Top Russian oil executive dies after a "fall from hospital window"

The chairman of Russia's oil giant Lukoil Ravil Maganov has died after falling from a window in a Moscow hospital, Russian state media reported. Maganov, 67, committed suicide, state-run agency TASS reported citing unnamed law enforcement sources. "He was [getting treated] in the hospital after a heart attack. In addition, he was taking antidepressants," TASS reported Thursday.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oil Company Lukoil Ravil Maganov (R) pose for a photo during an awarding ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow on Nov. 21, 2019. - Russian oil producer Lukoil said on Sept.1, 2022 its chairman Ravil Maganov had died following a "serious illness", after Russian media cited sources saying the 67-year-old died after falling out of a hospital window. MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

Lukoil later confirmed his death but said Maganov "passed away after a serious illness."

This is the sixth incident involving high-profile Russian energy executives dying under murky circumstances this year. In May, Russian outlets reported that Lukoil's former top executive and board member Alexander Subbotin died after receiving dubious treatment from a "shaman" that involved an infusion of poison from a toad. In April, two former high-ranking managers of Novatek, Russia's second-largest natural gas producer, and Gazprombank, a large bank linked to a Gazprom gas corporation, were found dead along with their family members. State media reported that they killed their spouses and children and then committed suicide. Maganov began working for a company that would later become Lukoil in the 1980s and is credited with giving the corporation its modern name. In 1993, he joined the board of directors and was appointed its chairman in 2020. He was also the company's first executive vice president. Maganov's brother Nail is the CEO of another large oil producer, Tatneft, in the Tatarstan region. Lukoil was the only large state oil producer that openly called for a "fast resolution of the military conflict" in Ukraine just days after the Feb. 24 invasion. "We fully support its resolution through negotiations, by diplomatic means," Lukoil said in a statement at the time. "The company is taking efforts to continue stable work in all countries and regions of its presence." Ravil Maganov was a close associate of one of Lukoil's founders, billionaire Vagit Alekperov, who stepped down from his position as CEO in April days after the U.K. and the EU sanctioned him. This article was first published in CBS News . All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources. Khmer Daily