UK court unblocks Norebo owner's assets

The High Court of London unblocked the assets of Vitaly Orlov, the owner of Russia’s largest fishing company, Norebo, follows from the court decisions database.

Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand in the City of Westminster

According to Forbes, the judge ruled that Orlov was unlikely to try to lower the value of his assets or hide them. The majority of Orlov’s assets (88%) are believed to be his Norebo stake, which costs much more than the plaintiff, Alexander Orlov’s former partner Alexander Tugushev, requires (USD 350 million). Among other assets, the court mentioned several apartments in Russia, two villas on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, totaling 6 million euros, as well as two apartments in London.

As follows from the files of the High Court of London, Tugushev asserts that he started Norebo with Orlov and the Swede Magnus Roth. However, as a result of a conspiracy by Orlov, Roth and another company employee, Andrey Petrik, he lost his state, which was one-third of the company. He estimates the total damage at USD 350 million and demands compensation.

Orlov begs to differ. He can only give USD 60 million for the share. According to him, Tugushev sold the shares of Almor Atlantiki (Norebo precursor company) in 2003, switching to the civil service. A year later, Tugushev was arrested on charges of fraud with the distribution of fishing quotas and sentenced to a six-year prison term. After being released in 2009, he wanted to re-enter the business, which Orlov claims to have grown greatly by that time, and Tugushev could not be credited with that growth.

Nevertheless, after Tugushev turned to the UK justice last summer, Orlov’s assets worth USD 350 million, with the company’s total value of USD 1.5 billion, were frozen. 

Source: Crime Russia