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The UK has announced a package of sanctions targeting top Russian officials, a number of oligarchs with global net worth of £6.3 billion and board executives from major state-owned banks in the country in response to the Russian regime’s “illegal sham’’ referendums in Ukraine, according to a state from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office.
“Today’s sanctions will target those behind these sham votes, as well as the individuals that continue to prop up the Russian regime’s war of aggression. We stand with the Ukrainian people and our support will continue as long as it takes to restore their sovereignty,” UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said announcing the package of 92 sanctions on Monday.
Oligarchs under the lens
The Russian oligarchs that have come under sanctions include God Nisanov and Zarakh Iliev, with a joint global net worth of £2 billion, owningl the Kievskaya Ploshchad Group, a major construction company operating across Russia.
Igor Makarov, owner of ARETI International Group, a major investor in the oil and gas sector, and founder of Itera, Russia’s first independent gas company before being bought by state-owned Rosneft, is also under sanctions now. Makarov is worth an estimated £1.6 billion
A third influential oligarch who has come under the UK sanctions is Iskander Makhmudov, President and founder of Ural Mining and Metallurgic Company, with an estimated global net worth of £2.7 billion.
As many as 23 individuals from the Gazprombank Board of Directors and Management Board, 16 members of the Sberbank Supervisory Board, Executive Board, and 10 individuals from Sovcombank, including the Deputy Chairman and members of the Supervisory Board and Management Board have also been hit by the sanctions.
Sanctions have also been implemented against 33 officials deployed by the Russian government to the temporarily controlled regions as well as IMA Consulting, branded ‘Putin’s favourite PR agency’, the statement pointed out.
“We stand united alongside our international partners in condemning the Russian government’s egregious actions. Alongside partners we will continue to pursue targeted sanctions and are committed to sustained economic and political pressure on Russia,” it said.
In total, the UK has sanctioned over 1,200 individuals and over 120 entities, including over 120 oligarchs with an estimated combined global net worth of over £130 billion.
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