Overview

• Andrey Badalov, 62, vice president of state-controlled Transneft, plunged from his Moscow apartment’s 17th floor on July 4 and was found dead outside the building.
• Investigators recovered a note suggesting suicide and have provisionally ruled the death self-inflicted, with alternative scenarios still under examination.
• Badalov had overseen Transneft’s digital transformation since his 2021 appointment and was instrumental in navigating the firm through Western sanctions.
• His fall adds to a series of unexplained deaths by apparent suicide or accidents involving senior figures in Russia’s oil and gas sector since 2022.
• Transneft, led by former KGB officer Nikolai Tokarev, exemplifies the interwoven nature of Russia’s political power and its energy industry.