Ex-senator, founder of the bankrupt Mezhprombank Sergei Pugachev clarified the amount of the claim against Russia filed with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Reuters reported on Tuesday, September 23, citing a statement by the banker’s lawyers.

According to the agency, the amount of claims amounted to $12 billion. On September 21, agency sources reported $10 billion. In his lawsuit, Pugachev complains that his “business empire was divided after he lost the favor of Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

The banker pointed to attacks by the state on him, his family and business over the past years, the agency notes. Notification of filing a lawsuit was sent to Putin, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development Anton Ulyukaev, the head of the Ministry of Finance Anton Siluanov, the head of the Ministry of Justice Alexander Konovalov and the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov.

In July, in an interview with the Dozhd TV channel, Pugachev stated that he plans to initiate proceedings in international arbitration with the Russian authorities, who, in his opinion, expropriated four assets belonging to him for $15 billion. The banker emphasized that he has “one hundred percent evidence” that his property was expropriated.

Pugachev served as senator from Tuva in 2001-2011. Before the 2008 crisis, he was among the “Golden Hundred” of Russian billionaires according to Forbes. The last time Pugachev appeared in the Forbes ranking was in 2009, taking 78th place in it; his fortune was then estimated at $500 million.

In 2010, Mezhprombank, founded by Pugachev, lost its license . Soon after, investigators began an investigation into the bank's intentional bankruptcy. The case was initiated at the request of the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA), which became the bankruptcy manager of Mezhprombank.

Pugachev left Russia after he was deprived of his senatorial mandate “for dishonest performance of duties.” The Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR) charged him in absentia with embezzlement and misappropriation of 28 billion rubles from clients of Mezhprombank and abuse of authority in issuing bad loans worth 68 billion rubles. Earlier this year, Russia sent a request to the UK to extradite the ex-banker.

Until the summer, he lived in London, where the DIA is suing him. In March, a London court, at the request of the DIA, banned Pugachev from leaving England and Wales and ordered him to deposit all his passports, including his French one. Despite this, Pugachev moved to France in July, reporting threats to his life. In early July, Vedomosti reported that Pugachev had decided to renounce Russian citizenship.

On September 22, the press secretary of the head of state, Dmitry Peskov , said that the claims of the Russian investigative authorities against Pugachev are not related to his personal relations with Putin. “I wouldn’t confuse these two topics here,” the Kremlin spokesman said. He did not comment on the banker’s lawsuit against Russia.

Sergei Pugachev demanded $12 billion from Russia through court