Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is seen in the stands during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on December 19, 2015 in London, England.
Clive Mason | beautiful pictures
WASHINGTON – The United Kingdom on Thursday announced that it had frozen assets belonging to two Russian oligarchs worth up to £10 billion, or $13 billion.
Actions against Eugene Tenenbaum and David Davidovich, two close associates of the famous Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, represents the largest asset freeze action in British history, according to a government spokesman.
Thursday’s asset freeze comes a day after authorities in foreign tax haven Jersey freeze assets worth more than 7 billion dollars suspected of having ties to Abramovich.
This brings the total value of the frozen assets to $20 billion. In addition to being frozen, Davidovich is also banned from going to Britain. Tenenbaum, however, does not.
Jersey is a self-governing Channel Island whose head of state is Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.
But British officials say Jersey’s ruling against Abramovich and Britain’s actions against Tanenbaum and Davidovich are coordinated.
They are intended to cut off potential sources of cash that Russian President Vladimir Putin could call on to fund his illegal invasion of Ukraine.
“We are tightening the ratchet on Putin’s war machine and targeting the circle of those closest to the Kremlin,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (below) said in an announcement announcing the move. Thursday’s asset freeze. “We will continue with sanctions until Putin fails in Ukraine. Nothing and no one can argue.”
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in Warsaw, Poland, on April 5, 2022
Mateusz Wlodarczyk | Nurphoto | beautiful pictures
Britain, and London in particular, has long served as the hub for the post-Soviet Russian billionaire class, and some of the landmark real estate in the trendiest parts of the city is considered the second home of Russian oligarchs.
But Russia’s devastating war in Ukraine and the international response to it are threatening the financial security that the pound and British fortune once represented for its wealthiest and most connected oligarchs. Russia.
British sanctions against Abramovich in March forced him to sell London’s famous football club Chelsea.
A multi-billion dollar deal to sell Chelsea is said to be nearing completion, with four contractors are still running to own one of the most successful football teams in Europe.
Unlike a high-profile property like Chelsea, the companies holding Davidovich and Tenenbaum’s control (below, left) represent the rest of the Abramovich empire, much of which remains hidden.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich (R) and director Eugene Tenenbaum (L) celebrate a goal for Chelsea v Bolton Wanderers at Barclays Premier League February 25, 2012.
Jed Leicester | Action Pictures | Reuters
International sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s war with Ukraine have unraveled the worldwide maze of shell companies that Russian oligarchs use to conceal their origins and locations arrival of their wealth.
Over the past week, countries with relatively small tax havens such as Jersey and the Cayman Islands have announced freezing tens of billions of dollars in assets held in their banks by Russian oligars, who have been impounded. punishment.
Jersey has long served as a covert corporate tax haven abroad. Some of the richest people in the world hide their fortunes in Jersey using the byzantine maze of shell companies.
David Clapp | Photolibrary | beautiful pictures
Tenenbaum and Davidovich are both related to a Jersey-registered company called Evrington Investments Limited that is linked to Abramovich, according to British authorities.
Company records show that on February 24, the same day that Russia invaded Ukraine, Abramovich transferred control of Evrington Investments Limited to Tenenbaum.
Less than a month later, Tenenbaum transferred control of the company to Davidovich.
But it wasn’t just Tenenbaum who took over Abramovich’s estate on the day of the invasion.
On February 24, Abramovich transferred control of a separate company, Norma Investments, to Davidovich, according to company filings. In the past, Abramovich has used Norma Investments to fund energy startups around the world, the Wall Street Journal reported.
And it’s not just companies.
One of Abramovich’s largest yachts, Aquamarine, was also delivered to Davidovich on 24 February, According to an investigation by The Guardian. Technically, the 150-foot superyacht is owned by a company called MHC Jersey Ltd, which is registered on Jersey.
Davidovich confirmed to the Guardian that he is the owner of both the MHC and the yacht itself.
