Russia and Ukraine: Who are the rich Russians near Putin?

But while some of those close to him followed his advice and continued to invest in Russia, others kept their money in the form of overseas luxury properties and football clubs, and their companies remained listed on foreign stock exchanges.

And now they are scrambling to retain their assets amid the most comprehensive economic sanctions ever imposed in modern times.

Ali Sher Usmanov (worth $ 17.6 billion)

Approved by: United States, European Union and United Kingdom

Ali Sher Usmanov, who is said to be one of Putin’s lucky oligarchs, is one of the richest people with an estimated fortune of $ 17.6 billion, according to Forbes magazine. The European Union describes the former professional screener as a “businessman – responsible” who helps the president with his business problems.

Born in Uzbekistan while still part of the Soviet Union, he runs USM Holdings, a large mining and communications conglomerate that includes Megafon, Russia’s second largest cellular network.

The European Union announced sanctions against him on 28 February, and the United States and Britain followed suit. He described the sanctions as unfair and said all allegations against him were false.

USM Holding seems to be hoping to avoid EU sanctions because it owns just under 50 percent of the shares in this company.

It is reported that his yacht, named “Delbar” after his mother’s name, underwent maintenance in Hamburg and now runs the risk of being seized.

The most important obvious investment in Britain is property. In London he owns Beechwood House, a £ 65 million house in the heart of the city, outside London in Surrey, he owns the Tudor Mansion property in Sutton Place. They were confiscated by the British authorities.

Its business partner, Farhad Moshiri, owns Everton Football Club, and Usmanov’s companies USM, Megavon ​​and Utah were the club’s main sponsors. Everton suspended the sponsorship deal, and Moshiri resigned as a member of USM’s board of directors.

He has not yet been punished

Roman Abramovich, one of the most famous Russian billionaires, has yet to be approved for the massive success of Chelsea Football Club.

He may not have been punished yet because he is less influential than Putin’s other allies.

The extent of the influence he exerts in the Kremlin is highly debatable, with some suggesting that President Putin is just tolerating him, while others say the relationship is much closer than that.

Abramovich strongly denies that he has close ties with Putin or the Kremlin, but his estimated fortune of $ 12.4 billion is in jeopardy if sanctions are imposed.

Abramovich announced on Wednesday that he wants to sell Chelsea FC for £ 3 billion, and his £ 150 million house in the gardens of Kensington Palace is for sale.

Abramovich made his money in the 1990s and was a member of the original oligarchy during Boris Yeltsin’s presidency. His biggest profit was the purchase of the oil company, Sibneft, at an unknown price.

Its assets include the Eclipse, the world’s third longest yacht, which sailed along the British Virgin Islands on Friday, and another mega yacht, Solaris, which moored in Barcelona.

Withdrawal from Britain has begun in recent years. In 2018, he decided not to apply to renew his stay in Britain and instead used his newly acquired Israeli passport to visit London. While attending every Chelsea home game, he was rarely seen at Stamford Bridge (Chelsea Stadium).

Sanctions imposed by: United States

Oleg Deripaska was extremely rich when President Putin came to power, and his fortune peaked at about $ 28 billion, but his fortune is now apparently no more than $ 3 billion.

He made his way to fortune in the 1990s when he rose to the top in a fierce battle in the aluminum industry. The United States has said he was involved in money laundering, bribery and extortion. There have been reports of allegations that he “ordered the murder of a businessman, and that he had links to a Russian organized crime group” and denies these allegations.

He suffered badly during the 2008 financial crisis and needed Putin to save him. In 2009, President Putin insulted him by publicly stating that he had stolen a pen. He has since appeared to be working for Putin again, as the Mueller report, a US investigation into Russia’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election, described him as “closely connected” with the president.

He founded the London-based green energy and mineral company N + Group, but reduced his stake in it to less than 50 per cent when he was subject to US sanctions in 2018. At the time, Basic Element, one of Deripaska’s companies, had a statement describing The justifications for sanctions are that “unfounded, ridiculous and absurd.”

