The company that pays Akshata Murthy, wife of British PM Rishi Sunak, £11.5 million a year is still operating in Russia, report say

IT'S AN INDIAN COMPANY

Jyoti Mann
Sat, November 5, 2022

Akshata Murthy, wife of new British PM Rishi Sunak, has a big stake 

in Infosys, the company founded by her father

.Samir Hussein/Getty Images

• Infosys, founded by Rishi Sunak's father-in-law, is still operating in Russia, The Guardian reported.

• The IT firm still has staff in Moscow and is paying two subcontractors, per the report.

• Infosys, which pays the PM's wife £11.5 million in dividends, said it would leave Russia in March. 
  

Infosys, the company owned by the UK prime minister's billionaire father-in-law, is still operating in Moscow, eight months after it said it was pulling out, The Guardian reported.

The Indian IT firm said it was exiting the Russian market in March following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, yet it still has a staffed office in the Russian capital and is paying subcontractors to carry out IT services for a global client, according to the newspaper. 

The Moscow office of Infosys still has a company plaque outside on a wall, per the report. Company sources told The Guardian that some administrative staff were still working there as part of the process to leave Russia.

Those sources said staff still in Moscow were removing computer equipment and offloading it in a "sustainable" manner ahead of a move to India.  

A spokesperson told The Guardian that it was seeking to end the arrangement and had taken measures to "suspend its operations in Russia". They said employees working on client projects "have been transitioned out" and that Infosys was still paying two Moscow-based subcontractors to carry out work for a client.

The spokesperson added: "Infosys does not have any active relationship with local Russian enterprises. The process of transitioning a few remaining partner and administrative staff is under way."

Akshata Murthy, the wife of the UK's prime minister, receives annual dividends worth £11.5 million ($13.1 million) from her 0.91% stake in Infosys that is worth about $785 million.

Murthy, daughter of the company's founder, N.R. Narayana Murthy, this year agreed to pay tax in the UK on her dividends after it was revealed that she didn't do so due to her "non-domiciled" status.

A Downing Street spokesperson told The Guardian: "Neither Akshata Murty nor any members of her family have any involvement in the operational decisions of the company."

Infosys didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.