Yury Kobzar19:37, 27.07.233 min.1932

The British authorities allowed sanctioned Russians to cover their living needs at the expense of frozen money.

The British authorities have provided quite generous “benefits” for Russians whose assets in the British jurisdiction were frozen in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

As The New York Times writes writes , the British allowed Russian billionaires to use part of the frozen assets for current needs.

“The British government allowed Russian oligarchs to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on privileges such as private chefs, chauffeurs and housekeepers, despite the fact that their bank accounts were allegedly frozen,” the newspaper writes.These exemptions, called “licences”, in some cases allow oligarchs to spend more than $1 million a year on living in Britain. In some cases, the government has been forced to lift restrictions altogether after losing in court.

According to documents reviewed by The New York Times journalists, Russian banker Mykhailo Fridman received a “license” to pay for the services of 19 people – drivers, cooks, cleaners, etc. During the 10 months of sanctions, Friedman spent about 400,000 dollars for these purposes. 

In addition, the British authorities allowed him to spend another 9 thousand dollars a month on “the basic needs of his family.”Friedman’s former business partner Peter Aven was allowed by British officials to use 60,000 pounds (about $77,000) per month for his own needs, mainly for the services of a security company.”It is not clear what checks the government carried out before approving the agreements,” the authors of the publication note.

As the journalists found out, last year the British Ministry of Finance issued at least 82 such “licenses”. Many more such licenses are under consideration.

It notes that “licenses” are part of sanctioning systems around the world, in particular in the United States. But while Washington usually issues licenses for humanitarian reasons or to cover basic living expenses and legal fees, the British criteria are broader. A recent government report states that licenses are “issued to protect UK individual and business needs”.

Sanctions against Russia – the latest news

In July, the British government announced new sanctions against the Russian Federation. 

The Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Serhiy Kravtsov was on the “black list” because of the forced deportation of Ukrainian children. As the British authorities explained, the deportation of children and hate-filled propaganda reveal the true intention of Russian President Vladimir Putin – to erase Ukraine from the world map. 

Soon after, the British government lifted the sanctions at the request of businessman Richard Branson against Russian businessman Oleg Tinkov. Earlier, Branson claimed that Tinkov was allegedly mistakenly included in the sanctions list, because although he was a “wealthy Russian businessman”, he was “never an oligarch”.

(C)UNIAN 2023