Putin cronys’ yachts, castles, jets targeted by US sanctions

The US has revealed the extraordinary wealth of Vladimir Putin’s oligarch friends, adding dozens of names to sanctions’ blacklists.

Alisher Usmanov’s superyacht Dilbar is worth between $US600m and $US735m

The US has revealed the extraordinary wealth of Vladimir Putin’s oligarch friends, which includes castles and superyachts, adding dozens of names of elite Russian individuals and businesses to sanctions blacklists.

The US Treasury released ­pictures of the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s private jet and superyacht on Thursday (Friday AEDT). He is one of 19 oligarchs added to a revised list of sanctioned Russians, including Mr Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov.

“These individuals have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people, and some have elevated their family members into high-ranking positions,” the White House said, as President Joe Biden hailed the “profound impact” US sanctions were ­already having.

“The goal was to maximise the impact on Putin and Russia and minimise the harm on us and our allies and friends around the world,” Mr Biden said as he began a cabinet meeting at the White House.

Alisher Usmanov, right, with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2017. Picture: AFP

“We’re adding dozens of names to the list – and banning travel to America by more than 50 Russian oligarchs, their families, and close associates.”

Mr Usmanov was “one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires with vast holdings across multiple sectors of the Russian Federation economy as well as internationally”, the US Treasury said in a statement that singled out his private superyacht Dilbar, worth between $US600m ($A815m) and $US735m ($A999m), and his private plane.

“Dilbar has two helipads and one of the world’s largest indoor pools ever installed on a yacht,” the Treasury said, noting it cost $US60m ($A81.5m) a year to run, and had ­reportedly been seized by German authorities.

“The plane’s registration spells out ‘I’m Alisher Burhanovich Usmanov’ … M-IABU is one of the largest privately owned planes in Russia and was previously leased out for use by Uzbekistan’s President.

Britain, a favourite destination for oligarchs, announced a similar full asset freeze and travel ban on Mr Usmanov and also on former deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov, bringing the UK’s oligarch hit list to 15.

Alisher Usmanov’s M-IABU jet is one of the largest privately owned planes in Russia and was previously leased out for use by Uzbekistan‘s president

The pair, worth an estimated $US19bn ($A26bn), have close links to the Kremlin, the Foreign Office said.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the sanctions sent a “clear message that we will hit oligarchs and individuals closely associated with the Putin regime”.

Russia’s elite owns prestigious property in New York, sports clubs across the West, enormous yachts in the Mediterranean and sends its children to the most expensive US universities, while travelling in luxury around the world, making it ­especially vulnerable to US and European sanctions.

Mr Putin’s superyacht Graceful reportedly “fled” a German port for Russia earlier this month, displaying superior timing than Amore Vero, the mega yacht of Mr Putin’s friend Igor Sechin, president of a Russian state oil firm Rosneft, which French authorities reportedly seized earlier this week.

The sanctions match earlier EU measures against Russia’s wealthiest figures, but also include a ban on travel to the US and preventing these targeted people from hiding their assets through transfer to family members.

Nikolary Tokarev, another of the sanctioned billionaires on the US list, a friend of Mr Putin from their KGB days, owned “prime oceanfront real estate on a Croatian island that includes a villa built by the 19th century Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I”.

“Tokarev is also the president of one of Russia’s most important companies, Transneft, a state-owned pipeline company that is responsible for transporting 90 per cent of oil extracted in Russia,” the US Treasury said.

The US and its allies have ­already imposed sweeping sanctions aimed at hobbling Russia’s economy, including cutting off the Russian central bank from international financial markets, and blocking exports of high technology goods to Russia.

 The focus on oligarchs has made the financial offensive more personal, going after people who for years have been not just untouchable but courted by Western governments eager to benefit from their spending sprees.

 In many cases their children go to top European and US schools and universities and some have obtained residency through so-called golden visa schemes.