In Latvia, in October 2022, a criminal case was opened on the fact of numerous death threats received by Igor Sychev, the claimant in case CL-2016-000831, which is being considered in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. The defendants are a large Russian company PhosAgro, traded on the London Stock Exchange, as well as its main shareholders, including the main owner of PhosAgro, Mr Guryev. Mr Guryev is known as the owner of Witanhurst palace worth 300 million pounds, which is second only to Buckingham Palace in size. Mr Guryev and his son (former CEO of PhosAgro) have been sanctioned by the US, UK and EU because of their proximity to the Kremlin.

A significant part of the death threats investigated by the Latvian police has been accompanied by demands to Igor Sychev to drop the claim or assign the claimants’ rights to third parties.

Igor Sychev lives in Latvia, where the authorities granted him refugee status in 2018 because a criminal case was opened against him in Russia in 2016 at the request of PhosAgro shareholders – the defendants in the English claim. In 2017, Interpol, at the request of Mr Sychev, stopped his international search, agreeing with his arguments that the criminal case had been fabricated.

Another reason why the Latvian authorities granted Mr Sychev refugee status is that there had been attempts on his life in Russia, which the Russian authorities refuse to investigate.

The subject of the legal dispute is 1% of PhosAgro's shares, as well as the loan agreements, which the claimants insist to be invalid (they were concluded by the defendants in secret from Mr Sychev) and payments under which were in fact partial payments against obligations under 1% of PhosAgro's shares.

The lawsuit was filed in 2016, but the claimants managed to notify the defendants only in 2021. At the same time, the creditors under the loan agreements (offshore companies Avec and Parmas) have refused to participate in the proceedings and have not provided a defence.

The next court hearings are scheduled for 25 November and 2 December.

Mr Guryev is represented by the London branch of the American law firm Brown Rudnick. At the pre-trial stage, the same firm represented PhosAgro.