Who are the Russian oligarchs the U.S. is targeting with sanctions?

The U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Department of State sanctioned more than two dozen individual Russians last week, accumulating financial pressure on elites who have influence with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the wake of the Russian crisis. invasion of Ukraine.

“The help of these people, their families and other key elites allows President Vladimir Putin to continue his ongoing and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” according to a March 3 Treasury statement.

“Treasury is committed to holding Russian elites accountable for their support for President Putin’s election war,” said Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, adding that the measure demonstrates “our commitment to to impose massive costs on Putin’s closest confidants and his family members and freeze their assets in response to the brutal attack on Ukraine. “

U.S. and Western partners and allies have been blatantly sanctioning Russian oligarchssaying that these elites have looted the Russian state and used family members to move and hide property.

The announcement said the Treasury Department will share financial intelligence and other evidence with the Justice Department to support criminal proceedings and asset forfeiture.

Here’s a look at the rich people the United States pointed out for sanctions last week:

Alisher Usmanov

Alisher Usmanov is one of Russia’s richest billionaires, whose large holdings include interests in the metals and mining, telecommunications and information technology sectors both inside and outside Russia.

Its super yacht “Dilbar”, which has two heliports and an indoor pool, is one of the largest in the world, valued at between $ 600 and $ 735 million and an estimated $ 60 million a year in operating costs.

Its business jet is believed to have cost between $ 350 million and $ 500 million and is one of the largest privately owned aircraft in Russia. The Treasury Department claims it was previously leased to the President of Uzbekistan.

The Treasury noted Usmanov’s alleged financial ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as former President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, who reportedly used “residences of luxury “controlled by Usmanov.

The United Kingdom also announced sanctions and a total ban on Usmanov’s assets, saying it had “significant interests in English football clubs Arsenal and Everton, owned several properties worth tens of millions of pounds and set its value of more than $ 18.4 billion.

Nikolai Petrovich Tokarev

Nikolay Tokarev, whom the Treasury Department has long called a “Putin’s partner,” is chairman of the state-owned Transneft pipeline, which the department called “one of Russia’s largest companies.” . He has also spent time in government, first in the 1980s as a KGB agent alongside Putin in Dresden, then in the administrative department of the President of the Russian Federation. His wife, Galina Alekseyevna Tokareva, is also being sanctioned.

Maiya Tokareva

Daughter of Nikolay Tokarev, Tokareva owns what the Treasury Department calls a real estate empire valued at more than $ 50 million in Moscow, as well as at least three companies, one of which, based in Croatia, owns a property facing the sea on a Croatian island. which includes a villa built by the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I.

Evgenii Prigojin

This is not the first time the US has sanctioned Prigozhin. The financial sponsor of the Internet Research Agency, which works massively social media influence campaigns, Prigozhin was previously sanctioned for facilitating attempts to interfere in the US election. Prigozhin “directs content generation to denigrate the US election process and fund Russia’s interference efforts while trying to evade sanctions by targeting ghost companies both inside and outside Russia.” the Treasury Department, which said Prigozhin’s apparatus of influence. has been sowing discord on social issues in Ukraine and trying to spread misinformation about the U.S. government.

Prigozhin’s networks also allegedly helped Russia to interfere in the elections and to subvert public opinion in Asia; spreading false stories in Africa; and spreading misinformation about European politicians in support of Russia’s goals in Ukraine.

The United States also sanctioned his relatives, including his wife Lyubov Prigozhina, and his daughter and son, Polina Prigozhina and Pavel Prigozhin.

Boris Rotenberg

First sanctioned by the U.S. in 2014, Rotenberg owns a stake in Russian oil and gas drilling company Gazprom Burenie, along with his nephew Igor, according to the Treasury Department. At the time, the Treasury said Rotenberg had helped support “Putin’s personal projects by receiving and executing high-priced contracts for the Sochi Olympics and the state-controlled energy giant.” Gazprom “.

After being sanctioned, he and his brother Arkady Boris Rotenberg used fictitious companies to buy “tens of millions of dollars of art in major auction houses” and others, despite sanctions, according to the State Department.

The current round of sanctions, which also includes his wife Karina and children Roman and Boris, is due to his role at SMP Bank.

According to Forbes, he is worth more than $ 1.1 billion and is also the Vice President of the Russian Judo Federation.

Arkadi Rotenberg

Boris Rotenberg’s brother Arkady Rotenberg was also first sanctioned in 2014. According to the State Department, Rotenberg owns the PSJC Mosotrest, which has helped build and maintain the Kerch Bridge between Russia and Crimea, which Russia has used to claim sovereignty over the region that invaded in 2014.

c He sold his son Igor his interest in the Russian oil and gas drilling company Gazprom Burenie, according to the Treasury. The United States also sanctioned Igor, who was first sanctioned in 2018, and Rotenberg’s other son, Pavel, and his daughter Liliya.

According to Forbes, he is worth $ 3 billion, and was once Putin’s fellow judo coach. The International Judo Federation withdrew him from the Russian Judo Federationwhere he was the “development manager.”

Sergei Chemezov

When the U.S. originally sanctioned Sergei Chemezov in 2014, the State Department described him as “a trusted ally of Putin” whose long-standing relationship dates back to the 1980s when they lived in the same apartment complex in Germany. the East than the future Russian leader. Chemezov is now the CEO of the Russian state-owned conglomerate Rostec, which is involved in a number of industries, including defense.

Chemezov was re-sanctioned last week along with his wife Yekaterina, son Stanislav and stepdaughter Anastasiya.

Igor Shuvalov

The United States also announced sanctions on Igor Shuvalov, who as chairman of VEB.RF, a state-owned development and investment company, was described by the State Department as a member of Putin’s inner circle. Like Usmanov, the United States also blocked Shuvalov’s assets.

Shuvalov was deputy prime minister both under Dmitry Medvedev and later under Putin. The Biden administration also specifically cited actions last week against Shuvalov’s five companies, his wife Olga, his son Evgeny and his company and jet, and his daughter Maria and his company.

Like Usmanov, the United Kingdom also banned Shuvalov’s assets altogether, calling him “a core part of Putin’s inner circle” and saying his assets in the United Kingdom include real estate worth more than $ 11 million. free.

In:
• Ukraine
• Russia
• Vladimir Putin