Family at war over Russian tycoon’s £3BILLION fortune including lavish superyacht called ‘The Black Pearl’

A £150 MILLION superyacht dubbed the “Black Pearl” and a dead tycoon’s £3 billion fortune are at the centre of a legal clash that has torn apart his family.

Oleg Bourlakov, 72, died from Covid in June, leaving behind an estate worth billions from post-Soviet Russia's energy and cement industries.


The former Air Force officer sold his aggregates business in 2007 and his gas concerns in 2014 for over £1.5 billion, and was known as the “Cement King” due to his success in the industry.

He and his wife, Loudmila, 70, were married for 47 years, and had two children, Elena and financier Veronica, 36.

But three years before his death, the Bourlakovs became snarled up in a bitter and costly divorce battle after she discovered he was having an affair with a woman 50 years his junior, Sofia Shevtsova – who now claims to have borne him a child.

He died before the divorce case was finished and now his wife and children are locked in a bitter international row with his sister and brother-in-law over his fortune – including the Black Pearl and a £75 million house in Monaco.

The 107-metre superyacht is the second largest sailing boat in the world and equipped with a revolutionary solar sail, designed to power its virtually fuel-free engines during ocean crossings.

Mrs Bourlakov and her daughters claim she was subjected to "fraud on an epic scale" in a bid to con her out of a fair share of the couple's wealth.

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Mrs Bourlakova says her ex had cooked up an elaborate plan to camouflage his assets, and shield them from her by claiming that they were tied up in a long-standing business partnership with his brother-in-law, Nikolai Kazakov.

Mr Bourlakov’s alleged lies emerged during a meeting between Mr and Mrs Kazakov and the Bourlakovs and their two children while visiting Veronica and her family in London in April 2018, Loudmila’s QC, Helen Davies, told the High Court.

During later meet-ups in the capital, Mr Bourlakov allegedly told his ex that “there were debts in the hundreds of millions of dollars, which further reduced the value of the Bourlakov family’s assets”.

He said Mr Kazakov was entitled to a share of the disputed assets because of their joint involvement since the 1980s, but Ms Davies said this was a ruse.

COURT BATTLE

“These statements were lies, which Mr Bourlakov confected in order to obtain Mrs Bourlakova’s assets and retain the vast majority of the family’s assets,” she said.

The legal fight will decide what was in Mr Bourlakov's estate when he died and whether it included the Black Pearl, but the court heard a separate battle is ongoing over who will inherit the fortune.

Mr Bourlakov had previously intended to leave his entire estate to his wife under a 2004 will, but after his death a later will was found, the barrister said.

The document left everything, including specifically the Black Pearl, to the Kazakovs.

'FRAUD ON AN EPIC SCALE'

Mrs Bourlakov and her two daughters claim the document is “a forgery and/or invalid” and are challenging it in court proceedings in Monaco.

However, in the London court, the Kazakovs are hotly disputing the claims that they were involved in "fraud on an epic scale" in relation to the dispute over Mr Bourlakov's fortune.

And they say it was Mrs Bourlakov herself who used underhand tactics to get her hands on disputed assets from the marriage.

The Kazakovs’ QC, James Willan, said: “Mr Bourlakov contended until his death, and the Kazakovs continue to contend, that it was Mrs Bourlakov who, in combination with her daughters Elena and Veronica, have defrauded Mr Bourlakov and the Kazakovs in anticipation of the marital breakdown.

“They allege that, following a calculated strategy put into action before she commenced divorce proceedings in Monaco, Mrs Bourlakova seized control of assets worth billions of US dollars which had been entrusted to her as a nominee by Mr Bourlakov and Mr Kazakov….

“Mrs Bourlakova dissipated those assets to put them beyond the reach of Mr Bourlakov and Mr Kazakov in anticipation of legal proceedings, including by transferring hundreds of millions of US dollars to Elena and Veronica and settling around US$1.5 billion of assets into offshore structures – including a Bahamian trust known as The Golden Wheat Trust.”

The complex legal dispute kicked off in Monaco in December, 2018 when Mrs Bourlakova sued for divorce and for division of the marriage assets.

In June, 2020 Mr Bourlakov tried to take his wife and two daughters to court “alleging that they misappropriated hundreds of millions of dollars worth of those assets”.

Mr Bourlakov contended until his death, and the Kazakovs continue to contend, that it was Mrs Bourlakov who, in combination with her daughters Elena and Veronica, have defrauded Mr Bourlakov

The case spilled over into the English courts as Mrs Bourlakova claimed £8.6 million compensation from the Kazakovs – and other business associates and companies – for an alleged deceitful conspiracy to “minimise or even extinguish” her share of the family assets.

Mr Willan – for the Kazakovs – argued that the case should not be heard by a judge in England as none of those directly involved have any UK connections, while Monaco is very much the “centre of gravity” for the dispute.

He urged the judge, Mr Justice Trower, to bar the dispute from going ahead in England, accusing Mrs Bourlakova of trying to have the fight over the estate, including ownership of the yacht, decided in London, when it should be resolved by the courts in Monaco.

Neither of the Bourlakov daughters are involved in the High Court action in England, but remain “important individuals within the overarching dispute” over who is entitled to Mr Bourlakov's billions, said Mr Willan.

The judge is expected to rule at a later date on whether Mrs Bourlakova's deceit and conspiracy claim against the Kazakovs and others can go ahead in London.

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