Deripaska owns a large property, Hamston House in Weybridge, Surrey, and has been trying to sell it for £ 18 million since Anglo-Russian relations deteriorated after the Skripal poisoning, and he also owns the yacht Cleo, which sailed Wednesday in the Maldives was. .

Unlike many sanctioned oligarchs, Deripaska was outspoken about his view of the war, and asked social media to ask for peace where he wrote: “Negotiations should begin as soon as possible.”

Approved by: United States and European Union

Igor Sechin’s ties with Putin are long and deep, according to the European Union, which announced sanctions against him on February 28. He is said to be one of his most trusted and close advisers, as well as a personal friend, and the two are apparently in daily contact.

He got to this point by relentlessly banishing opponents and his nickname in the Russian press is Darth Vader. A cable leaked from the US embassy in 2008 described him as “so mysterious that it was said that he may not actually exist, but a monster invented by the Kremlin to instill fear”.

The United States imposed sanctions on him in 2014, calling it “completely unjustified and illegal.”

Sechin has spent his career alternating between positions in politics and commerce, sometimes holding senior positions in both fields at the same time. When Putin was prime minister, he was deputy prime minister, and now runs the state oil giant Rosneft.

Sechin worked with Putin in the mayor’s office in St. Petersburg in the 1990s, and it is widely believed that he worked for the highly intimidating KGB intelligence service at the time, although he did not publicly admit it.

Sechin lives in Russia, and no one knows how much money he has, but the Frenchman seized a yacht called Amory Ferro, which is related to him, after his second wife, Olga Sechina, continued to take photos of her on board. to place. They have since divorced.

Moreover, there are few indications that he has a large fortune abroad that can be easily traced, and it can be difficult to locate and freeze more of his assets.

Sanctions imposed by: United States

Alexei Miller is another old friend of Vladimir Putin. An inconspicuous man, he also built his career on loyalty to the president, starting with the post of Putin’s deputy on the Foreign Relations Committee in St. Petersburg. Petersburg mayoral office in the 1990s.

He has run the large state-owned gas company Gazprom since 2001, and his appointment was a surprise and it is widely believed that he follows the orders of his old boss. In 2009, the US ambassador to Moscow described Gazprom as “ineffective, politically motivated and corrupt”.

Miller was not imposed after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, but when he was added to the US list in 2018, he said he was proud of it. He added: “When I was not included on the first list, I had some doubts, maybe something was wrong? But I was eventually included, and that means we are doing everything right.”

It seems that he does not have easily traceable assets outside Russia and there is no information on his net worth.

Sanctions imposed by the European Union

The European Union describes Pyotr Avin (pictured left) as one of President Putin’s closest oligarchs, and Mikhail Friedman as Putin’s striking hand in Putin’s inner circle. Together, the two men created Alpha Bank, the largest private bank in Russia.

The Mueller report said that Avene met with Putin about 4 times a year in the Kremlin, pointing out that he “understands any suggestions or criticisms that Putin made during these meetings as implicit precepts, and there will be consequences for Avene. be if he does not implement it. “

Putin warned them in 2016 and advised them to protect their interests from future sanctions. The two resigned this week from London investment group Litrun, which they formed almost 10 years ago, because their interests were frozen due to European Union sanctions on 28 February. Avene also retired from the position of regent at the Royal Academy of Art in London.

The two men said: “They will vigorously challenge the unfounded allegations of the imposition of these sanctions, with all the means at their disposal.”

Friedman, who is believed to be worth about $ 12 billion, lives in London in a house next to Lord’s Cricket Ground, and also owns a huge property, Athlone House in north London, for which he paid £ 65 million in 2016.

Speaking at a news conference in London on Tuesday, Friedman said the war in Ukraine was a “great tragedy”. But he did not directly criticize the Kremlin, saying it could endanger the work of hundreds of thousands of people.