While A1 is not under any sanctions by the UK Government, several individuals linked to its parent company Alfa Group – including two co-founders – are.
There is no suggestion Mr Tchernenko or A1 is accused of wrongdoing under current UK laws.
However Sir Robert Buckland, a former justice secretary, has called for a review into the UK’s current Russian sanctions list, which includes 2,000 individuals and organisations. Sir Robert said: “This raises questions about those who have been linked to sanctioned companies and individuals.
“I think there needs to be an urgent review to make sure our sanctions are efficient and effective in the UK.”
Bob Seely, a Tory MP who previously worked as a foreign correspondent in both the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia, said that British sanctions must mirror those of Western allies.
“We absolutely need to make sure that the sanction lists that the EU and the US have are the same as ours,” he told The Telegraph.
“Realistically, if an individual or a firm has been sanctioned in the US, we need to be asking why we are not sanctioning them ourselves.
Mr Bourlakov’s estate includes a solar-powered super yacht named Black Pearl, which is reportedly worth £150 million.
Mrs Bourlakova had gained control over assets worth billions for which she had been her husband’s nominee, it was claimed.
She had been the sole beneficiary of his will drawn up in 2004 but after his death a new will was allegedly found.
The High Court was earlier told that this second handwritten document left the entire estate to the Kazakovs.
Bourlakov had sought to hide assets from his wife by claiming they were invested in a business partnership with Nikolai Kazakov, it was said.
Mr Tchernenko told The Telegraph that he left A1 to “dedicate more time to my independent legal consulting work for clients, including the Kazakovs”.
He added: “Prior to this time I was engaged by Mr Kazakov in a private capacity.
“It is not unusual for lawyers in Russia to have side projects with the permission of their employers and this was one such example.”
Mr Tchernenko added: “I believe the attempts to link myself with sanctioned individuals, who I have not even ever met, are aimed at putting pressure on myself as counsel for the Kazakovs and my clients in an entrenched multi-jurisdictional dispute.”
Alexander Fayn, general director of A1,said: “A1 did not fund and is not funding Mr Kazakov.
“However, one of our former employees, Dmitri Tchernenko, has been assisting the Kazakovs in his personal capacity, separately from the matters he would work on as part of his employment.
“We agreed to this, provided it would not affect the quality of his service to A1 on existing matters.”
A representative of a UK law firm representing Mr Kazakov said Mr Tchernenko has been engaged by Mr Kazakov “in a private capacity to provide advice on limited aspects of ongoing litigation in multiple jurisdictions”.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: “We do not comment on potential future designations.”
