MOSCOW (AP) — The head of Lukoil, one of Russia’s largest oil companies, died on Tuesday, marking the latest in a series of deaths among the country’s top oil executives.
Vladimir Nekrasov, the head of the board of directors at Lukoil, passed away after suffering from what initial medical reports suggest was “acute heart failure,” according to state-run news agency Tass. He had spent nearly 50 years in the oil and gas industry, Russian media reported.
Nekrasov is the third senior executive of Lukoil to pass away since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine 20 months ago. The company lost its chairman, Ravil Maganov, in September 2022, after he reportedly fell from a window in a Moscow hospital. Another former top manager, Alexander Subbotin, was found dead in a shaman’s home in May 2022.
Lukoil called for an end to the war in Ukraine shortly after the Kremlin launched its invasion in February 2022. The company, responsible for around 2 percent of the world’s oil supply, hoped for an immediate halt to the armed conflict, supporting a diplomatic resolution to the war.
The deaths of these oil executives raised concerns and drew attention to other Russian oligarchs, officials, and tycoons whose deaths have been uncomfortable or unexpected. Sergey Protosenya, a former manager of Russian energy giant Novatek, was discovered hanged on his property in Spain, while Vladislav Avayev, a former vice president of the private Russian bank Gazprombank, was found dead with his wife and daughter in Moscow.
This series of deaths has sparked speculation and concern, leaving many to wonder about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of these influential figures in the Russian business world. The timing of the deaths in relation to the war in Ukraine and the broader geopolitical situation has further heightened interest in these cases.