Early Tuesday morning, after an extraordinary meeting, Johnson announced in a statement to MPs against Russian individuals and banks. PenaltiesThe United Kingdom launched a crackdown on three politically connected Russian businessmen and five Russian banks in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s command of forces in eastern Ukraine. The BBC According to his report, British companies will also be prevented from maintaining any economic ties with the breakaway regions.
The Penalties Part of it is freezing British business assets and restricting their travel. All the people the UK has hit now have already been punished by the US in the past.
This will be the most severe set of sanctions against Russia ever
Said Liz Truss, UK Foreign Secretary. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov tried to downplay its importance, saying that it was “already threatened by everything” and “we are used to it.”
Among the targets are banks and individuals
The three oligarchs affected by the sanctions are Russian businessman Gennady Tymoshenko, Igor and Boris Rotenberg. The three have a close relationship put it inso it became the target of punitive measures.
In recent years, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) Reports They made a close examination of influential people close to Putin, including the naval assets of Tymoshenko and Rothenberg.
Now, on Tuesday, UK authorities froze its assets after the investigation and cut off the possibility of Britons doing business with them.
Putin’s ally, Gennady Tymoshenko is a billionaire hockey enthusiast who, through his investment group Volga, has extensive business interests in energy, transportation and construction. Tymoshenko has been called several times to say this Maintains good relations The destabilizing forces in Ukraine.
Igor Rotenberg, who is now under sanctions, has close economic ties with President Putin, the largest shareholder of Gazprom Drilling. Igor’s uncle, Boris Rotenberg, who co-owns SGM Group, Russia’s largest gas and power pipeline construction company, was also targeted.
A study by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists 2020 found that after Boris Rotenberg and his brother Arkady Rotenberg received sanctions from the United States in 2014 in response to the Russian invasion of Crimea, a large fortune was passed on to their sons, who were also subsequently subjected to restrictive measures.
On Tuesday, UK authorities asked their financial professionals to “verify whether they maintain an account or hold funds or economic resources for individuals”. If this is the case, freeze the funds of the specified persons, terminate their dealings with them and report them to the authorities.
Among the banks affected by the sanctions, for example, is the privately owned company Rosiaya, which also has a stake in a television company. But the list includes the Black Sea Bank, a Crimean financial institution established in 2014 after Russia annexed the region. Public Bank, a financial institution also operating in Crimea, and Promsvyazbank, a Russian state-owned bank that provides financing to the Russian military, were banned.
Golden visas will be canceled
It was called the UK’s Golden Visa, allowing the wealthy to quickly obtain a visa for themselves and their families. The program was founded in 1994 and re-launched in 2008 in its latest form. It was necessary to invest at least two million pounds (about 855 million forints) in the United Kingdom to obtain this visa. Then they are free to work, move, do business and study in the UK.
Unlike other visa categories, individuals did not have to spend a minimum amount of time in the UK to retain their status, even though their status ceased after two years of absence.
The visa can be extended indefinitely provided that users keep their investment in the country. Most golden visa holders come from Russia and China.
Home Secretary Priti Patel last week a Sky News It announced that it will no longer accept new applications under the golden visa system. The interior minister said that “we have constantly reviewed the system and in some cases have raised security concerns.”
He said that people with golden visas have illegally acquired their property, and in several cases they have been implicated in corruption-related cases. So they decided to eliminate this opportunity for the wealthy.
(cover photo by Boris Johnson on February 23, 2022. Photo: Henry Nichols/Reuters)
