New phase in Sibir Energy scandal

LONDON, July 13 (UPI) -- Battles over control of the London-listed Sibir Energy entered a new stage as an embattled shareholder complains of back-room deals in Moscow.

Law enforcement officials with the Russian Interior Ministry raided the Moscow office of Sibir subsidiary Magma, searching for documents related to two companies operated by Chalva Tchigirinsky, who holds a 23.5 percent stake in Sibir.

Tchigirinsky is tied to financial scandals regarding loans backed by Sibir funds that he used to protect his lucrative property investments as the global markets collapsed in late 2008.

The crackdown also comes on the heels of a move by Gazprom Neft, the oil division of Russian energy giant Gazprom, to increase its stake in Sibir. Gazprom Neft in June increased its stake in Sibir through the acquisition of its largest shareholder, Bennfield, which held a 47 percent share in Sibir.

In the latest developments, the Financial Times reports Tchigirinsky now claims Elena Baturina, the wife of the mayor of Moscow, held a secret 50 percent stake in his shares and property business in exchange for her help with "bureaucratic issues."

Meanwhile, Christopher Grierson, the lawyer for Tchigirinsky, claimed in London's High Court that Baturina had used intermediaries to act as a "front" in the effort to strip him of his shares in Sibir.

Baturina, for her part, described the allegations as erroneous.

"This lie is simply an attempt by him to escape from paying his debt," she counters.