The Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov has resigned from the supervisory board of the world’s largest tourism operator TUI after he was hit by EU sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mordashov, a major shareholder in TUI, had resigned “with immediate effect”, the German group said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The aim of the EU sanctions is to prevent Mr Mordashov from disposing of his shares in TUI” and “from realising any proceeds or profits from his investment”, the company said.
The EU on Monday added Mordashov to its list of individuals to be placed under sanctions due to their close ties with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Those affected have been hit by asset freezes and travel bans.
Mordashov, a metals magnate and one of Russia’s richest men, has been a shareholder in TUI for about 15 years and holds a 34% stake in the group through his company Unifirm Ltd.
He raised his stake to more than a third for the first time last year after a recapitalisation of the group as it sought to recover from the damage inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
TUI on Wednesday sought to distance itself from the measures taken against Mordashov.
“The EU sanctions relate to Mr Mordashov as a person, not to TUI AG, in which he is a shareholder. In this respect, these sanctions against the shareholder have no impact on the company in which he holds shares,” it said.
In a statement on Monday, Mordashov, who is also a major shareholder in the Russian steel group Severstal, said he had “absolutely nothing to do with the emergence of the current geopolitical tension” and did not understand why the EU had imposed sanctions on him.
