Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States (USA) and the European Union (EU) established sanctions for members of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
“We are joining our European allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private planes,” assured the president of the USA, Joe Biden.
Because of this, there are even some of these oligarchs who They begin to demand the end of the war. These are the main Russian tycoons, their businesses and the sanctions they are receiving for their position Regarding the conflict between Russia and Ukraine:
Igor Sechin
Sechin is the main person in charge of Rosneft, the state oil company, key in supplying energy to Europe and one of the world’s largest producers of crude oil. In 2009 the Russian edition of the magazine Newsweek named him Politician of the Year in Russia.
According to the EU, “He is one of the closest and most trusted advisers of Vladimir Putin, besides your friend. He has been in daily contact with the president of Russia.
“He is among the people in Putin’s circle who receive economic benefits and important assignments in exchange for subordination and loyalty. The president has entrusted him with important and difficult tasks, and has rewarded him with the leadership of Rosneft and great wealth”, is mentioned in the official gazette of the EU.
Alisher Usmanov
The EU publication refers to it as “one of Putin’s favorite oligarchs. He is considered to be one of the Russian officials-businessmen who have been entrusted with the management of financial flows, although his positions depend on the will of the president.
Ukraine invites mothers of captured Russian soldiers to go find them
He owns a business and financial emporium that includes, among other listed assets, Arsenal, one of the most important football teams in the English Premier League, according to the BBC.
“Usmanov has interests in companies in the iron, minerals and steel sectors, the media and the internet. Its main holding is the steel giant Metalloinvest. When Usmanov took control of the economic daily Kommersantthe freedom of the editorial staff was truncated and the newspaper adopted a blatantly pro-Kremlin stance,” according to the EU.
Alexei Mordashev
According Forbes, He is the richest man in Russia, he is the businessman Alexei Mordashov, who in 2021 amassed a fortune valued at 25,700 million. It is the majority shareholder in steel company Severstal and also owns shares in private gold miner NordGold.
Mordashov has harshly criticized the military attack. “It is terrible that Ukrainians and Russians are dying, that people are in hardship and the economy is collapsing. We have to do whatever it takes to find a way out of this conflict in the near future and stop the bloodbath to help the people affected to rebuild their lives,” he assured the media. RBKwhile expressing his rejection of the imposed sanctions: “I have nothing to do with the current geopolitical tensions, I don’t understand why they penalize us.”
However, his criticism has not helped him to be excluded by the EU from its latest sanctioned list. The Severgroup company, of which he is president, is a shareholder of Banco Rossiya, of which in 2017 it owned around 5.4% and which is considered the personal bank of high officials of the Russian Federation.
Mikhail Fridman
He owns the DIA and AlfaBank supermarkets. He has been included in the list of 26 Russian personalities sanctioned by the European authorities.
Fridman has assets valued at 13.5 billion and recently decided together with Petr Aven leave the board of directors of Alfa-Bank, the largest private bank in the country, of which they are co-owners. He has also resigned as director of the board of directors of Veon, a global internet service provider headquartered in Amsterdam and whose main market of operations is in Russia.
3 keys that explain why Ukraine is so important for Russia
“He has cultivated close ties with the Vladimir Putin administration, and is known as one of Russia’s top financiers and a facilitator for Putin’s inner circle. He has acquired state property through contacts in the government. Putin’s eldest daughter, Maria, ran a charity project called Alfa-Endo, financed by Alfa Bank,” the EU states.
Nikolai Tokarev
Tokarev is the CEO of Transneft, a major Russian oil and gas company. He has known Vladimir Putin for a long time and is his direct collaborator. He is on the EU sanction list. He served with Putin in the KGB in the 1980s.
“Tokarev is one of the oligarchs of the Russian state who assumed control of a large amount of state assets in the 2000s, while Putin was consolidating his power, and working closely with the Russian state. Tokarev heads Transneft, one of the largest government-controlled companies in Russia, which transports a considerable amount of Russian oil through a well-developed pipeline network.”
petr aven
“He is one of the oligarchs closest to Vladimir Putin. It is a major shareholder in the Alfa Group, of which one of the major Russian banks, Alfa Bank, is a part. He is one of about fifty wealthy Russians who regularly meet with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. He does not operate independently of the president’s demands. His friendship with Vladimir Putin dates back to the early 1990s. During his time as Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, he assisted Vladimir Putin, then deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, in connection with the Sal’ye commission of inquiry,” it is mentioned in the EU publication.
“Aven and his partner Mikhail Fridman have contributed to the Kremlin’s attempts to have Western-imposed sanctions lifted to curb Russia’s aggressive policy towards Ukraine.”
Roman Abramovich
Although he recently announced that he was leaving the management of Chelsea in the hands of the football club’s charitable foundation, Abramovich has not shed his shares and will continue to be the owner of the London club.
His excellent relations with power in Russia have always been highlighted. The bulk of his fortune comes from his oil businesses. In 1990 he took control of Sibneft, in collaboration with Boris Berezovski, another prominent Russian millionaire.
The sale of Sibneft to the state-owned Gazprom in 2005 brought in $13 billion. Now it is focused on the metallurgical sector.
Sergei Roldugin
The EU indicates in its official gazette that he is “a businessman who maintains close ties with Vladimir Putin. It is part of the financial network created by Putin. Has at least five entities off shore and his assets are deposited in the (EU-sanctioned) Bank Rossiya, known in Moscow as Putin’s wallet.”
Little-known facts about Vladimir Putin
“According to research by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Roldugin is responsible for ‘redistributing’ at least 2,000 million dollars through banks and companies off shore inside Putin’s hidden financial network. He was also part of the Troika laundry and funneled billions of dollars through this system. In addition, he received more than 69 million dollars through companies integrated into the Troika laundry ”.
Alexander Ponomarenko
He is chairman of the Sheremetyevo International Airport Board of Directors. “Ponomarenko maintains close ties with other oligarchs associated with Vladimir Putin, as well as with Sergei Aksyonov, leader of the Republic of Crimea (so named) in the illegally annexed territory of the Crimean peninsula. He participated in the financing of the palatine complex near Gelendzhik, which is considered to be used personally by President Putin, ”says the European Union.
Vitaly Savelev
The EU mentions that Savelyev “is the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation and a member of the Board of Directors of the Russian Railways, appointed to that position by the Government of the Russian Federation. He was CEO of Aeroflot. Aeroflot, under the mandate of Savelyev, carried out air transport of passengers between Russian airports and the international airport of Simferopol, thereby supporting the integration of the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula into the Russian Federation, which in turn contributed to further undermining the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.” (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
