The syndrome of sometimes superficially masked, sometimes simply mysterious deaths of Russian top managers leaves its traces not only in Russia but also in England, Spain, France, Dubai, India, and Argentina.
The intensity of strange deaths of Russian top managers over the past three years is striking, as if there is a return to the turbulent 1990s.
On September 1st, 2022, news came from the Central Clinical Hospital (CCH), where the political and business elite of Russia often receives treatment: 67-year-old chairman of the board of directors of Lukoil, Ravil Maganov, bid farewell to life.
“This morning, Maganov fell from the window of a ward at the CCH. He died from the injuries sustained,” a source from the Interfax agency reported. The Investigative Committee informed the Kommersant newspaper that it could be a suicide.
The death of Ravil Maganov: Surveillance cameras were not functioning…
Project VCHK-OGPU noted that the top manager died around the time when the President of the Russian Federation arrived at the hospital to lay flowers at the coffin of former USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who recently passed away in the same CCH.
Vladimir Putin decided not to attend the official funeral ceremony on September 3rd, he bid farewell to Gorbachev privately.
“The incident occurred around 7:00 am Moscow time,” a source familiar with the situation told TASS.
Maganov died a few hours before Putin’s arrival.
“This is not our issue at all,” said the President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov in response to a question about commenting on the death of the chairman of Lukoil’s board of directors.
“I think it’s not so much about coincidence as it is about Maganov being less protected at that time than usual,” noted former State Duma deputy Maria Maksakova, hinting that the then head of Lukoil was under serious corporate security at the hospital. At least two people were supposed to be near to the oil magnate: Maganov’s wife was constantly in the adjacent ward.
However, the Federal Security Service personnel accompanying Putin were fully entitled to instruct the Lukoil president’s bodyguards to leave the perimeter, which is highly likely.
“He was alone in a separate comfortable ward, visited doctors throughout the day, and underwent various examinations,” a source in law enforcement agencies told the Moscow correspondent of the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.
“Moreover, his wife was also checked in the hospital. But according to the rules of the medical institution, spouses were supposed to stay in separate wards.
“At the time of Maganov’s death, the woman was sleeping in another ward on the same floor.”
According to one version, the top manager went out to smoke and accidentally fell down; his cigarette pack was found on the balcony.
However, “he did not leave any suicide notes,” clarified the media resource Baza, also noting that the top manager was on the balcony of the part of the CCH building where repairs were taking place.
His section of the hospital was not intended for patient visits. In addition, as reported by Baza, none of the surveillance cameras from the facade, where Maganov could have fallen, were functioning.
In the only photograph that circulated on the internet immediately after the death of Lukoil’s president, only a bag containing the body could be seen on the ground near the hospital wall.
Visually, it is impossible to determine that it contained Maganov’s body.
The media resource Readovka reported that the top manager’s body was not immediately taken to the morgue; most likely it was taken for forensic examination.
The investigation considered the version of suicide: however, in Lukoil’s press release, strangely, it was already stated in the first sentence that Maganov’s death occurred “after a severe illness.”
When due to sanctions Vagit Alekperov was forced to leave the post of president of Lukoil, a person was needed at the helm of the company who could be fully trusted. Maganov turned out to be the ideal candidate.
He traditionally supervised the oil and gas exploration block, serving as the first vice president of the company since 1994.
It was thanks to Maganov that the oil and gas provinces in the Caspian and Baltic Seas were developed, and the successful development of a modern oil project in the Komi Republic was initiated.
And it was precisely on the birthday of Alekperov that the “exit through the window” of Maganov occurred.
According to information available to The Sun, the oilman was killed at the order of Vladimir Putin.
Revelations tougher than the Panama Papers may emerge
Another suspicious aspect characterises the date of death: two weeks before the incident, the value of Lukoil shares began to rise, reaching maximum heights on September 1st since the beginning of May 2022 when the company notified the London Stock Exchange of the termination of listing and American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) – due to the counter-sanctions imposed by Russia, this step had to be abandoned.
According to data as of May 2021, ADRs accounted for 30.6% of Lukoil’s share capital.
Shortly before his death, Maganov became a co-owner of one of the world’s largest drilling businesses – the oilfield service company Razvitie.
In short, things were going extremely well for the top manager, and it is unlikely that this could have been the reason for his leap from the window. At the CCH, he was lying due to cardiovascular problems, quite common for someone of his age.
Two sources from the Reuters agency, well acquainted with Maganov, stated that it seems unlikely that he committed suicide.
In early March 2022, the Lukoil board of directors spoke out against the war.
A statement was published on the company’s website calling for an end to the military conflict in Ukraine. It stated that the company “expresses concern about the ongoing tragic events in Ukraine and deepest sympathies to all those affected by this tragedy.” Was Maganov afraid of something?
“People who go to work in this sphere – oil, gas, resources – are predators from the start.
That’s the environment, with such competition, such, apparent cruelty, and with such a predatory approach. If anyone talks about intimidation, then precisely this category cannot be intimidated,” believes M. Maksakova, former State Duma deputy of the Russian Federation.
“There are a lot of important people, high-level ones,” commented entrepreneur Sergei Pugachev, who has participated several times in Vladimir Putin’s birthday celebrations.
He is amazed at how investigators, journalists, and consumers of media products can believe in the “main versions” that mythologize the deaths of Russian top managers.
“I apologize, this [R. Maganov] was a former first vice president, and then chairman of the board of directors of Lukoil. Can you imagine the level of people who smoke anywhere and then fall out of windows or even chop up their families?”
Former banker S. Pugachev is convinced that the deaths of top managers are related to the fact that some of the deceased, under mysterious circumstances, were involved in transactions to fill “Putin’s pool” from state accounts.
According to him, in these cases, there is no need to talk about the existence of schemes, such as speculation and assumptions, because “it’s obvious, everyone knows about it.”
“No one can guarantee that they will never resort to some intelligence and hand over their flash drives with these transactions.
“Well, imagine: today somewhere a flash drive pops out, where, there, over the past 20 years, trillions of transactions to offshore accounts in favor of Putin – this is not the Panama Papers for you.
“Can you imagine Gazprom and its turnovers?
“Can you imagine Rosneft, Lukoil – anything, the top 10 companies? Imagine their level of financial capabilities. This is not a billion dollars, this is not a cellist [Sergei Roldugin]. Do you understand?” explained. Pugachev.
