Daughter of dead oligarch Kakha Bendukidze: DNA test will prove my claim to fortune

Court Battle: Oligarch Kakha Bendukidze with his 'secret daughter' Anastasia Goncharova
Anastasia Goncharova
Ben Morgan16 October 2015

A young woman who says she is the “secret” daughter of a dead oligarch with a claim on his $1 billion fortune today said: “The DNA test will prove it’s true.”

Anastasia Goncharova, 24, is in a High Court battle with the widow of Kakha Bendukidze, who was found dead in a Park Lane hotel last year aged 58.

Natalia Zolotova, a Russian art expert and writer who married Bendukidze in 1999, claims she only became aware of Miss Goncharova’s existence after his death. The pair are fighting a legal battle across three countries to inherit his riches.

The unusual case hinges on the results of a DNA test which would prove Miss Goncharova’s claim once and for all. Ms Zolotova, who is executor of Mr Bendukidze’s estate, is refusing to release genetic samples taken by Westminster coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox during Mr Bendukidze’s post-mortem examination. They remain in storage at Imperial College.

Miss Goncharova told the Standard: “I have known Kakha since I was 10 but only found out he was my father seven years ago. In that time he became the closest person in my life. If she’s saying I’m not my father’s daughter then hand over the DNA samples and prove it. It’s as simple as that.”

Miss Goncharova went public with her paternity claim after attending her father’s funeral last year. On Tuesday Miss Goncharova and both legal teams are set to meet at the High Court to learn whether the DNA should be released.

Miss Goncharova studied A-levels at Clifton College, Bristol, before spending four years reading Hispanic studies at King’s College London. Her education was paid for by Mr Bendukidze. She said: “Kakha could not recognise me as his daughter while he was alive. My mother’s husband had no idea. He found out about it on the news, so it’s been tremendously hard.

“That’s why this was never talked about. Kakha promised my mother not to tell anyone because it would ruin people’s lives.”

Mr Bendukidze, a Georgian, built his fortune after the fall of the Soviet Union by becoming one of Russia’s most influential businessmen during the Nineties. He quit Russia in 2004 over fears Vladimir Putin would oust him from one of Russia’s most successful engineering firms and moved back to Georgia where he was invited to become minister for the economy.

Mr Bendukidze was found dead in a suite at the Intercontinental Hotel in November last year, a week after having a heart operation in Switzerland.

If Miss Goncharova’s claim is vindicated she plans on continuing her father’s legacy at two universities he founded in Georgia.

She added: “The reason I’m doing this is not about the money. My dad has founded two universities in Georgia and I don’t know whether they will carry on going the way he wanted without him being around.

“In his will, he said most of his money would go to the universities. He really wanted to change Georgia and improve it for everyone. The most important thing for him was education. It was his passion.

“I cannot replace him — he was such a good man you would need an army to do that — but I have no choice.”

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