The Chelsea football club owner, Roman Abramovich, is among seven Russian oligarchs to be hit with sanctions by the UK on Thursday, in an effort to further punish allies of Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine.
The list also includes billionaires Igor Sechin and Oleg Deripaska, both seen as allies of Vladimir Putin.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “there can be no safe havens” for those who have supported the invasion.
What do the sanctions entail?
The assets of all seven oligarchs - who have a collective net worth of about £15bn - have been frozen, and they will be prohibited from making any transactions in the UK, as well as being subject to a travel ban.
Chelsea football club is among the assets frozen as part of the sanctions against Abramovich and its sale is now on hold. The government said it would issue a special licence that allows fixtures to be fulfilled, staff to be paid and existing ticket holders to attend matches.
Season ticket holders can still attend games they have tickets for, but the club can not now sell any more tickets for games. The club’s merchandise shop will be closed.
Which oligarchs have been sanctioned?
Roman Abramovich
Owner of Chelsea FC
Estimated net worth: £9.4 billion
One of the most high-profile Russian billionaires because of the phenomenal success of Chelsea FC, which he owns.
There have long been calls for Abramovich to face sanctions from the UK government.
Abramovich, 55, is alleged to have strong ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he has denied.
The official entry on the UK sanctions list describes him at a “prominent Russian businessman and pro-Kremlin oligarch”.
It states: “Abramovich is associated with a person who is or has been involved in destabilising Ukraine and undermining and threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, namely Vladimir Putin, with whom Abramovich has had a close relationship for decades.”
The Foreign Office said he was implicated through a steel manufacturing and mining company, Evraz plc, in which he had a significant shareholding and over which he exercised effective control.
It said the firm may have supplied steel to the Russian military for the production of tanks.
How influential he is in the Kremlin is a question of much debate. Some say he is only tolerated by Putin, but others suggest their relationship is much closer than that.
How did Abramovich attain his wealth?
Abramovich made his money in the 1990s and was one of the original oligarchs after the collapse of the Soviet Union. His assets include the third-longest yacht in the world, Eclipse, and another mega-yacht, Solaris, moored in Barcelona.
Last week he announced that he was looking to sell Chelsea FC for £3bn, and his £150m house in London’s Kensington Palace Gardens, one of the wealthiest streets in the world, was reportedly up for sale.
He sold a 73 per cent stake in Russian oil firm Sibneft to state-owned gas titan Gazprom for £9.87bn in 2005.
Oleg Deripaska
Has shares in En+ energy group and UK properties worth millions
Estimated net worth: £2 billion
Once one of the richest men linked to President Putin, Oleg Deripaska has made billions from his shares in Russia’s aluminium industries, including En+ energy group which he founded. He also has properties in the UK worth millions.
Deripaska has been subject to US sanctions since 2018.
The US Treasury said he had been “investigated for money laundering, and has been accused of threatening the lives of business rivals, illegally wiretapping a government official, and taking part in extortion and racketeering. There are also allegations that Deripaska bribed a government official, ordered the murder of a businessman, and had links to a Russian organized crime group.”
Deripaska owns a large art deco property, Hamstone House in Weybridge, Surrey, which he has been trying to sell for £18m. He also owns a yacht, Clio, which was in the Maldives last week.
Unlike many sanctioned oligarchs Deripaska has been vocal about his view on the war, taking to social media to call for peace. “Negotiations need to start as soon as possible!” he wrote.
Igor Sechin
Former deputy prime minister of Russia and CEO of Russian state oil company Rosneft
Estimated net worth: unknown
Igor Sechin, 61, is a Russian businessman, government official and close ally and personal friend of Vladimir Putin. He has been described as the second most important person in Russia. He worked with Putin when he was mayor in St Petersburg in the 1990s, and the two are thought to be in daily contact.
Formerly the deputy prime minister of Russia and now the CEO of the Russian state oil company, Rosneft, Sechin has become successful by ruthlessly pushing aside opponents. His nickname in the Russian press is Darth Vader.
As chief executive of Rosneft, Sechin is a key figure in the Russian economy. The oil Russia supplies to the world is one of Putin’s most important geopolitical tools, and taxes on the company brought in 1.8 trillion rubles for the Russian government in 2020 alone – the equivalent of about 40 per cent of the annual military budget.
How much money Sechin has is unclear but he owns a £90 million superyacht called Amore Velo, which was seized by French authorities on March 2.
Andrey Kostin
Chairman of VTB Bank, Russia’s second largest bank
Estimated net worth: £397 million
Andrey Kostin is Chairman of VTB bank, the second largest bank in Russia.
Kostin is a close associate of Putin, and has long supported Kremlin objectives through VTB Bank.
In April 2018, the United States imposed sanctions on him.
The UK Government said Kostin “has long supported Kremlin objectives through VTB Bank”.
Alexei Miller
CEO of Russian energy company Gazprom
Estimated net worth: unknown
Alexei Miller is an old friend of Vladimir Putin’s and much of his career has been built on loyalty to the Russian President.
He was Putin’s deputy on the foreign relations committee of the St Petersburg mayor’s office in the 1990s.
He has run the hugely powerful state-owned gas company Gazprom since 2001, but it is widely assumed that in this role he is simply continuing to carry out Putin’s orders. The US ambassador to Moscow in 2009 described Gazprom as “inefficient, politically driven, and corrupt”.
He was sanctioned by the US in 2018, something he said he was proud of. “Not being included in the first list. I even had some doubts - maybe something is wrong? But I am finally included. This means we are doing everything right,” he said.
Nikolay Tokarev
President of Russian pipeline company Transneft
Estimated net worth: unknown
Nikolay Tokarev first met Putin when both served as KGB officers in Dresden, East Germany, in the 1980s. They have remained closely associated ever since.
Since 2007, Tokarev has been 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.
As president of Transneft, according to the US Treasury Tokarev has enriched himself and his family, amassing a business and real estate empire extending throughout Russia and into Europe.
Tokarev’s family members, including his wife Galina Alekseyevna Tokareva and daughter Maiya Nikolaevna Tokareva have benefited from his proximity to Putin. Maiya Tokareva’s real estate empire has been valued at more than $50 million (£38 million) in Moscow alone.
Dmitri Lebedev
Chairman of Board of Directors of Bank Rossiya
Estimated net worth: unknown
Dmitri Lebedev, 53, is a Russian businessman and financier.
Bank Rossiya, the St Petersburg private bank of which he is Chairman of the Board of Directors, has been described as Putin’s “crony bank”. The US imposed sanctions on it after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
In 2016, Lebedev was sanctioned by the US Treasury for providing support to senior officials of the Russian Federation.
