UK taxpayers left with bill for firm Russia’s richest man created
Government has yet to claw back £47million from energy company founded by Andrey Melnichenko
BRITISH taxpayers have been left holding the bill for tens of millions of pounds in bank loans made to a company founded by a sanctioned oligarch who is Russia’s richest man.
The Government is yet to claw back millions owed by Suek, an energy company created by Andrey Melnichenko, who is currently living in luxury in Dubai with a £245million yacht.
In a response to a parliamentary question submitted by Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney general, the Government revealed that UK Export Finance (Ukef) still has more than £47.71 million in outstanding exposure from its underwriting of credit for Russian firms before the invasion of Ukraine.
In January 2022, the liability stood at more than £49.97million meaning less than a 20th of outstanding UK-backed loans have so far been recovered. Ukef confirmed to The Sunday Telegraph that the majority of the outstanding sum is owed by Suek, which from 2016 received a total of £66.1million in UK-backed loans to buy mining equipment from a British company called Joy Global.
The most recent loan guarantee, worth £43.3million, was provided in 2019-20.
The liabilities for the taxpayer have arisen from Ukef’s “buyer credit” scheme, which allows foreign companies to use bank loans guaranteed by the UK to purchase products from British exporters.
Suek, the Siberian Coal Energy Company, was set up by Mr Melnichenko, who in April was named by Forbes, the US business magazine as “Russia’s richest person”, with a net worth estimated at $25.2billion (£20.62 billion).
He was among the attendees invited by Vladmir Putin, the Russian president, to the Kremlin for a summit with leading oligarchs on the day that Russia invaded Ukraine.
Asked about his attendance at the event in a recent interview with the
Financial Times, he said: “You wake up and see missiles flying on TV, and you have a choice to go or not. How can you not go?”
The oligarch, who is sanctioned by Britain, transferred ownership of Suek to his Serbian wife, Aleksandra, on March 8 last year – the day before he was placed under sanctions by the EU for connections to Putin’s regime.
Three months later, the sanctions were extended to Mrs Melnichenko.
Swiss sanctions, meanwhile, forced the Melnichenkos to relocate from their luxury villa in the resort of St Moritz to Dubai, where the oligarch’s £245million Motor Yacht A is moored.
Mr Melnichenko’s £491million Sailing Yacht A was seized by the Italian government in March last year.
Ms Thornberry said: “It remains a complete mystery why the Government thought it was necessary to provide financial support to companies owned by Russian oligarchs, and it is a scandal that – as things stand – it is British taxpayers who are going to end up paying the bill, while men like Andrey Melnichenko carry on living a life of unimaginable luxury in Dubai.”
A Ukef spokesman said: “Ukef provides loans, guarantees, and insurance to help UK exporters win, deliver and get paid for overseas contracts, and our model means there is no net cost to the taxpayer. We stopped providing any new support to transactions in Russia and Belarus in March 2022.
“We also vet all applications for support to ensure they comply with international standards set by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development guidance and Ukef policy.”
Suek was contacted for comment.
‘It is a scandal that it is British taxpayers who are going to end up paying the bill’