Ukraine War: Ex-LSE chief Rolet to quit Russian fertiliser producer

Xavier Rolet, the former London Stock Exchange chief, is close to resigning from his role at the helm of a Moscow-based fertiliser producer after its billionaire boss was sanctioned by the EU.

Sky News has learnt that Mr Rolet, a French national, is on the verge of quitting as chairman of London-listed PJSC PhosAgro, where he has sat on the board for four years.

A City source said his resignation could be announced as early as Thursday morning.

If confirmed, his decision would come within hours of Andrey Guryev, PhosAgro’s chief executive, being added to the list of businessmen with close links to the Kremlin facing EU sanctions.

Other additions included Dmitry Mazepin, father of the former Formula One driver Nikita who lost his seat at the Haas team in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Rolet is a prominent figure in the City, having run London Stock Exchange Group for more than eight years before stepping down at the end of 2017.

He has assembled a portfolio of directorships since then, including at PhosAgro, Shore Capital Markets and previously at the hedge fund CQS.

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He also heads a special purpose acquisition company established to find a privately held merger target and take it to the public markets.

The former LSEG chief had previously refused to follow other British and European business figures in severing their links to Russian companies in the aftermath of Vladimir Putin’s decision to start the war in Ukraine.

Among the citations referred to in his biography on the PhosAgro website is the Order of Friendship of the Russian Federation, underlining his standing in Moscow.

Mr Rolet was also made an honorary knight commander by Her Majesty The Queen in 2015.

Answering a question about his continued membership of the PhosAgro board last week, Mr Rolet said he was not a British citizen and added: “Perhaps British chairs of Russian companies can give you a British perspective on the logic of punishing LSE-listed companies for the failure of diplomacy?”

In a post on the professional networking platform LinkedIn on Wednesday, he wrote that the events unfolding in Ukraine were a “horrific tragedy”.

“The logic of using the weight of sanctions, boycotts and public pressure to punish LSE-listed companies for failures of policy and negotiation frankly eludes me,” he wrote.

“No doubt, global business needs to make adjustments to face challenges of its own making.

“But it certainly has a better track record at communicating, negotiating and managing governance on a global scale than the political class.”

Mr Rolet praised Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French President, for having identified the “only choice” on offer as being “between diplomacy and total war” and lamenting the “incredibly aggressive” approach of political leaders.

“Mr. Sarkozy, who took the courageous decision to re-integrate France into NATO’s integrated military command, is telling us things the way they are, and offering life- and perhaps civilization-saving advice,” Mr Rolet wrote.

“Politicians on both sides would do well to take it.”

He concluded his post by asking: “Hasn’t the time finally come for an effective new global governance to address life and civilization-threatening issues such as peace and security, global pandemics, climate change, the energy transition, financial and economic stability and prosperity?”

PhosAgro and Mr Rolet both refused to comment on Wednesday evening.

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