Voi scooters face axe from city over Russian links, warns metro mayor

THE West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris has told the boss of Voi he needs to end the company’s links to Russian oligarchs – or face losing the contract for Bristol and Bath later this year.

Mr Norris said if the company still had Gabriel Yushevaev and Alexander Eliseev as shareholders of the Swedish e-scooter hire company by the time the trial period ends in Bristol in October this year, that would impact his decision on whether or not to continue to allow Voi to operate.

The boss and founder of Voi, Fredrk Hjelm came to Bristol yesterday for talks with Mr Norris over the issue, and later told a press conference he was doing all he could to get them to part with their shares.

Reports across Europe and in the US have named Eliseev as someone who owns around £10.8 million worth of shares in Voi, while at the same time being a businessman who founded a major firm that is also part-owned by the Russian state. And multi-billionaire Yushevaev owns a bigger, 2.9 per cent stake in Voi.

In total, the pair own 3.9 per cent of the e-scooter hire company. Neither of them has yet been named as being on any nation’s list of ‘sanctioned’ Russian oligarchs, although reports in New York suggest one could be on a US list of Russian oligarchs and businessmen who face the potential of having their assets frozen or being sanctioned in another way soon.

Mr Hjelm visited Bristol as part of a tour of the UK cities where Voi is running its e-scooter scheme, and said he had a full and frank discussion with Mr Norris over the issue.

He said that while he would prefer it for the two Russian businessmen to sell their stakes, he couldn’t force them to under Swedish law – unless, ironically enough, they were formally sanctioned by the Swedish authorities.

Mr Norris will make the ultimate decision about whether or not he wants the e-scooter hire scheme to continue after this autumn, and told Mr Hjelm that ‘other e-scooter hire companies are out there.’