(Style.news.am) - Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin has suffered a legal setback in London after a judge rejected his attempt to delay proceedings in a long-running divorce dispute worth around $5 billion, according to Forbes.
Judge Alistair MacDonald said there was an “urgent need” to bring the case to trial, citing the extraordinary costs already incurred by both sides — approximately £14 million ($18.9 million) in legal fees alone. A final hearing is now provisionally scheduled for November.
The case was brought by Natalia Potanina, the billionaire’s former wife, who became a British citizen after the couple’s separation. She first filed her claim in October 2018, arguing that previous Russian divorce settlements failed to reflect the true scale of the couple’s shared wealth. If successful, the case could become one of the largest divorce settlements in British legal history.
Vladimir Potanin has consistently sought to block the London proceedings, insisting that the divorce was already legally resolved in Russia. His legal team has also attempted to shift jurisdiction to Moscow, hoping to secure rulings that could prevent the case from continuing in the UK.
The dispute is further complicated by parallel proceedings in Russia, where courts are reportedly reviewing related filings. Legal experts warn that any Russian injunction could expose Natalia Potanina to penalties if she continues litigation in London. Her lawyers argue that the absence of a bilateral enforcement treaty between the UK and Russia makes any eventual judgment difficult to enforce in Russia.
Potanin’s wealth is largely tied to assets within Russia, including Interros and a significant stake in Norilsk Nickel, one of the world’s largest producers of palladium and refined nickel. This raises questions about how any potential UK court ruling could be enforced even if she prevails.
UK legal history shows only a few comparable cases in scale. The largest publicly known divorce award in Britain was £554 million, granted in 2021 to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in his separation from his former wife.
Natalia Potanina’s lawyers have described the case as a “David and Goliath” battle, pointing to the vast disparity in financial power between the two sides. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Vladimir Potanin has an estimated net worth of around $27.2 billion, making him one of the richest individuals in Russia.
In earlier proceedings, a Russian court reportedly awarded Potanina around $6.4 million following the end of their 30-year marriage — a figure her legal team argues represents only a small fraction of the couple’s total accumulated wealth.
April 22, 2026
