Abramovich must explain fortune to get visa
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH must show how he acquired his fortune before he receives a new visa allowing him back into the UK, it has emerged.
The oligarch, who owns Chelsea FC, has been forced to apply for a new investment visa after letting his previous one expire, The Daily Telegraph understands. But new rules require him to pass a tougher visa test that includes proving that his funds were obtained lawfully.
The Telegraph separately understands that the wealth of dozens of oligarchs is being investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA) as part of a wider crackdown. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Mr Abramovich nor that the NCA is delving into his finances. But the Home Office is demanding to know how Mr Abramovich – who legend has it began his entrepreneurial career selling rubber ducks – became a billionaire.
Mr Abramovich, 51, is Britain’s 13th richest man with funds estimated at £9billion and is closely connected to Vladimir Putin. His fortune is founded on the Siberian Sibneft oil company, which was privatised in a 1995 auction that some industry analysts believe may have been rigged. The refusal to grant a new visa – or at least delay it – will further raise tensions between London and Moscow.
Mr Abramovich’s dealings – like those of other oligarchs in the UK – are under scrutiny following the Kremlinorchestrated nerve agent attack on Ser- gei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in March.
Mr Abramovich’s old Tier 1 investor visa, which ran for 40 months, expired while he was abroad, it is understood.
As a result, Mr Abramovich – who was forced to miss Chelsea winning the FA Cup on Saturday – had to make an application for a new visa under tougher rules brought in in 2015, rather than the more simple process of renewing an existing visa.
Theresa May’s spokesman, while declining to comment on Mr Abramovich’s case, said yesterday: “The rules were tightened in 2014-15, that involved among other things... New powers were introduced to refuse where there are reasonable grounds to believe the applicant is not in control of the funds; funds were obtained unlawfully or by conduct that would be unlawful in the UK; or the character, conduct and associations of the third party providing the funds in granting is not conducive to public good.”
Asked if somebody given a visa under the old system might be barred under the tougher new rules, the spokesman said: “The work is ongoing and I wouldn’t pre-empt it but it is a logical conclusion.”
The difficulty faced by Mr Abramovich is also privately being blamed on titfor-tat diplomatic expulsions in the wake of the attempted assassination of the Skripals that caused delays in processing the Chelsea owner’s application and those of other wealthy Russians. Mr Abramovich’s spokesman declined to comment but Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin’s spokesman, said: “We are witnessing Britain’s rather unprecedented anti-russian mania.”
Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, told journalists in Buenos Aires that tougher sanctions could be on the way for Russians. He said the impact of US sanctions, which go further than those imposed by the EU, has been “very marked” and he “noted” their success.