West increases pressure on Russian billionaires; Meet the so-called oligarchs | National Magazine

Since the beginning of the invasion Ukraineother countries – like we And France – has also imposed sanctions targeting the Russian elite. Reporter Felipe Santana explains who the “oligarchs” are and how they relate to them Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The yacht was under maintenance until April 1, but when he tried to sail, before the end of service, the French authorities seized him. “Amore Vero” has a gym and beauty salon. Its owner is Igor Sechin, head of Rosneft, One of the largest oil companies in the world. 75% of the company is controlled by the Russian government.

Igor Sechin was Putin’s chief of staff when he was deputy mayor of Saint Petersburg. He was appointed chief of staff when Putin came to the presidency. In 2004 he was chosen to head the oil company.

after the invasion Ukrainewhat Europe and we The promise is to untie those links between money and power that, according to the US Treasury, underpin war. These billionaires close to Putin are known as oligarchs.

The word oligarchy comes from the ancient Greek and means oligarch – and this rule began when the Soviet Union ended. When communism gave way to capitalism, Swedish economist Anders Aslund was one of then-President Boris Yeltsin’s economic advisers.

. said National Magazine that accompanied the birth of the oligarchy. He explains that they were well-educated young men who became great negotiators. They began buying oil cheaply from the government and reselling it to the rest of the world at the market price. Thus, they became rich and established banks.

Then, at the time of privatization, they managed through state communications to buy out the largest Russian state-owned enterprises. When Putin took power in 2000, he promised to hunt down these oligarchs. I managed to remove most of the power. But he ended up replacing them with a new wave of oligarchy—submissive to him this time, according to Aslund.

Bill Browder manages one of the largest investment funds in the UAE Russia. After he was expelled by Putin’s government, he began to cooperate with it United StateFrom In search of Putin’s oligarchs.

According to him, Putin receives a percentage in the business of friends whom he helped enrich. She claims that Putin cannot have this wealth in his name. Therefore, it is lied to in the goods with the names of those friends or third parties abroad. According to estimates by the economist and the international press, Putin’s fortune is estimated at 200 billion US dollars..

There are many tricks used to hide these assets, such as putting them in the names of third parties or companies. It is therefore difficult to estimate how many properties they own in New York, many of which are empty.

A house, for example, was bought in 2008 for $45 million by oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who was banned from we Who accuses him of murder, money laundering, bribery, extortion and approaching him Russian President Vladimir Putin.

What stands out in the list we It is the absence of some well-known names. Like Dmitriy Rybolovlev, who sold the most expensive work of art in history, Salvator Mundi, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.

Or Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea, who put the club up for sale this week. He is known as Putin’s banker.

Aslund explains that many of them not only have connections to Russia, but also in the West. They are the main donors to major institutions in we And in Europe. They are so strong that they cannot be touched even here.