They were right to be afraid. Last night – February 28, 2022 – the European Union added 26 oligarchs to the list of sanctions similar in all respects to the American ones, which include the seizure of all assets and the travel ban in Europe: a very serious measure that will now concern other really top names of Putin’s circle, Alisher Usmanov, Mikhail Fridman, Pyotr Aven, Alexei Mordashov, Igor Sechin, cellist Sergei Roldugin, considered by many to be one of Vladimir Putin’s personal figureheads. The European document (read in its entirety here) it is very important because from today, by right, these people can no longer set foot in the countries of the European Union, unless some single government – or the organizers of private events, but to this by putting themselves at risk and danger – decides to close both eyes by disapplying and sanctions.
The text of the law provides identikits and profiles, and gives definitions of the oligarchs who, until recently, entailed the concrete risk of lawsuits for those who defined these men of the economic and quasi-state power of the Putin regime in this way. Alisher Usmanov, for example, is literally defined: “He is a pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.” A label for which Usmanov once threatened lawsuits. «Alisher Usmanov – writes the European Council – is a pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has been listed as one of Vladimir Putin’s favorite oligarchs. He is considered to be one of the Russian businessmen-officials, entrusted with the service of financial flows, but their positions depend on the will of the president. Usmanov took sides as President Putin’s front and solved his business problems. According to the FinCEN files, he paid $ 6 million to Vladimir Putin’s influential adviser Valentin Yumashev. Dmitry Medvedev, vice president of the Security Council of Russia and former president and prime minister of Russia, benefited from the personal use of luxury residences controlled by Mr. Usmanov. Therefore, he actively supported the Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilization of Ukraine, materially or financially ”.
Alisher Usmanov with Putin. Usmanov has huge interests ranging from minerals to social media to publishing. Very active in Italy, he considers himself “a philanthropist, not an oligarch”
Usmanov has interests in iron ore and steel companies, media and the Internet. His biggest stake is the steel giant Metalloinvest: “When Usmanov took control of the business newspaper Kommersanteditorial freedom was curtailed and the newspaper took a manifestly pro-Kremlin stance. Kommersant, under the ownership of Usmanov, published an anti-Ukrainian propagandist article by Dmitry Medvedev, in which the former president of Russia argued that it made no sense to engage in talks with the current Ukrainian authorities, which he believed were under direct control foreign. Therefore he actively supported the Russian government’s policies of destabilization of Ukraine ”. It goes without saying that Usmanov usually spends three or four summer months in Sardinia, has had pharaonic parties in Venetian costume with Italian guests (including Silvio Berlusconi, from whom at one point he wanted to buy Milan, then for a period he bet on Arsenal) , financed the restoration of a very large part of the Capitol, donated funds to Sardinia for Covid, and has always said “I am a philanthropist, not an oligarch”. Usmanov is currently awarded the honor of the Italian republic.
Piotr Aven, co-owner of Alpha Bank, he is defined as «one of about 50 rich Russian businessmen who regularly meet with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. It does not operate independently of the President’s requests. (…) is also known to be a particularly close personal friend of Rosneft leader Igor Sechin, a key ally of Putin. Vladimir Putin’s eldest daughter Maria ran a charity project, Alfa-Endo, funded by Alfa Bank“. In 2018, Aven with Mikhail Fridman went to Washington on an unofficial mission to convey a message from the Russian government on US sanctions, and Russian Federation counter-sanctions. There is no doubt for the EU that he is a state figure in the Kremlin. By Mikhail Fridman, the founder and president of Apha Bank, it is said that “he managed to cultivate strong ties with Vladimir Putin’s administration and was listed as one of the top Russian financiers and facilitator of Putin’s inner circle. He managed to acquire state assets through links with the government. “
Gennady Timchenko, friend of Putin from the times of the Ozero Cooperative, founder of the Volga Group, is also sanctioned for being a major shareholder of Bank Rossiya, which played a central role in the annexation of Crimea, and “has major stakes in the National Media Group, which in turn controls the television stations that actively support the Russian government’s policies of destabilization of Ukraine ”. A parallel path is that of Alexey Mordaschov, who with his SeverGroup he is in Bank Rossiya, and shares its war and propaganda adventures. A system in which – according to this EU document – literally everything is held.
In the sanctions (after Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, and Margarita Simonyan, head of RT) had already been included the chief propagandist of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, and Europe records that it has lied repeatedly in favor of war, for example, «he stated, contrary to the facts, that there were no Russian troops in the Donbass. He also conveyed the message that Western sanctions have no real effect on Russia. He threatened that Russia would issue counter-sanctions in response ». Things that may seem trivial, but which when written by reporters were often highly contested and sources of attacks from Russia to newspapers (among the propagandists, Tigran Keosayan, anchorman of the warmongering and anti-Ukrainian talk “International Sawmill with Tigran Keosayan” is also hit, and Olga Skabeyeva, who gives Russia’s most famous political talk, “60 minutes”, on Rossiya-1 TV, by another key oligarch, Yuri Kovalchuk).
It is relevant that Irek Faizullin, a board member of the Russian Railways, a company guilty of actively helping the logistics for the war, is also hit with the most severe measures: “Both military personnel and military equipment of the Russian armed forces were transported to areas near the Ukrainian border by Russian railways of which Faizullin is a member of the board of directors ».
A separate chapter deserves Igor Sechin, the head of Rosneft, of which everything is known. Former of the KGB, former Putin carrier in St. Petersburg, regular guest in Italy of the Eurasian Italo-Russian Forum in Verona (the one organized by Antonio Fallico, the head of Banca Intesa Russia), strictly speaking Sechin can no longer set foot in Europe since yesterday. However, the EU says two new things: one, the fuel for the Crimean war was paid for by Rosneft Aero, a subsidiary of Rosnfet. And two, “Igor Sechin’s Rosneft was involved in financing the vineyards of the palace complex near Gelendzhik, considered personally used by President Putin.” That is, the famous Putin palace told in the latest investigation by Alexey Navalny, before ending up in prison. “Therefore – concludes Europe – Sechin actively supported materially or financially and benefited from the Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilization of Ukraine”.
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