Russia Ukriane war: Russian oligarchs Australia is targeting with sanctions
A prominent UK football club owner is among the latest group of Russian billionaires to be slapped with Australian sanctions.
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Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich is one member of the latest group of wealthy Russian elites to be targeted by Australian sanctions as the war in Ukraine escalates.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne on Monday announced fresh sanctions would be slapped on 33 Russian oligarchs and some of their wives and children.
“Many of these oligarchs have facilitated, or directly benefited, from the Kremlin’s illegal and indefensible actions in Ukraine since 2014,” Senator Payne said.
The sanctions include travel bans and will freeze any assets held by the oligarchs in Australia, as well as preventing any future transactions here.
The announcement came as Russian forces moved closer to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on the 17th day of Vladimir Putin’s military offensive against his neighbouring country.
Australia’s move follows Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States in taking further restrictive measures against “key Russian individuals”.
Arguably the most prominent of the group is Abramovich – the London-based billionaire owner of Millhouse Capital – who was this week barred from the Premier League.
The 55-year-old has run Chelsea football club since 2003 but he was formally disqualified by the league board because of his ties to the Russian president.
The board announced its decision on Saturday following the imposition of sanctions by the UK government against several key Russian businesspeople.
Abramovich had already announced he would put Chelsea up for sale before he was formally sanctioned amid mounting calls for oligarchs to face repercussions for the invasion of Ukraine.
Sergey Chemezov is another oligarch to be sanctioned by Australia, following the lead of other countries.
Chemezov has been the chief executive officer of the Moscow-based, state-owned defence industry conglomerate Rostec since 2007.
The 69-year-old was appointed to the position by Putin, whom he befriended in the military when both men were stationed in East Germany in the 1980s.
The two men worked as KGB spies before the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union and remain close allies.
Chemezov is reported to have told Rostec employees the military operation in Ukraine had prevented an attack on Russia, which he said would defy Western sanctions.
“If you glance at Russia’s history, almost all of that history Russia has battled with different sanctions, with enemies which encircled her, and she always came out as the victor,” he told staff, according to Reuters.
Australia has also imposed sanctions on Kirill Dmitriev, the chief executive officer of the Russian Direct Investment sovereign wealth fund.
The $10bn fund was created by the government to co-invest in the country’s economy and partner with foreign investors to invest in Russian companies.
Dmitriev, 46, was born in Kyiv when Ukraine was still under the control of the Soviet Union.
Foreign press, including the Financial Times, have reported Dmitriev is close to Putin’s family, with his wife Natalia Popova both an employee and very close friend of the Russian president’s younger daughter, Katerina Tikhonova.
Fun fact about Natalia Popova, Kirill Dmitriev's wife and Putin's daughter's best friend: she owns two servals, wild African cats that live in her house in a glitzy Moscow suburb pic.twitter.com/AT3i1kn3Q5
— max seddon (@maxseddon) April 1, 2018
Other prominent oligarchs named by Australia on Monday include Gazprom chief executive officer Alexey Miller, Rossiya chairman Dmitri Lebedev, Vnesheconombank chairman Igor Shuvalov and Transneft chief executive officer Nikolay Tokarev.
Monday’s announcement takes Australia’s sanctions on Russian individuals and entities in recent weeks to more than 460 in total.
The Central Bank of Russia, Russian Direct Investment Fund, the nation’s armed forces, political and military figures including Putin and his Security Council, have all been targeted.
“We will continue to co-ordinate closely with our partners to impose a high cost on Russia for its actions,” Senator Payne said.
“The Australian Government reiterates our strongest support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and for the people of Ukraine.”
SPECIAL LICENSE
Speculation has swirled since Russia’s invasion about whether Mr Abramovich would be included in any UK sanctions.
He announced last week he was selling Chelsea, which he bought in 2003 and bankrolled its successes at domestic and European level.
The British government estimated his net worth at A$17 billion but said it was mitigating the effect of the sanctions on Chelsea by allowing the club to continue to operate.
A special licence “authorises a number of football-related activities”, the government said in a statement.
“This includes permissions for the club to continue playing matches and other football-related activity which will in turn protect the Premier League, the wider football pyramid, loyal fans and other clubs,” it added.
Selling the club or transferring players were not included on the list of permitted activities, scuppering Abramovich’s plans to offload the club.
A UK sanctions official told reporters: “The licence that’s been issued right now does not allow for the sale of the club.
“It will be for the Treasury to consider the further application for a licence to sell the club,” he added, but said no request for that had yet been made.
Mr Johnson’s spokesman said the government was “open” to a sale, subject to a new licence being approved but said “under no circumstance” should Mr Abramovich profit from it.
Shares in Russian steel giant Evraz, of which Mr Abramovich is the major shareholder, plunged almost 12 per cent on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday morning local time until trading in the company was suspended.
YACHTS AND PLANES
Mr Abramovich announced last week he had made the “incredibly difficult” decision to sell Chelsea and pledged that proceeds would go to victims of the Ukraine war.
According to reports, Abramovich was still holding out for a bid in the region of A$5 billion for the club he bought for A$250 million.
Mr Abramovich, 55, was one of the businessmen working in the shadows following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, seizing control of lucrative assets once held by the Soviet state, at bargain prices.
His property holdings include a 15-bedroom mansion in London’s exclusive Kensington area. He also owns one of the world’s largest yachts, the 162-metre Eclipse.
Mr Abramovich is also subject to transport sanctions, which have banned Russian aircraft from flying or landing in the UK and give the government powers to remove planes belonging to designated Russian individuals and entities.
Russian ships have been banned from UK ports.
Mr Abramovich changed the face and profile of English football when he took over Chelsea, turning the perennial also-rans into a European powerhouse and ushering in the era of mass money in the domestic game.
Chelsea have won 19 major trophies in the Abramovich era, including their first two Champions League crowns and five Premier League titles.
Originally published as Russia Ukriane war: Russian oligarchs Australia is targeting with sanctions
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