Russian oligarch, close to Putin, is identified in record US$643m British divorce case

A Russian billionaire who was ordered to pay £453 million (US$643 million) to his former wife in what is believed to be Britain’s biggest divorce case was named at the High Court on Wednesday as Farkhad Akhmedov.

However, the court in London heard his ex-wife Tatiana Akhmedova had not received “a penny from him”.

An order had prevented the couple’s identification after Akhmedova requested anonymity because of fears for her safety. However details of the settlement – and the couple’s lavish lifestyle – were revealed in the court of appeal on Wednesday.

Akhmedov, 62, who featured this week on the US “Putin list” of officials and oligarchs close to the Kremlin, was ordered to give his 41-year-old ex-wife 41.5 per cent of his “staggering” wealth by a High Court judge in 2016.

The gas and oil tycoon who is close friends with Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich – who sold Akhmedov his superyacht Luna for a reputed US$360 million in 2014 – married Akhmedova more than 20 years ago.

The couple, who have two sons, moved to London in 1993 and Akhmedova raised the children without the help of a nanny, the court was told.

They lived in a £39 million mansion in Surrey and had a £27.8 million holiday home.