LONDON

- The British capital has turned into a cemetery for the fortunes of the Russian rich, or what the Western media calls "Putin's oligarchy", after the fog capital was the preferred destination for Russian businessmen to invest and buy luxury real estate.

Gradually, the list of businessmen covered by the British sanctions is expanding from confiscation of money and property, to being prevented from entering the country and being prosecuted, with the British Foreign Office announcing the list of Russian personalities who were included in government sanctions against the background of the war in Ukraine.

And it concerns 7 of the richest Russian businessmen who have property or financial investments in Britain or have financial assets that pass through the City of London, and in total the number of Russian businessmen who were covered by the British sanctions reached 18 people.

The British Foreign Office justified its decision by saying that these figures are among the long and important arms of Russian President Vladimir Putin, or that they belong to the president's narrow circle.

Putin's wallet

The British Foreign Office says that a total of 15 billion pounds of money from Russian businessmen has been seized, between bank accounts, real estate and investments.

Among the people sanctioned is Alisher Usmanov, who is considered one of the richest, if not the richest, personalities in Russia with a fortune of about $17.6 billion, and Britain describes him as the man who helps Putin solve all his financial problems in the country.

Alisher invests heavily in London real estate, but what appeared to the media is a luxury house in the heart of London worth $72 million that is now under seizure, in addition to a mansion outside the city that has also been booked.

Alexei Miller (right) CEO of Gazprom and is considered one of the names closest to President Putin (Reuters)

The biggest loser

As for Roman Abramovich, the owner of the London club "Chelsea", he is the most affected by these sanctions, starting with the seizure of his club, which has a market value of approximately 4 billion dollars, as well as a luxurious palace in London worth more than 160 million dollars, in addition to residence outside the city worth 20 Million dollars, and a luxury yacht spotted in the Maldives may be included in the reservation.

aluminum king

Among the names with an important financial portfolio in London is Oleg Deripaska, owner of a Russian energy company and owner (UC Rusal), which is one of the world's largest aluminum producers, and has been subject to US sanctions since 2018.

The British government says that Oleg is one of those who provide a lot of aid to the Russian army, and according to government estimates, the man owns real estate worth tens of millions of dollars.

oil arm

Igor Sechin, CEO of Rosneft, is one of the most famous personalities very close to Putin, and his influence in the country is wide, which made him closely monitored by the European Union and the United States and put him on the sanctions list even before the war.

Igor's wealth in Britain or his real estate is not known, except for the French authorities' announcement of the seizure of his yacht off the coast of the Principality of Monaco, but he remains one of the names known for his influence on the economic and political scene in Russia.

Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea Football Club (Reuters)

giant banker

It was not surprising that Andrei Kostin appeared on the sanctions list, as he is the global manager of VTB Bank (VTB), which is the second largest bank in Russia, and was banned by the British authorities at the beginning of the war.

Andrey is considered one of the biggest supporters of the Russian president, but rather the bank implementer of Putin's policies, and his fortune is estimated at more than 400 million dollars, and he is currently on the US, European and British sanctions list.

gas weapon

Russian gas is at the heart of the battle between the West and Russia, and for this it was necessary that the sanctions include names responsible for the giant "Gazprom" company, led by its CEO Alexei Miller, who is considered one of the closest names to President Putin for his supervision of the largest and most largest company in the country. sensitive.

Miller previously worked under Putin when the Russian president was mayor of St. Petersburg in 1990, and since that time the two men have had a strong relationship.

KGB client

Nikolai Tokarev is one of the personalities who accompanied President Putin since he was an officer in the Russian KGB intelligence service. Nikolai worked in the same service in the eighties of the last century and was a Russian intelligence officer in East Germany.

The British Foreign Office says that strong relations have linked the two men since that time and have continued until the moment. Nikolai heads the "TransNeft" gas pipeline, which is also on the European, American and British sanctions list.

The Kremlin's private bank

The British Foreign Office described the "Bank of Russia" as the Kremlin's private bank, through which it conducts all its financial operations, and this financial institution is supervised by Dmitry Lebedev, who was also covered by British sanctions, although it is difficult to trace the investments he held in the United Kingdom.

Favorite destination

It is no longer a secret that London has for years been the preferred destination for rich Russians to launder their money, and this was one of the reasons for American anger at the British and pressure on them to show firmness with Russian money.

We find the clear answer to the preference of wealthy Russians for London in a report of the Foreign Relations Committee of the British Parliament in 2018, which explicitly says that the British government is turning a blind eye to the “dirty Russian money that is being laundered in London in exchange for the City benefiting from the influx of billions.”