Latest news with #Mazepin
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Revealed: Oliver Oakes resigned days after brother arrested with ‘large amount of cash'
Oliver Oakes, who resigned abruptly as Alpine Formula One team principal earlier this week, did so just days after his brother William, a fellow director at Hitech Grand Prix, was arrested. The Telegraph can reveal that William Oakes, 31, who is listed as a director of Hitech Grand Prix on Companies House, was arrested in the Silverstone Park area last Thursday, and charged with 'transferring criminal property' last Friday. He was in possession of a large amount of cash, according to police. He has been remanded in custody. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: 'William Oakes, 31, of Rugby was charged with transferring criminal property on Friday, May 2 after he was stopped in the Silverstone Park area in Northamptonshire on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in possession of a large amount of cash. He appeared before Northampton Magistrates' Court on Saturday, May 3, and remanded in custody.' Oliver Oakes, who was at the Miami Grand Prix at the time, declined to comment when approached by The Telegraph. He handed in his resignation earlier this week. His whereabouts are currently unknown. He is understood to have flown to Dubai following Sunday's Miami Grand Prix. Hitech's ownership has been a source of discussion in recent years. It was 75 per cent owned by Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin until nine days before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 when Oakes took over full ownership. Mazepin, 57, has close ties to Russia's president, Vladmir Putin. He was one of a number of leading Russian businessmen invited to a meeting with Putin at the Kremlin hours after the invasion began. Oakes, 37, formed a new company Hitech Global Holdings Ltd on March 11 2022 to take control of the shares, which came from Mazepin's Cyprus-based investment company Bergton Management Ltd. The new company was formed just three days after Mazepin and his son were sanctioned by both the UK government and the European Union, prompting questions in Parliament. Oakes said at the time that it was 'always part of the strategic plan for Bergton Management to exit Hitech in early 2022 and myself to own Hitech fully'. But Labour MP Liam Byrne noted that the shares had been 'relinquished' to Oakes rather than bought. 'There does not seem to have been any cash paid out for this major economic interest in a globally significant grand prix company,' Byrne said, adding that there was 'a clear risk that oligarchs are using proxies, and that this misbehaviour is washing up on our shores and in Companies House'. Mazepin initially bought a stake in Hitech in 2016, when his son Nikita arrived to compete in F3, with the team also gaining Russian minerals company Uralkali as a sponsor. When Nikita Mazepin made it to Formula One with Haas in 2021, Uralkali became the American team's title sponsor. Both Haas and Nikita Mazepin had their Haas contracts terminated after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when EU sanctions were imposed on them. Nikita Mazepin has since had his ban overturned by the Court of Justice of the European Union which ruled that 'association' with his father was not enough to warrant it. Oakes's resignation from Alpine was announced on Tuesday, two days after the Miami Grand Prix, triggering widespread surprise in Formula One. The Briton, a former junior karting world champion, only joined the Enstone-based team last summer, leading them to sixth place in the constructors' championship in his first season. It was assumed he had had a falling out with Flavio Briatore, the controversial Italian entrepreneur and executive advisor of the Enstone team. The two are known to have disagreed over their driver line-up this season. However, Briatore and Oakes issued a joint statement on Wednesday saying that suggestions of a fallout were 'completely false' and adding that the reasons for Oakes' departure were 'not related to [Alpine]' and 'of a personal nature'. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Independent
28-02-2025
- Automotive
- The Independent
Dmitry Mazepin causes a stir in Bahrain with F1 test visit
Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin's appearance at Formula One's pre-season testing in Bahrain caused a stir and triggered questions about his presence in the paddock. Mazepin's son Nikita raced for the US-owned Haas team before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and the deal was ended. Dmitry has been described by the European Union as "a member of the closest circle" of Russian President Vladimir Putin and remains on an EU sanctions list which his son was removed from last year. The EU sanctions do not apply in Bahrain and it was not known how Mazepin secured a paddock pass. "Dmitry was on a personal visit. He has remained friends with many people in the Formula One family and was happy to see them in Bahrain," ESPN quoted a representative of Mazepin as saying, without clarifying who provided the pass. Oliver Oakes, principal of the Renault-owned Alpine team whose Hitech junior teams were backed by Mazepin before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, told reporters he had said hello to the oligarch. "Yes, he's a friend of mine, yes I used to be together with him in Hitech. He was here catching up with another friend of his. It's nice to see him. I'm not going to go into that, the world's a crazy place," he said. Haas terminated a sponsorship contract with Russian potash producer Uralkali, then controlled by Mazepin, in 2022 and repaid the balance last year after legal action and a visit by bailiffs at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Russia Today
25-02-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
Russia plans to increase fertilizer supplies to Ghana
Russia is considering increasing its fertilizer exports to Ghana, Dmitry Mazepin, an official of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), has stated. The West African nation has experienced a decline in agricultural output in recent years, contributing to a global cocoa bean shortage. The chairman of the RSPP commission on fertilizer production told Rossiya-24 in an interview published on Monday that Russia has extensive interests in Africa, with Ghana being strategically important for various reasons, including its agricultural sector. 'I flew to Ghana for the first time at the invitation of the country's leader. We hope that we will understand under what conditions we can expand our presence,' Mazepin stated. He said last year alone, the African country imported about 100,000 tons of Russian fertilizers. According to Observatory of Economic Complexity data, Ghana imported $27.8 million worth of nitrogenous fertilizers from Russia in 2023. 'We want to increase these figures, so I flew in to see what opportunities we have,' the former CEO of Russian fertilizer giant Uralchem said. Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, who took office in January, has pledged to ensure food security by increasing local production under the Agriculture for Economic Transformation Agenda. On February 14, the country's agriculture minister told lawmakers that the government is determined to boost crop yield and secure Ghana's position as the world's second largest cocoa producer. Russia is one of the world's leading fertilizer producers. However, Western sanctions imposed on Moscow in connection with the Ukraine conflict have affected deliveries, which plunged 15% year-on-year in 2022. A total of 262,000 tons of Russian fertilizers had been blocked at ports in Latvia, Estonia, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Moscow offered to give the commodity for free to countries in need, including Africa, in order to strengthen the continent's food security. Since late 2022, Uralchem has supplied more than 134,000 tons of fertilizers to African nations free of charge. Over 111,000 tons have been shipped from European ports and warehouses to Malawi, Nigeria, Kenya, and Zimbabwe in collaboration with the UN World Food Program. In November, Russian fertilizer producer PhosAgro reported a 41% surge in exports to Africa for the first nine months of 2024, compared to the same period of the previous year.
