Wife divorces Russian oligarch to win half of his billion-dollar fortune

The head of Russia’s largest insurance company Rosgosstrakh, Danil Khachaturov, is divorcing his wife, Anna. The woman originally intended to win 100 million dollars by court action from her husband. Now she seeks a half of his fortune, which makes up 1.3 billion dollars, according to Forbes magazine.

Photo: Wife divorces Russian oligarch to win half of his billion-dollar fortune

In her lawsuit Anna Khachaturova asks for 50 percent of her husband’s stocks. Lawyers say that the woman has all chances to win the case due to the lack of both the marriage contract and the amicable agreement.

The lawsuit says that the spouses did not conclude the agreement on the division of their jointly acquired property, nor did they sign the marriage contract. According to the Family Code of the Russian Federation the two spouses share their property equally unless other conditions are stipulated by the marriage contract.

Preliminary hearings on the case are planned to take place on November 26. “We will expand our claims. We will ask the court to share the stocks of Rosgosstrakh or replace them with a payment,” Khachaturova’s lawyer said.

The two spouses signed a joint statement in August of the current year prior to their divorce. The document says that they do not have any property subjected to division. However, the lawyer is certain that Anna Khachaturova was forced to sign the paper, which therefore cannot be considered to be the amicable agreement. “Anna Khachaturova was forced to sign the statement to receive the alimony to maintain her 14-year-old son,” the lawyer said.

Heir to the Soviet state insurance monopoly, Gosstrakh, RGS has 85 years of history behind it, evolving from the time when insurance was a state-delivered and regulated service to the present-day market-driven leadership position, the website of Rosgosstrakh says.

Gosstrakh was the first Russian insurance company. It had representatives in every settlement throughout the territory of the USSR . Its successor, RGS, has been able to retain much of the infrastructure of the Soviet insurance giant. It has also been able to preserve the confidence of its clients in the universally respected brand name.

RGS has been able not just to retain practically the whole of the vast former network of Gosstrakh in Russia but also to build on it, expanding its presence, increasing the number of agents and overhauling the infrastructure. It has also been able to preserve the confidence of its former clients while reviving the old and universally respected brand name, modernizing it and infusing it with a new distinct drive, confidence and reliability. Today, the RGS brand name is immediately recognized right across Russia and attracts millions of new clients every year.

Until 2001, Rosgosstrakh was state-owned. Since mid-2003 a consortium of Russian investors holds the controlling stake in the company, having acquired 75% minus four shares in several open privatization auctions. The federal government retains the balance of shares.

In 2002, a three-year strategic plan was worked out with the help of major international consulting firms in order to change the sleeping giant into a modern insurance company run after the highest global standards. The plan's key objectives have now been fulfilled. At present, the management is creating a new strategic plan to set new objectives up to 2009. This will be the most ambitious plan RGS ever attempted.

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov
Pravda.ru