All articles tagged with #russian oligarchs
Liechtenstein is tightening control over Russian-linked trusts abandoned due to US sanctions, exposing the country's deep financial ties to Russia and prompting a government crisis as hundreds of trusts are frozen, affecting its economy and international relations.
UK and US authorities have launched a major crackdown on two billion-dollar money laundering networks allegedly used by Russian elites, cybercriminals, and drug cartels. The US Treasury Department has sanctioned key figures in these networks, while a Russian woman, Ekaterina Zhdanova, is in custody in France. The networks reportedly facilitated the movement of illicit funds globally, benefiting Russian espionage operations. The investigation highlights the collaboration between Western law enforcement to combat transnational crime using both high-tech and traditional methods.
The UK National Crime Agency has dismantled Russian networks involved in laundering billions of dollars for oligarchs, street gangs, and spies by converting cash into cryptocurrency across Europe, the Middle East, and South America. These "crypto-rich" networks acted as illicit clearing houses, facilitating the movement of funds internationally.
Sales of new superyachts over 100 feet long dropped 17% in 2023, with wait times for orders over 200 feet now at three to four years due to pandemic backlogs and soaring costs. The largest superyachts saw a 40% decline, attributed in part to Russian oligarchs dropping out of the market following the Ukraine invasion. Americans are accounting for nearly a quarter of all superyacht sales, with the average length of American-owned superyachts increasing. Despite declining new sales, the number of completions surged 31% in 2023, leading to a growing demand for the entire yacht economy.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, 92, is set to marry for the fifth time, this time to Elena Zhukova, 67, who has ties to Russian oligarchs through her previous marriage to Alexander Radkin Zhukov and her daughter Dasha's marriage to Roman Abramovich. Abramovich, a confidant to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has faced sanctions and had his assets seized due to his close ties with Putin. Dasha Zhukova is now married to Stavros Niarchos, the grandson of a Greek shipping tycoon.
President Biden announced a new round of sanctions on numerous Vladimir Putin-connected figures, but two Russian billionaire associates of Hunter Biden, Yelena Baturina and Vladimir Yevtushenkov, were once again spared from being hit by financial sanctions. The omissions have drawn attention from House Republicans leading an impeachment inquiry into the president’s links to his relatives’ foreign business dealings. Baturina and Yevtushenkov have been linked to financial transactions with Hunter Biden and his associate, raising questions about their exclusion from the sanctions list.
Russian oligarchs are finding ways to keep their private jets airborne despite Western sanctions, but the restrictions have significantly limited their travel destinations. Around 50 private jets have been re-registered under the Russian flag since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, allowing them to fly to countries that have not imposed flight bans or individual sanctions. However, more than half of Russia's private and corporate jet fleet remains stranded abroad or has been sold. Russian planes are prohibited from entering the European Union due to sanctions, forcing some jet owners to fly to Turkey or ex-Soviet states and then charter different aircraft to EU airports. The repatriated aircraft have largely avoided crossing into EU airspace and have kept to countries considered friendly to Russia.
Taxpayers are bearing the cost of maintaining assets seized from Russian oligarchs as countries struggle to sell them off. Western sanctions have successfully removed assets from many Russian billionaires, but laws have made it difficult for governments to sell the seized assets. Taxpayers in Antigua and Barbuda are paying $28,000 a week to maintain a $120 million yacht seized from Russian billionaire Andrey Grigoryevich Guryev. Ukraine has only received $5.4 million from the sale of oligarchs' assets so far. The US and other countries are facing challenges in selling seized assets due to the need to prove criminal cases against the owners first.
Western countries have frozen or seized at least $9 billion worth of luxury real estate, superyachts, and private jets belonging to Russian billionaires since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As of April 2023, Forbes estimates that Western countries have frozen or seized at least 15 billionaire-owned yachts, 11 jets and helicopters, and 124 homes worth a total of $9 billion. Despite these efforts, Russian oligarchs are still extremely wealthy, with 46 sanctioned billionaires losing only an estimated $48 billion since February 23, 2022.