A Russian oligarch, Vladislav Baumgertner, went missing in Cyprus on January 7. A day later, a senior staffer at the Russian Embassy in Nicosia died by apparent suicide under unclear circumstances. A note was reportedly found but was not shared with local police.
Local media say unusual developments involving Russian nationals have unfolded on the island. Within 24 hours of the disappearance of the former Uralkali CEO, a Russian diplomat was found dead, according to local broadcaster ANT1.
The embassy employee was discovered in his office on January 8. Cypriot authorities and police were informed only several hours later. When a designated police team arrived at the embassy, they were denied entry, and the body was handed over to them in the embassy compound’s courtyard.
Police requested to conduct an investigation but were refused and took custody of the body with the sole information that the death was a suicide. ANT1 reported the diplomat also left a letter that was not delivered to Cypriot authorities; the embassy said it would be sent to Moscow.
This position is based on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which guarantees the inviolability of diplomatic premises and bars entry by host-country authorities without the head of mission’s consent, even in deaths requiring investigation.
An autopsy is scheduled for January 13. Cyprus’s Foreign Ministry has been briefed, and relevant security services are closely monitoring the case. Searches are also continuing for Russian oligarch Vladislav Baumgertner, the former CEO of Uralkali.
Russian media reported that his disappearance was preceded by a reshuffling of stakes in his Cyprus investment company, SBVD Headoffice Ltd. In September 2025, Baumgertner’s business partner Mikhail Loganov exited the company, transferring his stake—possibly formally—to attorney Anastasia Belyaeva. Baumgertner has spent significant time in the United States, where his presumed spouse and son own businesses and property. Irina Baumgertner is listed as the owner of a condominium in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
The 56-year-old Baumgertner has not returned to his home in Limassol since January 7, Cyprus police said.
His disappearance was reported by an employee after the businessman failed to respond to multiple phone calls. The last signal from his phone was detected in a coastal area with a steep drop near the village of Pissouri.
From 2003 to 2013, Baumgertner was part of Uralkali’s top management, including a stint as CEO, and served as chairman of the supervisory board of the Belarusian Potash Company (BPC). In August 2013, he was arrested in Belarus amid a corporate dispute between Uralkali and BPC.
The dispute followed tensions between Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, a major Uralkali shareholder, and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. Russian President Vladimir Putin intervened, after which Baumgertner was released, Kerimov reconciled with Lukashenko and, according to reports, transferred $100 million for Kremlin needs. Kerimov’s Uralkali stake was sold by the end of 2013 to Mikhail Prokhorov and Dmitry Mazepin.
Baumgertner became CEO of Global Ports Investments PLC in August 2015. In 2020, he founded HeadOffice, a family office operator. In 2023, he joined the board of the carmaker group Sollers.
These two incidents come at a particularly tense moment for Cyprus–Russia relations. Nicosia recently said it had become the target of an organized hybrid attack and a disinformation campaign, linking it to Cyprus’s upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union and a recent visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The coincidence of a death at the Russian Embassy and the disappearance of a figure with deep knowledge of Russia’s financial elite presents a complex, opaque situation. Cypriot authorities are taking a wait-and-see approach, saying official statements will follow the completion of forensic and investigative procedures to determine whether the incidents are isolated or part of a wider political context.
