Russian Oil Chief Dies In Fall From 6th Floor Window; Company Blames Death On 'Illness'

Ravil Maganov, the chairman of the board of Lukoil — the second-largest oil company in Russia — died amid mysterious circumstances Thursday, according to The Daily Beast .

State-owned news outlet Tass quoted sources that said he fell from a sixth-floor hospital window in Moscow. Tass later added that Maganov took his own life by jumping, according to the BBC .

Lukoil omitted any mention of a fall in its news release and said Maganov’s death at the Central Clinical Hospital resulted from underlying health issues he suffered.

“We deeply regret to announce that Ravil Maganov, Chairman of PJSC LUKOIL Board of Directors, passed away following a severe illness,” Lukoil wrote . “Ravil Maganov immensely contributed to the development of not only the Company, but of the entire Russian oil and gas sector.” 

Russian news outlet RIA Novosti reported that the hospital confirmed Maganov’s death and that authorities were investigating the matter. Tass cited an unnamed law enforcement official claiming Maganov had been hospitalized for a heart attack and was on antidepressants when he died, according to Bloomberg .

Maganov joined Lukoil in 1993 and became chairman in 2020. His company notably condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and wrote in a February letter to shareholders that Lukoil supports “the immediate cessation of the armed conflict,” according to the Daily Beast . 

The 67-year-old joins a substantial roster of Russian bankers and oil and gas executives who have died under suspicious circumstances this year. Lukoil’s billionaire ex-manager Alexander Subbotin was found dead of an apparent heart attack in the home of a shaman in Mytishchi in May, according to Newsweek . Tass reported that voodoo rituals occurred at the home and that Subbotin was intoxicated when he died.

Leonid Shulman — an executive at Russia’s third-largest bank, Gazprombank — was found dead at his Leningrad cottage in January of an apparent suicide, according to the New York Post . 

The next month, former Gazprombank executive Alexander Tyulyakov was found hanged in his St. Petersburg garage. Former vice president of Gazprombank, Vladislav Avayev, was found dead in April of a gunshot wound next to his wife and daughter at their Moscow home. Authorities said they suspected the incident was a murder-suicide. 

One day later, Sergei Protosenya — the wealthy ex-manager of Russia’s second-largest gas producer, Novatek — was found hanged in a Spanish villa. His wife and daughter were found dead with stab wounds. Investigators theorized the incident a murder-suicide as well.

Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Maganov with the Order of Alexander Nevsky at the Kremlin in 2019, according to EuroNews . Maganov leaves behind a family, including his brother Nail Ulfatovich Maganov, who is the CEO of Tatneft — a sizable Russian oil producer.