, is the 10th richest in Russia, according to the ranking of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine. The United States has already adopted sanctions against the Russian energy sector, while the European Union, much more dependent on Russian hydrocarbons, is considering it.
Many oligarchs and senior Western officials have been sanctioned by the West, and their assets frozen, but Vaguit Alekperov is the first boss of a group of this rank in the hydrocarbons sector to resign. Sanctions against another billionaire, Roman Abramovich, led him to put the Chelsea club he bought in 2003 up for sale.