Russian oligarch's widow and daughters fight for a share of his £3bn estate

The widow and daughters of an oligarch are fighting for a share of his £3billion fortune - including a £150million superyacht and £75million Monaco mansion.

Loudmila, 70, Elena, and Veronica, 36, are at the centre of a legal clash over Oleg Bourlakov's will after the 72-year-old died of Covid in June.

They were in line to inherit his estate until Loudmila realised he was cheating with Sofia Shevtsova - who is 50 years younger and claims to have had a child with him.

The couple, who met as science students and were married for 47 years, started divorce proceedings three years ago but he passed away before they finished.

Mr Bourlakov's original will had named his widow as the sole inheritor of his estate but after he died another one was found.

The later document, written in Russian in a notebook, named his sister and brother-in-law the Kazakovs.

Mrs Bourlakov, Elena, who lives in Canada, and financier Veronica, who lives in Mayfair, are challenging it in a Monaco court.

Meanwhile the Kazakovs are disputing the family's claims through the courts in London.

Oleg Bourlakov, 72, died from Covid in June, leaving behind a huge estate, having cashed in on the energy and cement industries during post-Soviet Russia

 Left: Bourlakov's daughter Veronica. Right: His alleged girlfriend Sofia Shevtsova

Mr Bourlakov made his fortune during post-Soviet Russia as the energy and cement industries booming, and was known by some as the 'Cement King'.

The former Air Force officer sold his aggregates business in 2007 and his gas concerns in 2014 for over £1.5billion.

The tycoon, who survived an assassination bid in 2018 when shots were fired at his car, commissioned his superyacht - dubbed the Black Pearl - in 2010.

He was hailed by sailing pundits as a 'visionary' for his drive to produce a ship capable of sailing the seas virtually fuel-free.

His 107-metre superyacht is the second largest sailing boat in the world and is equipped with a solar sail, designed to power its virtually fuel-free engines.

His 107-metre superyacht is the second largest sailing boat in the world and is equipped with a solar sail, designed to power its virtually fuel-free engines

Mr Bourlakov's huge private jet is pictured. His family are a war over inheriting his fortune

Eco-sailing pioneer who died of Covid and left behind a family in chaos... who was Oleg Bourlakov

Oleg Bourlakov was born in St Petersburg in 1949 but made his billions in post-Soviet Russia in energy and chemicals. He started off as a member of the USSR air force and was said to be a patriot and incredibly proud of serving his country.

But in October 1988 he founded Integral - a co-operative that worked on patents and scientific research for chemical products. He was helped in this by his wife, who co-founded the business and was a member.

Mr Bourlakov then brought in natural resources and mining firm Sovinterfrance. He invested heavily in the oil trade from 1992, as well as cement production.

He took control of leading Russian national firm Novoroscement and then oil exploration company Burneftegaz. The businessman sold Novoroscement in 2007 for a staggering $1.5billion, and then Burneftegaz in 2014 for around $1billion.

Yet Mr Bourlakov was perhaps best known for his passion for sailing, with him becoming a pioneer for powering his yacht with green energy. He owned of the world's second largest sailing yacht, the renowned 106.7-metre Oceanco superyacht Black Pearl.

It has three DynaRig carbon masts supporting a sail area of 2,900 square meters. This harnesses sail power, solar and a hybrid propulsion system the billionaire helped work on.

The incredible machine can cross the Atlantic burning just 20L of fuel. In his personal life, Mr Bourlakov met his wife when they were science students and were married for 47 years.

He read aerospace engineering and she got a degree in aeronautical engineering. They resided in Ukraine until 1993 before moving to the US and then to Canada in 1995.

They have two daughters and six grandchildren. Mr Bourlakov was buried on July 16 in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The court fight focuses on a series of meetings in London in 2018, where Mrs Bourlakov and her daughters claim she was a victim of 'fraud on an epic scale'.

They claim this was a concerted effort to try to con them out of a fair share of the couple's wealth.

Mrs Bourlakova claims her ex-husband cooked up an elaborate plan to camouflage his assets and shield them from her.

She claims he said they were tied up in a long-standing business partnership with his brother-in-law Nikolai Kazakov.

Her lawyer Helen Davies QC told the High Court he was rumbled during a round table talk between Mr and Mrs Kazakov and the Bourlakovs in London in April 2018.

