Oligarchs with links to Putin on UK’S blacklist
The British sanctions list describes Gennady Timchenko as a “major shareholder” in Rossiya Bank, which in turn, “supports Russian policy which is destabilising Ukraine”. The bank has “expanded” its branches and investments in Crimea since its illegal occupation by Russian troops.
“Additionally,” states the register, “Timchenko is associated with a person involved in destabilising Ukraine or undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine.”
He owns the Volga Group, a private investment vehicle specialising in energy and transport, and was an oil trader in St Petersburg when Mr Putin was appointed head of the city’s Committee for External Relations with responsibility for promoting foreign investment.
Boris Rotenberg (inset top), 65, is the younger brother of Arkady Rotenberg, and both are long-time judo training partners of Mr Putin. In the sanctions order, Boris Rotenberg is described as a “prominent businessman with close personal ties” to the Russian president and a major shareholder of SMP Bank, which he founded with his brother in 2001.
The US treasury has alleged that Mr Putin has awarded the Rotenbergs billions of dollars in contracts, including deals linked to the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.
Igor Rotenberg (inset left), 47, who is Arkady’s son, is the chairman of National Telematic Systems (NTS), a transport business described as of “strategic significance” to the Kremlin by UK authorities. NTS won the contract to develop software for collecting tolls on “smart roads” being built in Russia.