And the United States is sanctioning other billionaires
The signal is clear: Lukoil, the third largest industrial group in Russia, yesterday published on its website a statement attributed to the board of directors, in which the company says it is “worried about the tragic events in Ukraine”. Furthermore, “we support a swift end to the armed conflict and fully support its resolution through a process of negotiation and diplomatic means”.
A first “internal” crack in the Kremlin monolith: Lukoil is a giant present in various countries of the world – even in Italy – but with the center of its business firmly in Russia. So far, the oligarchs of the “diaspora” have disassociated themselves from the war in Ukraine and therefore from the Kremlin. From Roman Abramovich, who announced the sale of Chelsea and the willingness to donate the proceeds to a foundation for the victims of the war in Ukraine. Until Andrei Yakunin, son of Vladimir, a former high KGB officer, very close to Putin until, as a multibillionaire, he left the Russian Railways to enjoy his heritage in London.
Lukoil’s case is different: today it is the third largest group in Russia, the first independent after the public giants Sberbank and Rosneft. At the moment Lukoil, under US sanctions since 2014, is not among the companies affected by the restrictive measures launched by Western countries after the invasion of Ukraine. But many observers in the days signaled the possibility of it being included in the list, given its importance for the Russian economy.
Its number one is Vagit Alekperov, one of the oligarchs of the first wave, who became very rich with the collapse of the Soviet empire and not those who grew up in Putin’s entourage. He worked in oil wells on the Caspian Sea, becomes deputy minister of energy with the already shaky Soviet Union. And with the collapse of the USSR, he buys three oil fields and soon becomes a multibillionaire. According to Forbes, his personal fortune amounts to $ 18.6 billion and he is at number 66 on the ranking of the world’s multimillionaires. He lives in Moscow, is one of the main partners of the Spartak football team, but he is also a partner of the Barcelona marina and the Dutch shipyard Heesen Yachts. Where did the Galactica Super Nova come from, a 70-meter superyacht that is now on sale at a specialized site for the tidy sum of 75 million euros. However, a bargain price, for an award-winning boat and one of the fastest in its category. In recent days the yacht was reported in the port of Tivat, in Montenegro.
On February 24, Alekperov was among the 36 oligarchs summoned to the Kremlin to listen to Vladimir. Nobody talked about Ukraine, even on everyone they seemed rather worried. Significantly, some of the loyalists were missing from the meeting. From the Rotemberg brothers to Yurij Kovalchuk to Gennadi Timchenko.
In the following days, all those present – and even those absent – saw their fortunes drop to nine zeroes. On the first day of the invasion, Forbes calculated, the first 116 Russian billionaires lost a total of 39 billion dollars. And since then, with the sanctions, things have gotten even worse.
Yesterday, the announcement of a new wave of sanctions against oligarchs and Kremlin officials by the US and Great Britain. Alisher Usmanov and the Rotemberg brothers were among those affected.
In the special ranking of the losses of the first day of the war, Alekperov himself was number one: 3.8 billion less assets. And perhaps it is no coincidence that he too was the first to take sides.
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