TUI Group’s largest shareholder Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov has resigned from the company’s supervisory board after the European Union imposed a raft of sanctions prompted by the invasion of Ukraine.
Mordashov has been a shareholder in TUI for around 15 years and currently holds around one third (34%) of the share capital. The sanctions stop Mordashov from being able to sell his shares and therefore realising any proceeds or profits from his investment in TUI.
The Sunday Times reported last week that Mordashov attended a conference with other oligarchs held by Vladimir Putin at the end of February to discuss the economic impact of his action in Ukraine.
TUI said in a statement that the EU action would have no impact on the day-to-day running of the company.
“The EU sanctions relate to Mr Mordashov as a person, not to TUI AG, in which he is a shareholder. In this respect, these sanctions against the shareholder have no impact on the company in which he holds shares. The operative business of TUI AG is managed by the executive board, as is the case with any German public limited company,” the company said.
TUI itself no longer has interests in Russia, having sold its remaining stake in tour operator Togebi Holdings in March 2021.