European governments are opposing Russian oligarchs to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to abandon his war in Ukraine by confiscating superyachts and other luxury properties from sanctioned billionaires.
COLLIN BARRY Associated Press
March 5, 2022, 01:12 PM
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MILAN — European governments are moving against Russian oligarchs to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to abandon his war in Ukraine by confiscating superyachts and other luxury properties from sanctions-listed billionaires.
Italy has since Friday confiscated 143 million euros ($156 million) in luxury yachts and villas in some of its most scenic locations, including Sardinia, the Ligurian coast and Lake Como.
“We need to be able to stop Putin’s attack by putting him at the negotiating table and he won’t take any kindness,” Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Italian state television on Friday, announcing Italy’s plans to start confiscating property belonging to the oligarchs. close to Putin.
The Italian financial police acted quickly, seizing the Lena superyacht, owned by oligarch Gennady Timchenko close to Putin, in the port of San Remo, as well as the 65-meter Lady M, owned by Alexei Mordashov, in the neighboring Empire. estimated at 65 million euros, as well as villas in Tuscany and Como.
According to the Italian news agency LaPresse, the villa of Russian-Uzbek business tycoon Alisher Usmanov has been confiscated on the picturesque Emerald Coast in northern Sardinia, where the world’s richest people have long lived.
German officials this week denied reports of the seizure of Usmanov’s yacht in the port of Hamburg. According to the British government, he also owns Beechwood House in Highgate, worth around £48 million, and the 16th-century Sutton Place estate in Surrey.
Activists say the persecution of the oligarchs is tantamount to persecution of Putin.
“Vladimir Putin keeps all his money with the oligarchs,” said William Browder, a US-born London-based financier and human rights activist who was once a major investor in Russia but came into conflict with the government in the late 2000s.
“And this is a very effective psychological warfare to start the capture of yachts. I think it demoralizes the oligarchs and demoralizes Vladimir Putin. And he’s the guy who… rules his image, you know, he’s the man who has pictures of him taking off his shirt on horseback. Therefore, the capture of the yacht of one of his best friends in the south of France is a bad image, ”said Browder.
The German economy ministry said it was in the process of “promptly and effectively implementing sanctions against Russia” but declined to publicly disclose what assets, if any, were seized.
So far, French authorities have seized a yacht linked to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs the Russian oil giant Rosneft, in the Mediterranean resort of La Ciotat, where it arrived in January for repairs. French officials said on Thursday the crew was preparing for an emergency flight when they arrived, despite repairs still ongoing.
The UK, long a haven for oligarch wealth, is under pressure to do more. Putin’s confidant Roman Abramovich, who owns the top-notch Chelsea football club, said this week he would put the club up for sale. He has not been sanctioned, but opposition politicians and members of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s party are asking why not.
The UK has frozen the assets of individuals on its own list and is making changes to the law to make it easier to prosecute those on its own list after criticism for being slow to act. However, it will take a long time to unravel, as many of the assets are in shell companies.
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Danica Kirka in London, Aritz Parra in Madrid, Frank Jordans in Berlin and Barbara Surk in Nice, France, all contributed to this story.