Ms Davies said: 'At the meeting, Mr Bourlakov, the Kazakovs and (Mr Bourlakov's adviser) asserted for the first time that all of the Bourlakov family's business interests were subject to a longstanding oral partnership between Mr Bourlakov and Mr Kazakov, which halved the amount Mr Bourlakov said was available for division between him and Mrs Bourlakova from $3.7billion to $1.85billion.'

During later meet ups in the city, Mr Bourlakov allegedly said 'there were debts in the hundreds of millions of dollars, which further reduced the value of the Bourlakov family's assets'.

He allegedly said Mr Kazakov was entitled to a share of the disputed assets because of their joint involvement since the 1980s, but Ms Davies said this was a ruse.

She said: 'These statements were lies, which Mr Bourlakov confected in order to obtain Mrs Bourlakova's assets and retain the vast majority of the family's assets.'

The legal fight will decide what was in Mr Bourlakov's estate when he died and whether it included the Black Pearl.

But the court heard a separate battle is ongoing over who will inherit the fortune in the end.

Mr Bourlakov had previously intended to leave his entire estate to his wife under a 2004 will, but after his death a later will was found, the barrister said.

The document, written in Russian in irregular handwriting on two pages of a notebook, left everything, including specifically the Black Pearl, to the Kazakovs.

Mrs Bourlakov and her two daughters claim the document is 'a forgery and/or invalid' and are challenging it in court proceedings in Monaco.

The fight features a series of meetings in London in 2018 at which Mrs Bourlakov and her daughters claim she was subjected to 'fraud on an epic scale' in a bid to con her out of a fair share of the couple's wealth. Pictured: His superyacht

But in the London court the Kazakovs are disputing the claims they were involved in 'fraud on an epic scale' in relation to the dispute over Mr Bourlakov's fortune.

They say it was Mrs Bourlakov herself who used underhand tactics to get her hands on disputed assets from the marriage.

The Kazakovs' QC, James Willan, said: 'Mr Bourlakov contended until his death, and the Kazakovs continue to contend, that it was Mrs Bourlakova who, in combination with her daughters Elena and Veronica, have defrauded Mr Bourlakov and the Kazakovs in anticipation of the marital breakdown.

'They allege that, following a calculated strategy put into action before she commenced divorce proceedings in Monaco, Mrs Bourlakova seized control of assets worth billions of US dollars which had been entrusted to her as a nominee by Mr Bourlakov and Mr Kazakov.

'Mrs Bourlakova dissipated those assets to put them beyond the reach of Mr Bourlakov and Mr Kazakov in anticipation of legal proceedings, including by transferring hundreds of millions of US dollars to Elena and Veronica and settling around $1.5 billion of assets into offshore structures - including a Bahamian trust known as The Golden Wheat Trust.'

The Black Pearl superyacht is pictured at anchor in Weymouth Bay, Dorset, in August 2019

The complex legal dispute kicked off in Monaco in December 2018 when Mrs Bourlakova sued for divorce and for division of the marriage assets.

In June 2020 Mr Bourlakov tried to take his wife and two daughters to court 'alleging that they misappropriated hundreds of millions of dollars worth of those assets'.

The legitimacy of the 2019 will is also to be decided by the courts in the principality.

But the case spilled over into the English courts as Mrs Bourlakova claimed £8.6million compensation from the Kazakovs - and other business associates and companies - for an alleged deceitful conspiracy to 'minimise or even extinguish' her share of the family assets.

But Mr Willan - for the Kazakovs - argued the case should not be heard by a judge in England as none of those directly involved have any UK connections, while Monaco is very much the 'centre of gravity' for the dispute.

He urged the judge, Mr Justice Trower, to bar the dispute from going ahead in England, accusing Mrs Bourlakova of trying to have the fight over the estate, including ownership of the yacht, decided in London, when it should be resolved by the courts in Monaco.

Neither of the Bourlakov daughters are involved in the High Court action in England, but remain 'important individuals within the overarching dispute' over who is entitled to Mr Bourlakov's billions, said Mr Willan.

As well as Mrs Bourlakova and the Kazakovs, the High Court clash involves two companies on her side and five companies ranged against her owned by Panamanian companies - plus four individuals linked 'tangentially' to Mr Bourlakov or the five companies.

The judge is expected to rule at a later date on whether Mrs Bourlakova's deceit and conspiracy claim against the Kazakovs and others can go ahead in London.