Yachts seized...now go After oligarchs’ homes
PRESSURE is mounting on Boris Johnson to quickly hit Russian oligarchs with assetfreezing sanctions.
MPs have called for punitive measures against a number of tycoons – including Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who denies close ties toVladimir Putin.
Senior Tories want the immediate seizure of oligarchs’ assets in the UK, such as luxury yachts and property.
But amid fears any meaningful clampdown could take weeks or months, Downing Street confirmed: “We do have laws that we need to abide by.”
It comes as other countries have seized super yachts owned by Russian oligarchs.
A £90million yacht owned by Igor Sechin, boss of Russian state energy company Rosneft, was grabbed by French customs officers near Marseille as it prepared to slip anchor.
And German authorities seized £450million vessel owned by Russian metal tycoon Alisher Usmanov.
The two oligarchs have been sanctioned by the European Union. Five other luxury yachts belonging to billionaire Russians were said to be heading for the safe haven of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean.
Last night Britain imposed sanctions on Usmanov, who has had ties to Arsenal and Everton football clubs, and former Russian deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov.
It takes the total number of oligarchs targeted by the UK to 15.
Michael Gove is proposing to ramp up the sanctions regime by requisitioning lavish residences without paying any compensation.
They could be used to house Ukrainian refugees, with Mr Johnson pledging that Britain will take hundreds of thousands fleeing the Russian invasion.
The plan, likely to require legislation, comes as Mr Johnson faces mounting pressure to go faster in targeting Putin’s cronies.
Downing Street sought to downplay the issue, with the Prime Minister’s official spokesman insisting: “We are not being held back from introducing sanctions.”
But, he clarified, “we do have laws that we need to abide by” when applying the economic restrictions. He added: “If there are ways to further speed it up, then we will.” The Government is understood to be rapidly working through a “hit list”.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said yesterday during an interview in Lithuania: “We have to make sure we have the right evidence to put in place those sanctions…there is nowhere for any of Putin’s cronies to hide.”
Currently the state can freeze assets of people subject to sanctions, but cannot take possession of them without compensation.
Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, said: “We should leave no stone unturned in isolating these oligarchs from their investments including the seizure of properties and yachts.
“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 oligarchs to move
‘We should leave no stone unturned in isolating these oligarchs from their investments’
time for the their wealth.”
Questions are mounting over why billionaires such as Mr Abramovich, 55, have not been hit with sanctions.
He this week put his Premier League club on the market for an estimated £3billion amid claims he is “terrified” of asset-stripping measures.
He is also said to be trying to offload his £200million British property portfolio. Tom Tugendhat, chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, called for the Government to go further.
He said: “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.” Labour MP Chris Bryant said: “I don’t understand why we haven’t seized a single Putin oligarch yacht, palace or serious asset yet.”
The PM’s official spokesman argued that sanctions on the banks funding the Russian president’s military machine was a priority.
He said: “Placing sanctions particularly on large banks and companies…will exert the most pressure on Putin’s regime and throttle off funding for this illegal war.”