JKX Oil is ‘scaremongering’, major shareholder Proxima claims

Russian fund Proxima has accused London-listed oil explorer JKX Oil & Gas of “scaremongering” as it denied claims it was trying to win control of the business.

Proxima, which owns 20% of Russia and Ukraine-focused JKX, wants to sack the management team and replace it with its own nominees, as well as put two representatives on a smaller seven-member board.

The fund said “two out of seven is not control” and accused the struggling firm’s bosses of “putting their own personal interests ahead of those of JKX shareholders, and engaging in scaremongering”.

Its public campaign began days after a UK Supreme Court ruling overturned JKX’s 2013 decision to restrict the voting rights of two other JKX major shareholders — the Eclairs vehicle controlled by billionaire Ukrainian raiders Igor Kolomoisky and Gennadiy Bogolyubov, and Glengary, which is controlled by Russian oligarch Alexander Zhukov. Collectively they own 37%.

Proxima boss Vladimir Tatarchuk said: “We are absolutely independent from Kolomoisky and Zhukov. I don’t know Zhukov and I met Kolomoisky 10 years ago for half an hour.”