Topline
Ravil Maganov, the chairman of Russia’s biggest private oil company, Lukoil, died after falling through the window of a hospital in Moscow, Russian media reported on Thursday, a death which comes under mysterious circumstances just months after his company emerged as a rare high profile voice of dissent against the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oil Company Lukoil Ravil … [+]
Key Facts
According to the Russian news agency Interfax, Maganov died from his injuries after falling out of the window of the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow.
State-run news agency TASS reported Maganov’s death was the result of suicide as he was taking antidepressant drugs while being treated for a heart attack.
Adding to the confusion around the incident, Lukoil issued a statement saying the 67-year-old died after a “serious illness” but made no mention of the purported plunge from the hospital window.
Lukoil is among the few Russian companies to have publicly called for an end to the conflict in Ukraine and Maganov is the second executive linked to the company who has died under mysterious circumstances in recent months.
Alexander Subbotin, a former top executive at Lukoil, died in May at the home of a shaman while being treated for a hangover using toad poison.
Big Number
8. That is the total number of Russian energy executives—including Maganov—who have died under mysterious circumstances since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, according to the Telegraph.
Key Background
In a statement issued in early March to its shareholders, Lukoil’s board of directors called for the “soonest termination of the armed conflict” in Ukraine and expressed its “sincere empathy for all victims…affected by this tragedy.” Very few businesses and executives have spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine as the Kremlin has moved to severely crack down on any form of dissent inside Russia. More than 16,000 people have so far been detained by Russian police for expressing or sharing anti-war sentiments, according to independent Russian human rights organization OVD-Info. One of the most outspoken critics of the war, former billionaire and banking tycoon Oleg Tinkov, has accused the Kremlin of forcing him to sell his stake in Russia’s second-largest bank. Tinkov has expressed fears that the Russian leadership may be plotting to kill him as he resides in an undisclosed location under the protection of bodyguards. Other billionaires like Oleg Deripaska and Ukraine-born Mikhail Fridman have been more circumspect in their criticism, calling the war a tragedy for both sides.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/09/01/russian-executive-maganov-whose-company-urged-end-to-ukraine-invasion-dies-after-reportedly-falling-through-hospital-window/