Abramovich, Fridman, Aven, Shuvalov, and many others: despite BoJo’s broad proclamations, London remains last in the world in sanctions on the assets of Kremlin-linked tycoons. Here are all the data on Putin’s kleptocracy: 60 percent of the wealth of Russia’s richest 0.01 percent is held offshore
“And now [su sanzioni e oligarchi russi] we must act, all countries together ”.
Speaking in Brussels alongside the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Mario Draghi expressed his invitation by leaving Italian aside for a moment and speaking in English. Throughout the weekend just ended, Palazzo Chigi has given a decisive change of pace on the sanctions against the oligarchs, which was recounted step by step on The print, and is leading the Draghi government to take a leading role in sanctions against kleptocrats linked to the Kremlin.
Draghi reported one thing and also made a promise, “in recent days the Financial Security Committee of the Ministry of Economy approved important asset freezing measures against Russian oligarchs, which were promptly carried out and will continue to run over the next few days», And correspondent:« I would really like that similar or similar measures were taken by all our countries ». Then he explained how it is technically possible to identify at least part of the wealth held by the kleptocracy linked to the Kremlin, in Italy: “The Bank of Italy – explained the premier – has asked credit institutions to communicate the freezing measures applied, and to provide details on the subjects involved and on the value and nature of the assets. I thank the Minister of the Economy, the Bank of Italy, the Guardia di Finanza for the excellent work done so far. And now – he concludes, using English once again, so that everyone understands – we must all act quickly on this point ».
The steps are clear: the push from Palazzo Chigi, the involvement of all the offices, the order to banks to provide data, cross-checks of Finance, where (as often happens) assets and assets are shielded behind the names of family members, or offshore shell companies. And here the premier’s words arise from an actual problem. If we exclude France (which first seized the yacht of Rosneft boss Igor Sechin, but stopped there for now), and to a lesser extent Germany (who blocked, through the port authorities of Hamburg, Alisher Usmanov’s yacht – Putin’s, “Graceful”, had moved in time from Hamburg, to take refuge in Kaliningrad), there is in particular a very important country in the West, the United Kingdom, which is doing little or nothing to the oligarchs: the United Kingdom of Boris Johnson.
The British Prime Minister admitted this morning that Putin is escalating the aggression in Ukraine, but warned that in the UK there must be no “witch hunt” against Russian citizens driven by anti-Moscow prejudices. Did BoJo step in to secure the honor of Lord Evgheny Lebedev (the son of oligarch Alexander) when the secret services thought he posed a threat to national security? Johnson’s response: “This is simply not correct. And reasoning like this means following Putin’s agenda ». “It’s russophobia,” Johnson also said, as reported by the Sunday Times on Sunday, March 6. The fact is that the UK sanctions (for example to the Rotenberg and Sechin brothers) sanction subjects already sanctioned since 2014: they are smoke and mirrors. While others remain totally out. For example the bankers Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven (Alpha Group), And of course Roman Abramovich, who was given plenty of time to sell (below cost) Chelsea, declaring that he will give the proceeds to the victims of the war in Ukraine, but without suffering sanctions. Abramovich also has Portuguese citizenship (therefore of an EU country), and Lisbon has just opened an investigation into alleged corruption in the assignment of this citizenship.
Fridman and Aven were placed on the EU sanctions list on Monday, yet they are not subject to UK sanctions. Fridman is described by the EU as “an important Russian financier and enabler of Putin’s inner circle”. Aven as «one of Vladimir Putin’s closest oligarchs, a particularly close personal friend of Rosneft’s chief executive, Igor Sechin. Aven is one of about 50 rich Russian businessmen who regularly meet with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin ”. Nothing about them in Londongrad. Fridman, worth £ 11 billion, owns a £ 65 million mansion in Highgate, North London, in UK Athlone House. Aven, worth $ 5.5 billion, has Ingliston House, near Virginia Water, on 8.5 acres of land on an estate adjacent to Wentworth golf course (Aven is a collector with works ranging from Larionov to Goncharova and Kandinsky, to name just a few). They weren’t hard to find assets. Not everything is hidden offshore. But Boris Johnson didn’t find them.
According to Bloomberg, the European Union has sanctioned 490 entities up to last Friday, Canada 413, Australia 407, Switzerland (surprisingly) 371, while Japan (40) and the United Kingdom are dramatically missing. (16). Labor’s Keir Starmer asked why the former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov ‘Own two apartments not five minutes’ walk from this House and not on the UK sanctions list? Also because, Starmer recalled, Boris Johnson affirms that the United Kingdom “can sanction any individual linked to the Putin regime”.
In 2018, after the poisoning of Skripal, Johnson promised aggressive sanctions to the Russians, but since then what has happened has been different: 92 golden visas, golden passports, to Russian tycoons. Mikhail Khodorkovskyformer patron of Yukos who was expropriated and resold by Putin with fake auctions that sanctioned the rise of Sechin and Abramovich (Khodorkovsky was sent to jail in Siberia), claims that “Putin can use the money of the oligarchs, which is why the sanctions against the oligarchs close to Putin must be total”.
According to the estimates of the economist Gabriel Zucman, who studies kleptocracies, 60 percent of the wealth of Russia’s top 0.01 percent is held offshore. According to Zucman, Filip Novokmet and Thomas Piketty, the size of Russian offshore wealth, approximately 85% of national income, is more than three times larger than Russia’s official foreign reserves. “There is as much financial wealth held by rich Russians abroad as there is by the entire Russian population in Russia itself.” Zucman, who was the first to launch the idea of an international register of oligarchs (collected by Draghi and on which the Italian premier has now convinced the other heads of government of the G7), however also argues that in addition to this there is also a need for “an more systematic, let’s say to freeze all offshore holdings exceeding ten million dollars, a policy that would affect between ten thousand and twenty thousand Russians, those who have benefited most from Putin’s government ». But one thing at a time, and above all, taking the United Kingdom and Londongrad with them.
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