【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, September 6, 2022】Ravil Maganov, the chairman of Russia’s second-largest oil producer Lukoil, died Thursday after falling from a hospital window in Moscow, two sources familiar with the situation said, becoming the latest in a string of businessmen to meet sudden unexplained deaths. ( Photo shows Russian President Vladimir Putin stands next to First Executive Vice President of oil producer Lukoil Ravil Maganov after decorating him with the Order of Alexander Nevsky during an award ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow in 2019. Photo credit :SPUTNIK/Reuters)

Two people who knew Maganov well told Reuters they thought it highly unlikely he had committed suicide. Another source close to the company said there was a belief among Lukoil management that he had killed himself, but he had not seen evidence or documents to support it.

Asked by Reuters whether they were investigating the death as suspicious, Moscow police referred the matter to the State Investigative Committee. The committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lukoil said in a statement that Maganov had “died after a serious illness”. “Lukoil’s many thousands of employees deeply mourn this grave loss and express their sincere condolences to Ravil Maganov’s family,” it said.

Several other top executives associated with Russia’s energy industry have died suddenly under unclear circumstances in the past few months.

The day after Russia sent its forces into Ukraine in February, a Gazprom executive, Alexander Tyulakov, was found dead in his garage near St. Petersburg, Russian media reported.

In April, Sergei Protosenya, a former chief executive of Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas producer Novatek, was found dead with his wife and daughter in a villa in Spain. Catalan regional police investigating the case have said they believe he killed them and then took his own life.

In May, Russian media reported that a former Lukoil manager, Alexander Subbotin, was found dead in the basement of a house outside Moscow.

That same month, Russian media said Vladislav Avayev, a former vice president of Gazprombank, was found dead in a Moscow apartment, along with the bodies of his wife and daughter.

Maganov had worked at Lukoil since 1993, shortly after the company’s inception, and had overseen its refining, production and exploration, becoming chairman in 2020. His brother Nail is head of mid-sized Russian oil producer Tatneft.

Unusually among Russian companies, Lukoil took a stand on Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine. In a statement on March 3, the company’s board expressed its concern over the “tragic events” in Ukraine and called for the “swiftest possible end to the armed conflict” through negotiations.

Maganov was a close associate of one of Lukoil’s founders, Vagit Alekperov, and often attended meetings between Russian oil producers and the Energy Ministry to decide on joint actions as part of the OPEC+ group of leading global oil producers.

Alekperov, a former Soviet deputy oil minister, stepped down as president of Lukoil in April, a week after Britain imposed an asset freeze and travel ban on him as part of sanctions over Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.

(Source: New York Times)

This website has a free subscription function, please enter your email address and name (any nickname) in the upper right corner of the page. After subscribing, you can receive timely updates of the website. I hope that new and old readers will actively subscribe, so that we have the opportunity to provide you with better services

Please click: Home (wechineseus.com) for more news and content on this website

Follow The Chinese Media's Twitter account: https://twitter.com/wechineseinus

Follow The Chinese Media's Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/wechineseinamerica/