Russian President Vladimir Putin with Alisher Usmanov
(Picture: AP)The Government has announced that a full asset freeze and travel ban has been imposed against Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Igor Shuvalov.
Russian billionaire Usmanov, 68, who had ties to Everton and Arsenal football clubs, owns Beechwood House in Highgate, worth an estimated £48m, and the 16th century Sutton Place estate in Surrey, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said.
Former Russian deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov’s assets in the UK include two luxury apartments in central London worth an estimated £11m.
The 55-year-old is a core part of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, and headed up Russia’s bid for the 2018 Football World Cup, the FCO said.
The sanctions are the latest announced by the Government in response to Russia invading Ukraine.
But Roman Abramovich, who says he will sell Chelsea FC, is not on the latest tranche of sanctioned oligarchs after it was conceded it could take “weeks and months” to build legally sound cases.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “Our message to Putin and his allies has been clear from day one - invading Ukraine would have serious and crippling economic consequences.
“Sanctioning Usmanov and Shuvalov sends a clear message that we will hit oligarchs and individuals closely associated with the Putin regime and his barbarous war.
“We won’t stop here. Our aim is to cripple the Russian economy and starve Putin’s war machine.”
Ms Truss will establish an Oligarch Taskforce of ministers and officials from departments including the Home Office, the Treasury and the National Crime Agency to co-ordinate sanctions and build cases against targets.
After the latest sanctions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “For as long as Putin continues his barbaric attack on innocent Ukrainians we will continue to exert every power we have to inflict maximum economic pain on Putin and his war machine.”
On Tuesday, the European Union sanctioned Usmanov in response to Russia’s war on neighbouring Ukraine alongside Igor Sechin, 61, a long-time ally of Putin and the boss of Rosneft, one of the largest oil companies in Russia.
France seized Sechin’s £86m luxury megayacht The Amore Vero on Thursday.
Sechin is regarded as one of the most powerful people in Russia, acting as deputy prime minister under Putin from 2008 to 2012, and maintains strong connections to the country’s intelligence agencies.
Hamburg port authorities denied reports that a $600 million luxury yacht owned by Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov had been seized after he was hit with EU sanctions.
According to the US business magazine Forbes, the 512-foot yacht, Dilbar, was taken in the northern port of Hamburg, with the magazine citing three sources in the yacht industry.
But a spokeswoman for the Hamburg Ministry of Economics and Innovation told German website Spiegel: “No yachts were confiscated in the Port of Hamburg.” The Dilbar was reported to be in Hamburg’s shipyard Blohm+Voss for repair work although it remains unclear if it will be allowed to leave.
Meanwhile, at least five other superyachts owned by Russian billionaires have arrived in the Maldives, according to ship tracking data.
The island nation in the Indian Ocean does not have an extradition treaty with the US.
Politicians including Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer have called for Mr Abramovich, who denies wrongdoing, to face sanctions.
Earlier in the day, senior Tories called for the immediate seizure of oligarchs’ assets in the UK, such as luxury yachts and property, and the return of them to the Russian people “as soon as possible”.
Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, called for the Government to go further to follow European allies to seize oligarchs’ assets.
“We should be looking immediately to seize those assets linked to those who are profiting from Putin’s war machine, holding it in trust and returning it to the Russian people as soon as possible,” he said.
Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood echoed the call, warning there would be “increasing public anger that we’re not doing enough to help our fellow Ukrainians in their hour of need”.
The chairman of the Commons Defence Committee said: “There’s a race to squeeze Putin given the war crimes he’s now committing in Ukraine and London continues to be seen as ground zero as to where oligarchs’ investments sit.
“So we need to be impounding these assets in days, not weeks or months.
“Every day we wait offers more time for the oligarchs to move their wealth to other parts of the world.
“Don’t forget it’s not their wealth, this is the stolen wealth from the Russian people which is utilised to keep Putin in power.”
