- The United Kingdom has sanctioned oligarch Usmanov and former Minister Shuvalov
- He will face the freezing of more than $ 80 million in property in the United Kingdom
- Lawmakers have criticized the government for being too slow
- The government sees legal barriers, is considering changing the law
LONDON, March 3 – Britain sanctioned two more Russians on Thursday – industrialist Alisher Usmanov and former Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov – after criticism that it took too long to target people linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Usmanov, an Uzbek-born metallurgical and telecommunications tycoon Britain said was worth $ 18.4 billion, is best known in Britain for his investments and previous sponsorships of Premier League football clubs Arsenal and Everton.
Shuvalov is a former aide to Putin, who now chairs Russia’s VEB, which is itself under Western sanctions. As Deputy Prime Minister, he is leading Russia’s successful bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
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“As Putin continues his barbaric attack on innocent Ukrainians, we will continue to use all our strength to inflict maximum economic pain on Putin and his military machine,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” which it says is not intended to occupy territory but to destroy the military capabilities of its southern neighbor and capture dangerous nationalists – a pretext rejected by Ukraine and the West as baseless propaganda.
Since Russia launched the invasion on February 24, Britain has imposed sanctions on 11 wealthy Russians plus Putin and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, as well as four Belarusian servicemen. Read more
Usmanov and Shuvalov’s British assets are frozen, they are banned from traveling, and British citizens and companies are not allowed to work with them.
The foreign ministry said Usmanov owns a £ 48m ($ 64m) mansion and a southwest London estate, while Shuvalov owns two luxury apartments in central London worth £ 11m.
ABRAMOVIC PRESSURE
Johnson is facing growing criticism from opposition politicians and some of his own lawmakers for what they say is a slow response to sanctions.
Britain has so far sanctioned fewer people than the European Union, which on Monday imposed sanctions on 26 prominent figures, including oligarchs and people active in the oil, banking and financial sectors. Read more
There are frequent calls for Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, owner of the Chelsea football club, and others to be included in sanctions. However, the government has said there must be solid legal protection that their finances are linked to the Putin administration before sanctioning individuals.
A spokeswoman for Abramovich declined to comment immediately on a report from the Times on Thursday that he was not facing immediate sanctions. He announced on Wednesday that he would sell the Chelsea football club and donate money from the sale to help the victims of the war in Ukraine. Read more
British lawmakers have said any delay in imposing sanctions means their goals could take wealth and assets out of Britain before they are set.
“The government’s failure to keep pace with the EU and the United States on sanctions has allowed Putin’s oligarchs to bail out hundreds of millions of assets,” said David Lamy, a foreign affairs spokesman for Britain’s main opposition Labor party.
A government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that due to the high bandwidth still required for sanctions, he is now seeking to change the law.
It was only last month that Britain passed legislation to expand the scope of those who could be sanctioned in the event of a Russian invasion to allow severe penalties for those close to Putin.
“Legal threats will not affect our ability to sanction the oligarchs,” Foreign Minister Liz Trus told Reuters during a visit to Lithuania. “We are absolutely determined to sanction the Russian oligarchs. We have an additional list that we are working on.”
Anita Clifford, a London-based lawyer who specializes in financial crime, said that although there is a low threshold for imposing sanctions, it still requires an appropriate evidence file or can be challenged in court and the government can be tried for large sums.
The process will usually take at least a few months, she said.
(1 dollar = 0.7498 pounds)
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Report by Michael Holden, Andrew Makaskil, William James and David Millikon in London and Andrius Saitas in Vilnius Edited by Frank Jack Daniel and Alistair Bell
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