Russia’s richest man Vladimir Potanin lost a legal fight with his ex-wife, clearing the way for her to pursue a claim for a multibillion dollar share of his mining assets in one of the world’s largest divorces.

His former partner Natalia Potanina won permission to bring a suit in London worth at one point as much as $9 billion (C$12.45 billion). Judges at the Court of Appeal said in a ruling on Thursday that Potanina had a “real and meaningful connection” with the U.K., and that she could now pursue a full-blown claim in an English court.

The case has swung back and forth since Potanina first filed her suit almost seven years ago, with a lower court ruling saying that Potanina had attempted “divorce tourism” to take advantage of the “more generous approach” of the English courts. The cou

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