Seized or sailing away: What we know about oligarchs and their assets

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Posted By: Marcel van Leeuwen March 15, 2022

(Reuters) – The latest on Russia’s oligarchs and their assets:

ALISHER USMANOV

Alisher Usmanov, 68, a metals and telecoms tycoon with an estimated $16.2 billion net worth, has been sanctioned by the United States and European Union.

Seized:

  • A villa in Golfo del Pevero, on the island of Sardinia, worth approximately $19 million, was seized by Italian authorities. read more

Suspended:

  • The $600 million Dilbar superyacht is sitting in a Hamburg shipyard with authorities saying they have no plans to deliver it to the owner.
  • Everton F.C. suspended its $15 million plus naming rights deal with Usmanov’s holding company USM.
  • Usmanov gave up his presidency of the Fédération Internationale d’Escrime, fencing’s highest body, and said he would no longer play a role in the organisation.
  • A Bombardier jet linked to Usmanov is one of a number of Russian planes reportedly stranded at the EuroPort airport, in the French Alsace, by Swiss airspace closures.

Sailing away:

  • An Airbus A340 Prestige jet linked to Usmanov flew out of Munich, Germany to Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Feb. 28 and hasn’t been tracked since, according to Radar Box data.

Softly, softly:

  • The U.S. Treasury, while blocking Usmanov’s personal assets, has left companies controlled by him off its list of sanctions in an effort not to raise the price of commodities.

ROMAN ABRAMOVICH

Roman Abramovich, 55, billionaire businessman with an estimated $12.3 billion fortune, has been sanctioned by Britain, and was added to the EU sanctions list on Tuesday.

Suspended:

  • Abramovich’s attempt to sell Chelsea Football Club was halted when Britain announced sanctions. Britain’s asset freeze and sanctions bar the sale of players, new tickets and merchandise, but the team will be able to play matches. read more
  • British MP Chris Bryant said Abramovich was trying to sell his 15-bedroom mansion in Kensington Palace Gardens to avoid sanctions. He bought the home in the area of London nicknamed “Billionaire’s Row” for 90 million pounds ($119 million) in 2011.
  • The Kensington home, along with other property and his stakes in steelmaker Evraz and Norilsk Nickel, are also subject to the British sanctions. It was not immediately clear if any assets had been seized.

Stranded:

  • An aircraft linked to Abramovich is at Europort Airport near Basel, which straddles the Swiss-French border, and is unable to leave due to Swiss airspace restrictions.

Signed over:

  • New York City property records show a trio of Upper East Side properties worth $92.3 million are tied to his ex-wife Dasha Zhukova, a New York real estate developer married to shipping heir Stavros Niarchos. She is also building the 21-storey Ray Harlem, which will house the National Black Theater, according to her website.

Sailing away:

  • The $600 million Solaris yacht linked to Abramovich left the Barcelona shipyard where it had been undergoing repairs on March 8, arriving in Montenegro territorial waters on March 12, according to monitoring site Marine Traffic. It is now on the move off the coast of the Greek island of Corfu but still “awaiting orders” on its final destination, according to the same monitoring site.
  • A second yacht linked to Abramovich, Eclipse, was out of tracking coverage for over 24 hours from early on Sunday, according to Marine Traffic. Eclipse’s tracking system was back on for a few hours on Tuesday, showing the yacht north of Algeria in the Mediterranean Sea.
  • A Boeing 787-8 linked to Abramovich flew from Moscow to Dubai on March 4, according to Radarbox data.
  • A business jet linked to Abramovich landed in Moscow early on Tuesday from Istanbul, according to FLIGHTRADAR24 data. It was briefly in Israel, where Abramovich was spotted in an airport VIP lounger, before the jet departed to Turkey.

OLEG DERIPASKA

Oleg Deripaska, 54, billionaire industrialist who founded aluminium giant Rusal, was sanctioned by the United States in 2018 and added to a British sanction list on Thursday

Sanctioned:

  • The fate of Deripaska’s multi-million pound property portfolio in Britain remained unclear after the government said its assets would be frozen.

Swarmed, not seized:

  • In October 2021, FBI agents raided a historic New York City townhouse at 12 Gay Street in Greenwich Village as well as a Washington D.C. mansion connected to Deripaska. He responded on social media by saying nobody was living in those properties.
  • “I have to ask: how much of Putin’s money was found in those abandoned houses yesterday?” he said, sarcastically inquiring whether investigators had discovered any mouldy jam or vodka in the cupboards. read more
  • Through an LLC in the British Virgin Islands, Deripaska also owns a townhouse on 11 E. 64th Street, which he bought for $42.5 million in 2008, according to New York court records.
  • These properties have not been seized by the government, despite sanctions that prevent him from doing business or owning property in the United States.
  • Deripaska’s British Virgin Islands holding company also owns 5 Belgrave Square in London. He bought the mansion in the exclusive Belgravia district for 25 million pounds ($33 million) in 2003, according to multiple media reports.
  • Squatters occupied 5 Belgrave Square on Monday, saying “this property has been liberated.”

SOURCE REUTERS, Read more..

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