Seven high-profile Russian business figures have found themselves on London’s fresh list of ‘financial sanctions targets’
The UK has cracked down on Russian oligarchs as part of sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, freezing the assets of Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller, and others.
The Treasury published a list on Thursday that includes 204 individuals and 65 entities to be subject to the restrictions, with seven top Russian businessmen named on it.
Besides Abramovich and Miller, EN+ Group owner Oleg Deripaska, chairman of Rosneft Igor Sechin, the head of VTB bank Andrey Kostin, president of Transneft pipeline company Nikolai Tokarev and chairman of Bank Rossiya Dmitry Lebedev have also had their assets in Britain frozen.
According to the Treasury, Abramovich has been involved in “obtaining a benefit from or supporting the Government of Russia” due to doing his businesses “in sectors of strategic significance” to the Kremlin.
The assets of the Chelsea soccer club have also been blocked, meaning that Abramovich won’t be able to sell his London-based club now.
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Chelsea have been issued a special license, which allows the club to continue operating, but only with its sports-related activities.
