The mayor of West England, Dan Norris, has said he is deeply concerned that Stockholm-based Voi still has two large Russian shareholders holding millions of pounds in the company. Labor politician Norris met with Voi Technology CEO Fredrik Hjelm in Bristol, where the band operates, to “bake” him for shareholders. He warned that he would look elsewhere for scooter suppliers if he was not satisfied that the company did everything in its power to distance itself from investors. Speaking after the meeting, Norris said: “The people of the West of England want to know that Voi is not connected to the bad things we hear about in Ukraine. “Voi has a difficult call to make. To me it is very clear – I want the West of England to have minimal ties to the Russian regime. “I accept that in this united world it is difficult to have zero involvement with Russia, but it is my job, knowing the power of emotion, to minimize these dubious ties wherever they are.” Since the invasion of Ukraine, investments in the Voi of Russian businessmen Alexander Eliseev and Ilya Yushaev have come to the fore. West England Mayor Dan Norris (left) and Fredrik Hjelm of Voi Technology in Bristol on 11 April 2022. Photo: Tess De La Mare / PA Norris said: “I’m not happy that these people are shareholders in Voi. “I’m not happy that this connection exists and I want it to be broken.” Men have not been sanctioned, but Norris said: “I think if you become wonderfully rich like these people, it’s because [Russian] the state allows it and obviously Mr. Putin allows it and that worries me. “I hope they sell [their shares] quickly. But they also want to make ends meet for as much money as they can. This is how capitalism works. But my view is that the sooner they leave the better. Finally other scooters are available. “ Voi scooters can be found in British cities such as Birmingham, Cambridge, Oxford and Liverpool, as well as throughout Europe. Speaking at the same press conference, Hjelm said Bristol’s program was by far the largest in the UK. There have already been 4 million scooter trips and 250,000 unique users. He said the two Russians, who together owned just under 4% of the company, had transferred their voting rights to him, adding: “We are exploring what we can do by respecting Swedish law and the rights of shareholders. “You can not just take shares from an investor, but he owns the shares.” Hjelm, who learned Russian in the Swedish armed forces and has lived and worked in Russia, described the regime as “Putin and his bandits” and said that the day after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Voi had severed ties. and will not receive future investment from Russians. But he added: “We can not rewrite history.” He said he had talked to the two investors regularly and said they had privately made clear their opposition to Putin and the invasion. Hjelm also warned Norris that he could find other scooter companies with links to Russia or other regimes that the mayor may not like. The test of electronic scooters in Bristol is going to last until November, when it will be evaluated to see if it should continue. Norris said that if he was not satisfied with Voi’s actions, he would look for other providers.
