MOSCOW, October 27 (RAPSI) – A Cyprus court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by former wife of Norilsk Nickel CEO Vladimir Potanin, Natalya Potanina, laying claim for her ex-husbands property, Potanina’s press office told RAPSI on Monday.

The court ruled that the claims for seizure of property belonging to Potanin must not be considered in Cyprus.

Natalya Potanina filed the lawsuit in May. According to her attorney Fillip Ryabchenko, most of the family’s property formally belongs to offshore companies – specifically, the share portfolio of Norilsk Nickel is registered as the property of Cyprus companies even though it is widely known that Potanin is the actual owner. Ryabchenko says that “unfortunately, [Potanin] is not taking part in deoffshorization efforts”.

“We are also suing that the court seize the disputable property. Regardless of the court ruling on seizing the property, we hope to get an explanation from these Cypriote companies on the family’s property,” Ryabchenko told RAPSI earlier.

Potanin filed for divorce in February. At the end of June, the same court upheld his motion to change the alimony payment schedule in favor of his underage son, granting Vladimir Potanin the right to put 50% of the alimony in 15-year-old Vasily Potanin’s account until he reaches age 18. Natalia appealed against both decisions, but the district court overruled both appeals upholding the lower court’s decision and they came into force.
According to Forbes, Potanin’s fortune in 2013 was $14.3 billion.