Alexei Mordashov: Russia’s richest man is now an EU sanctions target
He is the Russian oligarch who stepped in to keep travel firm Tui afloat, pumping in cash as international tourism came to a standstill during the pandemic.
However, Alexei Mordashov – who owns a third of Europe’s biggest tour operator and is its largest single shareholder – may be becoming something of a liability for Tui, whose shares are listed in London, after the EU added him to its sanctions list on Monday night.
While Mordashov has not been sanctioned in the UK, his business interests in the region will now be severely curtailed.
The EU has outlined various concerns about Mordashov: it claims that Rossiya Bank, in which he has a financial interest, is the “personal bank” of senior Russian officials who have benefited from the annexation of Crimea. The bloc also said it believes media businesses he is invested in had helped destabilise Ukraine through pro-Russian television stations.
Russia’s richest man, 56-year-old Mordashov rose from humble origins as the son of mill workers in the city of Cherepovets, 300 miles north of Moscow, to become the chief executive of Russia’s largest steel and mining company, Severstal.
He just missed out on a place in the top 50 richest people in the world in 2021, according to Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires, with a ranking of 51.
At the time his personal net worth was estimated at an eye-watering $29.1bn, and Mordashov remains the majority shareholder of Severstal, Russia’s largest steel company.
Severstal has previously released bulletins detailing how some of its high-strength products are used in the manufacture of Russian defence equipment, including armoured vehicles. Mordashov chairs its parent company, Severgroup, a private investment company, and has interests ranging from
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