Natalia Potanina wants the court to rule that shares in foreign companies Pharanco, Bektanco, Decoso, and Lovenco, as well as Russian enterprises Norilsk Nickel and Polus Gold, are the ex-spouses’ marital property.
Potanina who was married to the billionaire from 1983 to 2014 also demands her ex-husband pay her additional compensation, made up of the dividends of Norilsk Nickel and Polus Gold, firms owned by Potanin during the marriage.
After their marriage had ended, Potanina received 380 million rubles ($6.7 million) and three plots of land in the Moscow region as alimony.
However, the court refused to split the Norilsk Nickel shares, citing the fact that the businessman was a beneficial owner and didn’t own the assets directly based on Cypriot law.
However, Russian courts can split such property, said an unnamed source as quoted by Forbes, affirming that Potanina had the legal right to get half of the dividends.
“As the beneficial property was the spouses’ marital property, all the dividends must be divided into two equal proportions,” said the claimant’s counsel.
Earlier this year, Potanina filed a suit against her ex-husband, demanding monetary compensation of 215 billion rubles ($3.8 billion) for the shares of KM Invest. She claimed Potanin illegally disposed of their marital property and gave them to another person.