UK Government Blocks Russian Businessman Yuri Shamaray's Golf Club Deal Over National Security Concerns
UK blocks Russian businessman's bid to buy Lake District golf club
The UK government has scuttled a deal in which Russian businessman Yuri Shamaray sought to acquire a golf club in northern England due to potential national security risks, TASS reports, citing the Financial Times (FT).
Shamaray, the former owner of the Ilsky oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai's Seversky District, had planned to purchase the Grange-over-Sands Golf Club in the Lake District. Club members had previously voted in favor of the sale due to the facility's debts, which were registered under Shamaray's daughter, Anastasia Shamara. However, the deal collapsed after British authorities intervened.
According to the newspaper, officials deemed the transaction a national security threat because the golf club is located near a railway line serving BAE Systems' shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness—where nuclear submarines are built—and the Sellafield nuclear waste storage complex. Under government pressure, the sale was canceled.
Anastasia Shamara confirmed that the purchase had been called off.
Yuri Shamaray's lawyer stated that the businessman had been unaware of the golf club's proximity to defense-related sites.
"As an enthusiast, he intended to support the financially struggling local club," the attorney said.
The deal was reportedly worth £800,000 (approximately $1.1 million).
Reports indicate that Shamaray was invited as an investor by Nick Taylor, the son of the club's former president, who now heads the Raevo Golf & Country Club academy in the Moscow region. Shamaray, who studied in England and holds a British passport, is an avid golfer and had sought to prevent the club's bankruptcy. Taylor noted that the businessman currently resides in Switzerland.
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