Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska, who part owns the Aughinish Alumina refinery in Limerick, and Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich were among seven Russian businessmen slapped with a full asset freeze and travel ban by the UK government on Thursday, in the country’s most high-profile crackdown on oligarchs since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The UK government accused Mr Abramovich, who also holds Israeli and Portuguese citizenships, of having benefited financially and otherwise for decades from his close links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The move immediately complicates Mr Abramovich’s plans to offload Chelsea as billionaires from the US and elsewhere circle the football club for a purchase.
Those in the new sanctions list also include Mr Deripaska, who the government said is worth £2 billion (€2.4 billion), and Igor Sechin, chief executive of Rosneft and one of Mr Putin’s closest confidantes.
Also on the list are Andrei Kostin, chair of VTB Bank, Alexei Miller, chief executive of energy company Gazprom, and Nikolai Tokarev, president of the Russian state-owned pipeline company Transneft.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson said: “There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine.”
‘Unwavering support’
He added: “Today’s sanctions are the latest step in the UK’s unwavering support for the Ukrainian people. We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies.”
Liz Truss, UK foreign secretary, said: “Today’s sanctions show once again that oligarchs and kleptocrats have no place in our economy or society. With their close links to Putin they are complicit in his aggression.
“The blood of the Ukrainian people is on their hands. They should hang their heads in shame.”
She added: “Our support for Ukraine will not waver. We will not stop in this mission to ramp up the pressure on the Putin regime and choke off funds to his brutal war machine.” – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022
